On my usual perusal of World Magazine on line, I found an interesting post about personal blogging “going the way of the rotary dial phone.” So I followed the link to Wired.com. The premise is that writing a personal blog has become “so yesterday”, and now the fad is Facebook or Twitter. I have only gone to Facebook once in my life, and have never visited Twitter. So, here I am behind the times again, along with my email and land line phone. I actually have a cell phone, but I only use it to make and, rarely [hint to my away-from-home children], receive calls. I would rather email someone or leave a voice mail than text, as the thumbs are not made for pushing tiny buttons several times just to get one letter. Usually I don’t get the button pushed fast enough, so I get the wrong letter and have to go back and delete. Or I push too many times and have to repeat.
But I digress. I post this comment to ask my few readers (and those I invited from Worldmagblog, to tell me your thoughts on this trend. Is our society so fad based that we have to go from one form of communication to another, just so we can keep in touch? Are we so technologically bound that we cannot keep a good thing going anyway? Is the day of posting pictures of the family for all to see now going to Facebook and its kind? I have nephews who post family pictures on blogs, and I like them, as I do not have to log in every time I want to see what the latest happenings in their households are. Since I do not live in the same town, I can see how their children are doing with the click of a mouse (1960s’ technology, BTW). If I want to comment, I can use my QWERTY keyboard (1800s’ technology) and post something. And if I actually want to talk to them, or get them some message “for their ears/eyes only”, I can pick up either phone and call (19th or 20th Century technologies), or send an email (1980s) or even get out paper and pen and send a letter (B.C. “technology”), put it in an envelope, get a stamp (1800s) and send it by postman (predates Ben Franklin in the 1700s, but he was the founder of the Postal Service, you know).
Anyway, is the personal blog a thing of the past? Or will those of us who prefer this form keep it going (at least until the Internet providers make it impossible, as the phone companies have done with rotary/pulse tone phones)? Please comment (but don’t let moderation stop you, it prevents the trolls and spammers, who, according to Wired.com article, are the only ones who will read this).
4 comments:
I sure hope personal blogging isn't dead! I post daily on a variety of topics, hoping to get and keep enough people's interest to keep them coming back and have some interesting discussions. So far there hasn't been nearly as much in the way of discussions as I had hoped for (my sister told me that I say things so well there's nothing to add - though I hate to think I have to choose between writing well and having interesting discussions), but I plan to keep at it.
Hi, Peter. I fopllowed your link from WMB, and I disagree with the ultra-original poster's thought that the personal blog is dead.
I agree that a lot of blogs have become corporate. That's not terrible - it's growth, like a local restaurant that expands intoa chain.
I blog (at awedmanor.wordpress.com, as my WBM sig links to) to share my thoughts and findings. I have a community of family and friends, and don't want a facebook/myspace built-in community. I have relatives who have re-connected to people through facebook. Good for them. I'm not after a massive audience. I have some people from my church who follow me, at least occasionally, and interestingly a couple friends of my brother, who I met once (or so) back in the 80s.
Twitter is interesting, but I have trouble capturing a good coherent thought in 140 characters. It's hard to comment on the meaning of names in that space. Fun, but not (to me) useful.
So I'll keep my blog. It's an archive of my life, my thoughts, my growth and frustrations. It's not the flippancy of the moment, it's not radically cool.
And I'm okay with that.
You are right about the ongoing value of personal blogs. I expect the good ones will last and new good ones will spring up. The boring ones will not last, partly because the writers will get just as bored as the readers.
I think that only somebody who is 30 years old or younger could speak of a relatively new trend as already being passe. We older folks know that things that are good will stand the test of time, even as the young'uns adopt newer trends. You made that point well in your post here.
Thank you for your thoughts. Keep coming back, even though I actually only can think of something to say worht reading once or twice a month anymore.
Post a Comment