Should You Kill Off Your Blog?!
From time to time I read an article with a theme along these lines: Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites are taking over the internet making emailing and blogging a thing of the past.
Though such ideas are out there, I have yet to uncover hard data supporting these kinds of statements. But I can imagine that there may actually be something to this sort of thinking especially since Facebook now has more than 400 million registered users and my email inbox seems to be under control. Concerning the latter I can say that the number of messages I receive daily has finally plateaued, this coming after many years of relentless growth.
I’m registered with all of the major social networking sites as well as with a handful of relatively unknown sites too. But if you think that I’m going to become a Facebook Farmville devotee and give up my blogging, you’re cluck crazy!
So should you give up blogging? Well, if your blog isn’t much to speak of then go ahead.
For the majority of people who have been maintaining blogs for several years, giving up blogging now seems to make no sense. Especially if you have created a regular following and have steady traffic. Of course, should you decide to do something completely different with your life, then exiting blogging makes sense. But don’t leave your blog twisting in the wind if you think that Facebook should replace your time online.
Here are some reasons why I am not about to give up blogging any time soon:
I enjoy creating my own work. Blogging gives me a platform or bully pulpit to say what I think. Certainly you can do that on many social networking sites, but you are competing in a noisy marketplace of ideas. By maintaining this blog I can control it and give people the chance to respond and be heard.
I don’t want to lose money. This blog certainly is not a money maker but I do manage other blogs that are. Losing a couple daily Adsense clicks may not be much, but that tends to add up. Why should social networking sites get the benefit of that and more especially when I am providing to them unique and (hopefully) interesting content?
For posterity’s sake. I can’t imagine my blog writings being around long after I am gone, but if they are then I want to receive credit for what I wrote. Even for the short term I need to point my potential clients to my writings; without a blog as reference then I have one less resource to show.
I know some people are interpreting the writing on the wall to mean that blogging will eventually go the way of newspapers. Well, newspapers aren’t dead yet and just like print media I believe that blogging will transform to keep pace with “what’s new” while still allowing bloggers to have a voice on a platform they control.
Tags: AdSense, Blogger, blogging, blogs, Facebook, social networking, Twitter, Writing
Writing | Matthew C. Keegan, 4 Mar 10
By LD Jackson, March 5, 2010 @ 7:41 am
I think I have mentioned this before, but the only reason I even have a Facebook account is for it’s use as another outlet for my blog. I know of one excellent writer who has basically abandoned his blog for Facebook, but I can not see that happening in my case. I have much more control over my content and style on Political Realities than I do on Facebook.
But what do I know, I still read the newspaper every day.
.-= LD Jackson´s last blog ..Public perception of the automotive bailout – one year later =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, March 5, 2010 @ 8:24 am
Larry, it amazes me that some people have ditched their blogs for Facebook. Personally, I would advise using Facebook but not at the expense of your own site.
That is kind of like selling your home and living with tens of thousands of strangers at a football stadium.
By Eli @ Business Sphere, March 6, 2010 @ 7:51 am
Thought-provoking post, Matt. I think as long as there are people who like to write for self-expression or as a hobby, I’m pretty sure that blogging is here to stay.
Besides, talking about monetization, I’m not certain if you can earn some money from social networking sites like Facebook compared to what you can earn by having a blog.
It is a fact that everyday there are hundreds of thousands of blogs being created. For every one blog which was abandoned or dies, ten new blogs are born.
It is my view that a blog is complementary to a Facebook account, but if I’m made to choose, I’ll chose my blog anyday.
.-= Eli @ Business Sphere´s last blog ..What is Your Blog’s USP? Does Your Blog Has A USP? =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, March 6, 2010 @ 9:36 am
Eli, I agree. If you are using Facebook and you are blogging, then you got a good combination. I do both, but I wouldn’t abandon my blogs for Facebook. But I will continue to use Facebook to point people to my blogs and visit people’s blogs through Facebook too.
By Dominique, March 8, 2010 @ 12:50 am
The best thing I ever did was kill off my political blog. The new blog has been a nice surprise in the steady readers that it has drawn. The struggle to produce posts/articles isn’t there anymore either.
I think I will take my blog over any of my social accounts any day.
.-= Dominique´s last blog ..7 sites for CRASHLESS Shopping =-.
By Matthew C. Keegan, March 8, 2010 @ 8:05 pm
Dominique, isn’t that how it works? You find a topic you are passionate about and it is so easy to write. That is one reason why I backed away from writing political articles–I was interested in the topic but not coming up with articles on a regular basis. Daily? That would have been difficult to do.
I’m glad you value your blog so much–it shows!
By Heru Kurniawan, March 8, 2010 @ 8:07 pm
Before we decide it, we should think again what are get from blogging activities.
it can make we enjoy ourselves..
thanks for share this post
.-= Heru Kurniawan´s last blog ..Viral Marketing Becomes Mobile =-.