Blogs are Dead? So what?

JamesMaxwell said:

The biggest problem with self-publishing is that you get to put whatever you want out there on the internet without the use of an editor. Occasionally, you end up phrasing yourself badly and end up on Twitter as having been flamed for declaring that blogs are dead.

 

Blogs are not dead, but they'll certainly kill you and your company if you're not careful. An editor, if anything, is what you should be asking your clients to use, so that they can keep their preferred CMS out of the statusphere.

dtheus said:

Deirdre: Great points. As Ari said, more long-form blogs are appearing that are helpful for professional and personal development. The usability of blogs (both their journal style and length) lend themselves to more developed thoughts. The choice of tools is a function of the author, the audience and their relationship. Frankly I find the 'relationship establishment' so much easier on networks like Twitter than on blog comments, that this is another reason blogs seem better suited to long form articles than dietetic status messages (which make decent relationship fodder sometimes).I remember several years ago when Live Journal told me I couldn't get a web page on my journal because 'we're not a web site'. As people's use of blogs has changed, other platforms (not LJ) have started adding site features because, in fact, now many people use their blogs as web sites. I am enjoying watching this change.

DeirdreReid1 said:

What a conversation so far. I'm a bit intimidated to step in, however nothing I'll say can be considered controversial. However, the arguments got me thinking about blogs (both reading and writing) and I wanted to add my thoughts. It appears that everyone agrees that blogs are not going away, their use will evolve for some, and won't for others. Not everyone changes their expression patterns based on new tools -- some will continue to blog about their favorite tv show or lunch, some will twitter about that, some will update their Facebook status with that info, and that's fine. We're all free to choose how we want to express ourselves and we're free to choose what we read, whom to follow or friend.

Perhaps in a world of mobile communication, blog reading and writing will become less convenient, or not, if the tools make it just as easy for us to post and comment as it is to tweet. However, I believe that blogs will continue to be a platform for self-expresson, a deeper exploration of thoughts that often only happens through the act of writing and rereading and editing, thoughts that need more than 140 characters to be expressed, thoughts that our Facebook friends wouldn't care to read. Blogs will continue to be part of homebase for many businesses -- a center for feedback and conversation with customers and prospects.

And finally, I ask myself where is most of my professional development coming from? Two places -- my RSS feeds from blogs and Twitter links to blogs. Blogs will continue to evolve, being more than just a collection of posts, allowing us ways to share, connect and learn, I'm guessing that's something we all can be happy about.

dtheus said:

David- Well, I agree with all your points so either I misspoke tremendously or you missed my points. Or both. I never said "kill the blog" I said, "thank goodness the blog is evolving to be an even more effective communication tool in the social space." Actually, specifically I said, "My hope is that blog format CMS remains and evolves as a publishing platform." (Last paragraph.)

In addition to appreciating and liking blogs as platforms for thoughtful self-expression, I advise my clients to have blogs and will continue to do so when it serves their business needs (which is not always). If blog technology becomes even more effective at helping them, this is something I celebrate. If the blog-as-we-know-it has to "die" and "evolve" to do so, I'm happy with that. If you take time to read my thoughts on Twitter, you'll see that I agree with you about it's potential as a communications platform, but I think it is mostly a statusphere service right now that is being experimented with (successfully in some cases as you point out) but has yet to evolve into its full potential.

Thank you for the thoughtful comment and discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

DaveAllen said:

Dana,

dtheus said:

Sorry, Tommy, I don't buy that. You walked into a barroom brawl that was starting to turn into a conversation and tried to throw another punch. Others have brought up issues of both substance and style and I've addressed both. I stand by the substance of what I said and I admit the style lacked some tact. If you're making a substantive point about monetization I'm listening; but you'll have to explain yourself better because if this post is about anything it's self-expression, not monetization. I block your punch.

TomTrindler said:

Fake win-win. This gaffe too big for rep mgt "we're both right" band aid. One thing social media doesn't need  to monetize itself is a superiority complex.

dtheus said:

Pascal- thanks and point taken. It was inarticulation on my part that made my post incidiary. However, with this statement -"I'm glad that that the less brilliant thoughts we ALL have will soon find homes in more appropriate formats" - I absolutley include myself in the drek production sometimes and I'm thankful to have more appropriate places to tweet my meal contents than to have to put on the front of my blog in order to express it. Thanks for your comment.

dtheus said:

Ari, I see the disconnect. I think we're both right. A blog as a "journal style web page" will never go away, nor should it for the reasons we've both identified. Journaling is a critical form of self expresiion and we couldn't kill it if we tried (and I don't think anyone is, certainly not me). "Blog as CMS" to me means that it's a CMS tech tool which is specialized to enable journaling. The fact that it was all people had to use as a self expression tool on the web for a few years (unless you were adept at coding HTML) meant a lot of content was created in journal format that, well, made for poor "journal/article" reading. But the self expression need is/was so great that we used blogs for it anyway, used them socially even before there were tools and networks to make it easy. And this created demand for even more specialized CMS and networking tools like microblogs, journal communities, video sharing networks and the do-it-all-sorta-well Facebook. These other tools are taking the stuff away from journal/blogs that really weren't well suited for that format anyway, leaving the new version of blogs to evolve into something that enables self expression even better. So... I think we're agreeing?

PascalSilberzahn said:

In France we have a meritocracy, in education, communications, government, business. One must qualify to become part of an elite. Social media is helping to open the doors of this culture of meritocracy and blogging is part of that movement. One would think things are different in America, with Silicon Valley lifestyle. But regardless of how you spin your statements, your voice talks down to people and elitism is not what the social space is all about. Perhaps you might find a moment to step back and reflect.  

ariherzog said:

Perhaps the confusing element for me, Dana, is your use of "CMS." I don't view a blog as a CMS at all, but literally as a web log. How is a diary indicative of content management?

People will continue writing diaries with pen and paper; and people will continue writing diaries with keyboard and screen, hyperlinks and pictures notwithstanding, as you've done on your blog and shared with us here.

Are microblogs and other social tools changing the blogosphere? Of course. But is the blog as a diary of personal expression changing? I don't think so. While some bloggers have given it up in favor of tweeting and other shorter forms, I disagree that the blog is dying; rather as one person shifts to the other side, new people come in.

dtheus said:

Chuck, Terri and Ari, I think you guys are missing my point, and that my attempt at a catchy headline backfired on my more subtle point, which is that "blogs" are just a special purpose form of CMS and that like all tech platforms the blog-form is starting to evolve - something for those of us in social media to celebrate! I didn't say self expression was dead, or syndicated contend or 'the conversation". These things are what the social web is about and the evolution of blogs is a sign of their sucess. I agree with you that long-form blogs are growing and I think this is good because the long-format is better used for thoughtful insight than "what's for breakfast" stuff. I am happy to read my friend's humorous breakfast tweets and status messages because those short formats are better suited to that kind of content. I'm not sure if the misunderstanding is a function of uninsightful writing on my part or a dangerous infatuation with technology. If there is anything the speed of social media adoption and evolution should teach us it is not to fall in love with any particular technology (blog-format CMS included) because it will change and staying on top of it for our clients and ourselves requires being willing to let some things go when something better comes along. I appreciate the conversation and I'd be interested in your thoughts on this comment.

ariherzog said:

Heh. If you're correct Dana and blogs will morph into portals, then I guess you don't need to syndicate your posts to places like SMT anymore, do you? After all, nobody cares to read prose beyond 200 characters--and why comment when we can "retweet" it?

Hogwash I say. The "blogs are dying" argument has been floating for years; and yet they remain. Time will tell, for sure; but personally I see more long-form blogs coming than less.

TerriTata said:

Dana flip flopping and elitism from on high shows detachment, which is why most corporate and government and near government cultures don't get social media as so aptly put by Ms Mengel in her post. You are fortunate that 1500 people or machines have not read this post.

dtheus said:

Social media is all about self expression and I'm personally glad the technical platforms are evolving to make it easier to express in appropriate ways for all of us. Including comments. Thanks for yours.