Are blogs dead? There is an interesting article from The Medium that says the kind of blogging that we’re used to back in the early days (ie. Early 2000 till 2010’s), is gone. Most bloggers who used their blogs as personal journals have moved on to “lifestyle” writing and putting out problem-solving/life-hack posts.
Most of the blogs that I followed many years ago have not been updated in years, the writers have moved on mostly to Instagram or to YouTube. There are those few who persist, but when I look at their comments section, nothing there at all. No comments to reply to, to engage in “conversation”, like what we did back then. (But check out Joanna Goddard’s blog–her comments section is SO active to this day!)
Blogging, influencing, money
So I ask myself, why am I still here, then? Snap a photo, upload to Instagram with a catchy caption and voila, done for the day. Whereas blogging takes a lot of time—composing and editing the post, selecting photos, editing them. A photo-heavy post can take more than an hour to create—who has time for that?
And for what? I am aware that very few people read this blog. I am still an “old-school” blogger—the one that posts about “what I did on this day”. I post recipes I got from the web—I liked them, wrote them here so I don’t forget. I am not in any way an “influencer”, I don’t see myself as a “lifestyle” blogger, because my lifestyle is what it is.
Many years ago, I attended a blogging workshop. Because blogging was the “thing” back then, many people, mostly women attended this workshop in hopes of building their blogs, similar to what the workshop organiser did with hers.
“What do you want your blog to be?” Was one of the questions. A lady answered: “aspirational”. And I just found it ridiculous. To me, that word is really just a simple way of saying, I want my blog to be a “humblebrag”– for readers to look at and say they wish they had my life, my lifestyle. I still cringe at the word when describing someone or something..
There is a financial cost to blogging, of course. I pay to host this space. One would think that I should be getting something, money-wise for the effort and for running this blog. Over the years, I’ve had many opportunities to monetize the blog. I have always been flattered when a company approaches me and offers me a product to review, or do a sponsored post.
It’s a combination of not being consistent, as well as doubting my ability to write a good enough article that makes me reject, even ignore these offers. I suppose I should try soon. Maybe.
Why blog in 2022?
It’s 2022 and I have been blogging on and off since 2005. What do I have to show for? Lots of good memories, for sure. Snippets of days I was happy, days I was sad, places I’ve gone to, friends I spent time with. A look at what I thought about certain books, movies, songs. Food I enjoyed, my love, the family I made and the girls I am raising.
All these new media may come and go (remember Friendster and mySpace?). When they go, so will my Facebook and Instagram photos. But this blog, this space is mine. I own it, I will continue to nurture it. Even if there is no audience, even if there is no money in doing so, I will continue to work on it. Writing, sorting my photos—actually clears my mind.
If you’ve read this far down, how’s your relationship with social media? Have you ever had a blog, and what happened to it? Do you think you’ll go back to blogging?
