I just passed two years of blogging and have never felt more rejuvenated. YET, there seems to be a thread going around that blogging is dead. Ya right.
Facebook is getting all the attention these days mostly deserved. For me, Facebook has become more of a grind. Maybe it’s due to all the busy work I have made for myself, accounting at year end and stock market but I have no time for Facebook. I just got three friend Facebook requests and if one had not been from my sweet niece in Toronto, I would never have headed over to Facebook this weekend at all.
So…is blogging dead?
Hugh MacLeod puts that thesis to bed rather quickly . Here is the rocking part of the post:
Me? I prefer my brand to be a “global microbrand”. It’s easy and it’s flexible. It’s not tied down to one geographical locale, which I’ve always found to be financially unreliable. So business is a bit slow around here in England. No matter. I’ll head over to Redmond, Washington, and do a gig for Microsoft if I have to. New York? Sure. Houston? If they pay me enough.
So that’s why I have a blog, I suppose. I like the control. I write something, I post it, it gets read, hopefully good things happen as a result, somewhere on this small blue planet of ours. Unlike a book or a movie or a TV commercial, there’s no waiting around for somebody else to greenlight it. The only light is the greenlight.
Sure, I hear you saying, “But the scale is so small.” I don’t know about that. At last count [and this was a couple of years ago] the “How To Be Creative” page had been downloaded a quarter of a million times. And Lord knows how many copies of the “ChangeThis” PDF version were printed out and circulated. Most hardbacks are lucky if they sell three thousand copies. Granted, movies get seen by a lot of people, but only for a week or two.Then they leave the cinema and are mostly consigned to a lonely life on the DVD rack. And they’re expensive and take years to make. They have a lot, I mean A LOT of downtime. Whereas a blog is constantly working, constantly growing. I like that.
I guess my point is, if you’re one of these people considering giving up on blogging in exchange for paying more attention to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace, or whatever they throw at us mere mortals, bear in mind you are giving up on something rather unique and wonderful. But I would say that.
Pretty awesome and sums up why I do what I do here every day and over at Wallstrip. Blogging has made me smarter, increased my social leverage a bazillion fold and been a rather humbling experience at times. Oh and I feel like I have earned it all . I don’t get that feeling on Facebook.
Long Live blogging.
nice post, I feel blogging has made me a better trader.
Congrats on passing two years of blogging!
I just completed year three (started Green Skeptic in Nov 2004) and it has been a great run. Wouldn’t stop if you paid me…well, that depends how much.
Keep up the good work.
And remember what Walter Lowenfels said: “One reader is a miracle; two, a mass movement.” (I always try to keep things in perspective.)
Scott
thx gentlemen
Congrats on the 2 year anniversary blogging. There’s always something new and interesting to think about here. God, I love the Internet, there’s no easier way to meet a bunch of smart people to talk to.
Trader Mike, I like your avatar, isn’t he the permanently pissed off kid from the cartoon?
Happy blogiversary. On a related note, the guys behind the great “RSS in Plain English” just did another video. This one is “Blogs in Plain English” — http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs — in it they also explain why blogging’s not going away any time soon.
P.S. You’re always commenting on my avatar & his ‘fro. Why do you keep masquerading as Lindsay?
BocaGirl,
Yep, it’s Huey Freeman from the Boondocks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Freeman )
Blogging? I am only about to start one :)
Congrats on your anniversary. I look forward to continuing to read you and your missives for many years to come.
Hi Howard. Agreed! Here’s an article about “Microcelebrity” you might find interesting.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-12/st_thompson
Happy anniversary.
For me Facebook is like a coming out party for me (easy…not that kind of coming out party). I’ve been hiding behind an alias for the last 8 years pretty much since I faded back into normalcy after a stint as a microcelebrity during the linux movement…remember when va linux went public? That was a crazy time.
However, I’ve been inspired by blogs like this one, Trader Mike, DFallond, etc. that encourage me to come out from hiding. :)
Good entry Howard! I used Facebook for a while and left the moment I started getting ads left and right and those stupid apps that match you with strangers I don’t care to meet.
thx everybody