- Microblogging, or specifically for me, Plurk. I find the small updates easier; at the same time, they're also less substantial.
- Polarization of the blogging community. I find the blogging community nowhere near as vibrant as it used to be. Maybe it's because of Facebook and Twitter, but I also think that bloggers have already clustered around their own groups and activities and -- good Lord, even blogging platforms. That doesn't leave much room for unaffiliated bloggers like me. Welcome to the age of groupthink, boys and girls; no more discourse, just "I agree."
- Probloggers. Nothing's more discouraging than measuring up your tiddly readership against kids who boast of daily page counts in the thousands and hundreds of thousands-- and earning megabucks from it.
But that wouldn't be me.
I totally feel the same way about the local blogosphere. It's just...weird and overly commercial and people just whore themselves out for cheap goodie bags while marketing groups take advantage of the free publicity.
ReplyDeleteSad - but I stick to the principle that I blog about what I want to and eventually like-minded geeks will find their way to me.
Glad to hear I'm not alone, Rocky.
ReplyDeleteyou're in a rut again, aren't you. :(
ReplyDeleteyou said before that you write because you want to write. ;)
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem with my blog. With probloggers and news blogs rendering my geek blog mostly redundant, I've chosen Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader as my primary tools for expressing ideas and sharing information.
ReplyDeleteMicroblogging and click-a-button sharing fit my work schedule far better than regular blogging, I think, especially since it usually takes me a couple of hours just to make one blog post (a whole day if it's about something I really care about). I just don't have the time anymore. :-(
You hit the nail right on the head. For a while there, I lost my drive too.
ReplyDeleteBut I have come to realize that I blog because I want to talk about important issues under my own terms.
In the early days, the local blogosphere wasn't all about promoting this and that event, with goodie bags to boot. It was all about sharing ideas.
We can still maintain that in our little corner of the cyber world.
Heh. We should form an association. You know, association of unaffiliated bloggers. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhy not? Or at least have a code like a journalism code of ethics. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely something to think about.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear...
ReplyDeleteWait, does that mean I'm advocating groupthink?
... I disagree! Very strongly! :-D
echo echo :)
ReplyDeleteWhen that reality tries to nudge me again, I simply browse my older posts and simply feel proud that I'm writing because it makes me happy. Others just do it for the buck.