Jeremy Zawodny is wondering if and when blogging
is going to peak. He compares the state of the blogosphere now to online shopping circa 2000/2001: "most of us no
longer think it's a miracle that it works, a new thing, scary, difficult, hard to understand, etc." I think it depends
on who he means by "us." Being in the early adopter category, I can see how there's a perception that the newness has
lost its sheen. Still, I think it's only beginning for the vast majority of folks. Most of my non-techie friends at
least have a clue what I'm talking about when I say I'm a blogger (which wasn't true even a year ago), though there's a
whole continuum from there about what that means that most of them aren't so very interested in.
I doubt blogging is going to peak and crash — I think it may have yet another explosive cycle now that mainstream
media has caught on and is publicizing the idea outside of web-centric circles. As new people, ideas, and tools are
added to the mix, blogging is liable to keep evolving. Perhaps the digirati will grow bored with this incarnation of
blogging for a while and later revive the genre — the way Javascript became hot again when it became AJAX — and
there'll be a branching of some sort. But it seems as though there's a sense in which the cat's been let out of the
bag, and it's hard to imagine not being able to find anything new and interesting in the idea of one-click
self-expression, personal publishing, and engaging in a global conversation among peers, across geographies and
cultures. In fact, if we let ourselves get bored with that, we'll have wasted some truly powerful opportunity.
What do you think? Will, or has, blogging seen its peak?
Has blogging peaked?
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. I just read that only 9% of internet users know what RSS is. Given that RSS and blogging are so tightly intertwined, I think we have a long way to go before blogging peaks. Online shopping has been around for 10 years; there are still people who are uneasy about it. I think blogging will be around for a long time to come.
3. Blogging is partly a means to an end, and only delivers part of my aims. I think blogging will change as developers give it functionality that ordinary people want in meeting their everyday needs. If it develops that way, blogging will become more ubiquitous.
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by dglp
4. I don't see how it can crash. Blogging has no objectives that can fail. It's not trying to make profit and as an amateur blogger I can assure you it makes no ends me whether someone reads my blog or not.
It's a free, progressive and empowering. In a class all of it's own. Blogging will long continue and only get stronger. The rate of expansion may slow but I see no change other than that.
The beauty is it can't be capitalised. Everyone can blog, and given quality writing, everyone can be as successful as even the most wealthy of corporate bloggers.
***NOTE: For those of you who will respond y commenting on Murdochs recent aquisition of MySpace I would respond by saying that he isn't planning to profit directly from the purchase merely to understand it's average user and become more involved in the cultural phenomenon that is taking place on the net. If he try's to cash in, people will find another service. It's that simple. On the net, we have the power and blogging is a prime example of this. ***
5. You weren't blogging a year ago, but you're an "early adopter"? Really?
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by BradHeintz.com
6. I've been blogging since 2002.
Regards,
Barb
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by barb dybwad
1. I think you're exactly right. It might fall out of popularity for the hard-core progamming types, but they make up a tiny minority of internet users.
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Adam