The other day I read the WIRED piece [ed. Bummer, the link died.] by Paul Boutin where he tells us that blogs have passed into obsolescence. I’ve got no disagreement with many of Paul’s points – the rampant commercialism, the decline of text as a medium of expression, and so on. Who can compete with legions of professionals? But is that really what it’s all about?
I don’t see much difference between the basic evolution of blogs and the basic evolution of other forms of expression. Blogging started small, just ordinary folks with something to say, and the development of tools to make it easy for the non-technical (or less-technical) to reach the world. Some producers became popular and the money started to flow. Traditional media, their livelihoods threatened (yet again), jumped into the fray. Followed by legions hoping that they could finally get rich quick. Blogging exploded.
Today there are countless blogs, far too many for anyone to keep track of. Every one can’t be at the top of a Google search. Not every one can generate scads of revenue. Not every one can be the most popular. Is your blog on the top 100 list? [ed. Alas, the Technorati Top 100 list of blogs is long gone, so you can’t look.] Nope, mine isn’t either. But honestly, that list is the last place I go for stuff to read. How about you? One thing I’ve noticed that the usefulness, the interestingness, of a blog is inversely proportional to its sponsorship and associated advertising. See those sidebars, bulging with beckoning animations and such designed to siphon your wallet? But that’s just me.
No, the blog is not dead. It may smell a little funny, but that’s okay. Keep reading. But, more importantly, keep writing.
