A couple of years ago everybody was predicting that blogging would take over the media world. Bloggers had toppled Dan Rather. Soon they would replace the New York Times and CBS Evening News.
Now it’s chic to proclaim the death of blogging. Critics, often from the mainstream media, celebrate the fact that millions of bloggers have quit. “The end of blogging is near,” pronounce the pundits, with undisguised glee.
The initial “blogging is the world” bandwagon was silly and naïve. The new “blogging is dead” repeats the silliness and naïveté in the opposite direction.
Blogging isn’t the world. And blogging isn’t dead, either. Rather, blogging is like jogging.
If you’re as old as I am, you might remember the jogging rage. Near as I can remember, it came in the late 60s and early 70s. Everybody bought jogging shoes and little nylon shorts, and then set out to get healthy and lose weight through jogging. Many wanna-be joggers had visions of their svelte bodies winning marathons, even as the waddled along in their Adidas Viennas.
Most folks I know used to be joggers at some time in the past. Very few are still joggers. Some quit because their knees gave out. Some quit because they didn’t get healthy or lose weight. Some quit out of boredom. Some quit because they didn’t look all that great in little jogging shorts. For one reason or another, jogging just wasn’t their cup of tea. (Photo from istockphoto.com)
And that’s just fine, as far as I’m concerned. Though I hope former joggers have found other ways to stay healthy, there’s nothing wrong with the fact that they tried it and decided it was not for them. Most folks, it seems to me, just aren’t cut out to be joggers.
The same is true for blogging. Most of those who jumped onboard the blogging bandwagon discovered that it wasn’t for them. Their delusions of blogging grandeur, with thousands of dedicated daily visitors, didn’t materialize. Instead, they found themselves running out of things to say to the relatively few people who happened to stop by their blogs. And so the bloggers became former bloggers, much to the joy of those in the elite media who prayed each night for the death of blogging.
And that’s fine with me. Though just about anyone can become a blogger, it’s an unusual person who can remain a blogger for long periods of time. The long-term bloggers, in my experience, must have several traits, most of which are somewhat unusual.
In my next post I’ll outline some of these traits, and explain why blogging is even more valuable than jogging. Stay tuned . . . .