The rise and fall of blogs

Breaking news, people! I hope you’re sitting down because what I’m about to tell you may be shocking. Here we go. Are you ready? Blogs are dead media.

Let me take a few steps back. Do you remember The Buggles? Probably not, because of the self-fulfilling prophecy they sung about: ‘video killed the radio star’.

Follow me, if by ‘video’ we mean Youtube, then video definitely killed Radio stars, along with Television ones.

However, there is another killer in this modern-day scenario, much more subtle and some say it’s worth a thousand words.

Pictures!

First, they got rid of Twitter, then of Blogs. It’s a word massacre, an ink bath.

But then something happened and Radio came back as Podcasts. Which proceeded to kill Television, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Blogs, what was left of Radio …

And a partridge in a pear tree.

I place myself, rather strongly I must admit, in the Blog field. With just a glimpse of Twitter in the distance, for some perspective, but that’s it. And I’ve been living happily in the Blogsphere for almost a decade now.

Survival instinct or self-destruction? Polls are open.

The way I intend my blog to be consumed is as a side-dish to life. Each topic I discuss here is something I would talk about with my friends, knowing we would have a good conversation and exchange opinions and experiences. Quality, not quantity.

Is it a lifestyle blog, then? Not really. It doesn’t look like one, it doesn’t talk like one, and most importantly it doesn’t sell like one.

I sometimes compare the number of my readers to that of the Kardashian’s followers, this is when the boyfriend tunes in and let me know that not all blogs are dead. Apparently, there is a huge market for written reviews of tech and cars, not to mention written news.

Certain themes are not as visual as what beauty gurus or videogame players are producing.

Even the way we access entertainment may vary from topic to topic. Podcasts and more storytelling content can be listened to while doing other things. Bite-size videos and pictures can be accessed and enjoyed fully in the time it takes for the tram to arrive at your destination, or while waiting for your food delivery.

Blogs, not dissimilar to movies, require dedicated time and focus. We’re doing the opposite of Instagram here, we’re painting a mental image for you using words and light.

Well, I am not using any light here. You know what I mean.

Do I feel like my efforts are worthless? Absolutely not.

I’ve tried Instagram and the only thing I wanted to convey were written thoughts. I might have been able to reach a larger audience, hah!, but would they enjoy written content? I’d argue not.

There’s a time and a place for a Blog, and Instagram is not it. Our hectic daily life may not be ‘it’ either.

All things considered, I am not changing my theme to automotive news nor starting a Podcast, but what I do enjoy is knowing I am telling personal stories that my audience will enjoy or relate to, or perhaps learn something new from. Does it have to be immediate consumption of content? No.

Don't worry, I’ll be here when you have time to dedicate to a modern decadent hobby such as blog-reading.



Image: via