Well, at times at least this one seems moribund. But as a form I think the blog is alive and thriving in spite of all the new forms of self-expression that have exploded recently. I asked this question as sort of a straw man to anchor my latest Tech Beat article which appears today in the Times-Standard. In that article I gave some tips on how to make an effective blog. I also promised I would post a list of other blogging resources for further learning here on Talking Tech. I’m a little late getting this together, but here is that list. It’s not intended to be comprehensive. It’s short on purpose, not to overwhelm. But there’s certainly plenty of good advice to be found in these resources. Please feel free to offer your own advice and/or resources in the comments.
Recent Blog Tip Articles
- Top 10 Business Blogs and Why They Are Successful
- 6 Ways to Constantly Produce Quality Blog Content
- 26 Ways to Enhance Your Blog Content
- 11 Ways to Create Great Blog Content
- How and Why I Use Evernote (I mention Evernote in the T-S article)
- 21 Ways to Increase Blog Traffic
I’ve noticed the same thing. I don’t know what the mentality is behind it, though.
Regarding comments: I post references to my blog posts in my Facebook news stream. For some reason, several people post comments on Facebook instead of clicking through to the actual blog and commenting there. Curious, as those comments are not public. So it appears fewer people are commenting on the blog and fewer people have the opportunity to read the comments.
I enjoyed your original article in the Times-Standard. As a publisher of several blogs, I have seen traffic ebb and flow. Lack of comments drives me nuts, too. I don’t know if I think the blog is dead or dying, but I do think people’s attention spans are becoming shorter, thus it makes it harder to concentrate on anything but a “sound bite” of information.
Thanks, Graham. i agree. Looking at your blogs (http://grahammoody.blogspot.com/, http://paralleluniversestory.blogspot.com/, http://grahammoody.wordpress.com/), the form is taking on many shapes. But I don’t feel any antagonism toward Twitter. In fact, I find pointers to many excellent blog posts on Twitter. It’s my favorite source for discovering new information. The short form definitely has its place, especially in this hyperactive age.
Good article. The blog is not dead, but is in a process. What process? One might hope that frivolous Twitters would fritter away, and people would go back to paying attention to 250-500 word essays on weblogs