The semi-annual ritual of predictions of the eminent demise of "blogs" is upon us again. Jason Fry in The Wall Street Journal recounts the latest predictions of impending doom...
Recent weeks have seen the rise of a cottage industry in Whither Blogging? articles. New York magazine cast cold water on newly minted bloggers' dreams with an examination of the divide between a handful of A-list blogs and countless B-list and C-list blogs that can't get much traffic no matter how hard their creators work. Slate's Daniel Gross spotlighted signs that blogs may have peaked as a business. And a much-discussed poll from Gallup concluded that growth in U.S. blog readers was "somewhere between nil and negative." From there it was off to the races, with all manner of commentators weighing in, led by the Chicago Tribune, which smirked its way through an anti-blogging editorial that got Mr. Gross's name wrong while taking odd potshots at Al Gore and snowboarding.He goes on to note that the Chicago Tribune got smacked around by one of their own columnists - Eric Zorn - who just so happens to blog for The Trib...
Reports of blogging's demise are bosh, but if we're lucky, something else really is going away: the by-turns overheated and uninformed obsession with blogging. Which would be just fine, because it would let blogging become what it was always destined to be: just another digital technology and method of communication, one with plenty to offer but no particular claim to revolution.
Fry missed one recent naysayer, which it turns out given their extremely poor record at predicting the future, is actually a good omen for bloggers. The 10th anniversary edition of Fast Company trumpets "bloggers" as one of the six jobs that won't exist in 2016. Fast Company was founded to give glossy print reach-arounds to Silicon Valley VC's, so anything they proclaim as the next big thing should be looked at askew.
If Fast Company (inspiration for the dot-com death pool site F**dcompany) says you're on the path to obsolescence it's a safe bet that you've got a rosy future...
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Comments (9)
Blogs are dying. In other ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Random Yak | February 27, 2006 3:13 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Blogs are dying. In other news, the sky is falling, Hillary Clinton holds the keys to the future and Karl Rove just launched a functioning Death Star...
1. Posted by Random Yak | February 27, 2006 3:13 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 27, 2006 03:13
2. Posted by jpm100 | February 27, 2006 4:45 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If you went tunnel vision on liberal oriented blogs only and then squint real hard, you might make that conclusion.
2. Posted by jpm100 | February 27, 2006 4:45 AM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 04:45
3. Posted by rick13 | February 27, 2006 9:45 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, it was a good run!
3. Posted by rick13 | February 27, 2006 9:45 AM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 09:45
4. Posted by ed | February 27, 2006 9:51 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hmmm.
I certainly wish blogs would die a quick painless death.
Then I wouldn't be wasting so much time reading and commenting on them. :)
4. Posted by ed | February 27, 2006 9:51 AM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 09:51
5. Posted by Peace Moonbeam | February 27, 2006 10:53 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If that's true, how do they account for the fact "The Peace Moonbeam Chronicles" is predicted by Forbes to surpass General Motors in overall earnings within the next three years?
Dying? I think not!
5. Posted by Peace Moonbeam | February 27, 2006 10:53 AM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 10:53
6. Posted by McGehee | February 27, 2006 1:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I know I certainly haven't peaked in my blog-income potential...
[sigh]
6. Posted by McGehee | February 27, 2006 1:16 PM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 13:16
7. Posted by beth | February 27, 2006 6:54 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I would hope I haven't peeked at my blog income potential! lol
I think they are just upset the unwashed masses are able to get a say in things and can call them on their own (at times) cowardly and (at times) skewed reporting.
Maybe they're hoping saying it will make it so. Then they'll have a better chance to keep their jobs.
7. Posted by beth | February 27, 2006 6:54 PM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 18:54
8. Posted by High Desert Wanderer | February 27, 2006 8:50 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Business? I can make money writing a blog? I'd be thrilled if I broke even, or even lost less. My site doesn't cost much, but free would be better. On the bright side though, I should have a lot more free time by 2016.
8. Posted by High Desert Wanderer | February 27, 2006 8:50 PM |
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Posted on February 27, 2006 20:50
9. Posted by Robin Goodfellow | February 28, 2006 2:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Yeah, blog readership is slowing down, it's no longer growing at several thousand percent per year, it must be near death!
9. Posted by Robin Goodfellow | February 28, 2006 2:11 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2006 02:11