I debated for months about starting a blog before I actually did it. As usual, I was about a year behind on the online communication train and decided it was finally time to catch up. Unfortunately, being a year behind means that you are always catching up just as everyone else is moving on. In January, I joined Facebook, just in time for everyone to move to Twitter. I have not yet joined Twitter for several reasons: a) as soon as I join, everyone will move on to something else I've never heard of before b) I find Facebook overwhelming, and cannot imagine anything that inspires people to post more frequently than that and c) I am not yet ready to participate in anything that goes by the name of "tweeting" (at least I know some of the lingo, despite the fact that I learned it from Oprah, who is more than 20 years my senior).
With all this Facebooking and Twittering and whatever new thing is around the corner that I haven't discovered yet. . . I'm wondering. . . is the end of the blog near? As soon as I joined Facebook, my blog posts became less frequent. Lately, I'm noticing the decline of my friends' blogs as well. Some folks have just given up the ghost and let their blogs go all together. Others have let their blogs sit sadly idle for months, and I'm starting to wonder if I should bother checking them anymore. As for the rest of us, it seems that posts are noticably less frequent. . . maybe it's the start of summer weather, maybe it's our busy lives, but I can't help but imagine that our Facebooking and Twittering has something to do with it. Combine this with the fact that I'm not sure I have more than three readers left (thanks to those of you who have held on, and even more to those of you who comment so I know you're still there!), and I'm wondering if it will be long before we all leave our blogs behind.
After my initial obsession with Facebook--and all the friending and catching up that comes with it--the novelty has worn off. I recently realized I was spending more time in front of the computer than I wanted to, reading status updates from people that didn't really matter to me. I've since created a "Friends & Family" list so that I can eliminate the posts of high school acquaintances and other folks of little interest to me (don't worry, if you know me well enough to read my blog even occasionally, you definitely made the cut). Even given that, I haven't been on Facebook much lately, and I've held off on posting status updates, namely because I spend way too much time trying to come up with something interesting or clever to say, and almost always come up short.
When e-mail arrived, I mourned the loss of phone calls and letters (I was an avid letter writer for years, and I still love sending cards). When the blog arrived, I mourned the loss of personalized e-mails. Since then, though, the blogging world has definitely grown on me; I love that it not only gives people a space to share their photos and details of their lives, but it also gives them room to share their thoughts and feelings and insights. In many ways, I've gotten to know parts of my friends that I didn't know before, especially those friends who are hundreds of miles away and with whom I can no longer have those regular, long talks over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. I miss those. And I worry that, if blogs are left behind, my communication with faraway friends is going to be reduced to 140 characters or less.
So, I am going to try to spend a little less time on Facebook and a little more time here. I am going to avoid Twitter, at least for now. And to all of my wonderful readers with blogs--who are all such interesting, brilliant people and such beautiful writers--I invite you to breathe the life back in to your blog (if you have to start out small with a dream retelling or a You Tube video, I totally understand). I'll be watching for your posts.
5 comments:
I have been wondering the same thing. It wasn't until May that I really began to notice it, and I do wonder if the summer weather isn't a big factor. Perhaps though, the real decline has probably been going on since Dec/Jan-ish. At least, in my tiny circle of the interweb.
I, too, love blogs because of the glimpse into lives of friends too far away to talk to regularly; it's a medium where they truly get to reveal so much more individuality than FB or Twitter (although Twitter is awesome for entirely different reasons I won't get into).
Fear not, my blog has been going strong for about 4 years now, and even though posting has its ebbs and flows, I don't intend on giving it up anytime soon. Just, you know, you might have to skip past more Rafael Nadal posts :)
I have felt like I couldn't talk about most of what's been going on with us on my blog, and that's what's been in my mind a lot.
I turn down a lot of people on Facebook. I do that because I want to be able to say things I can't necessarily say on my blog.
But I do think you're right that FB and Twitter may be changing the nature of which blogs people hold onto. I also think we're at a time of life (again) of major transitions; when I think of the number of friends who have gotten divorced or separated or who have gotten pregnant or had children or made major other life changes in the last year---it's just huge! And those changes can keep you from writing, even with the best of intentions otherwise.
Exactly. I have long pondered this issue, watching our blog and its audience change shape over the course of almost five years now. I completely agree that blogging is more meaningful, for both readers and writers, and I've been making a concerted effort to keep them up for that reason. Even if I'm blogging to The Void. I too am overwhelmed sometimes by FB, and am back to skimming/checking in and then logging out. It feels more peaceful to keep it simple. I did recently join Twitter, in spite of the way my skin crawls at the word "tweet." :) And for Twitter, I've kept my list of followers VERY small... for me, it's more personal than FB, and I also feel less confined when updating? However, I'm not using it for work. I think it has some benefits that neither blogging nor FB allow, but I guess that each platform has its pluses and minuses. I refuse to give up on blogging! It's always interesting to think about new things and what we gain and what we lose. Something is always lost, but I think what is lost is often overlooked by the majority of people. Great post. :)
actually, i've been feeling really bad for (a) not posting blogs and (b) not reading my friends. it's been a busyness thign for me mostly, but your theory on the fb and twitter is probably completely accurate.
not too long ago i heard (or read...i never know anymore) someone refer to twitter as 'mini-blogging'. which i thought was a really interesting way to put it. i have a twitter which i neglect WAY more than i do my blog. it just seems like it's that much more removed from actually relating to other people, that it's reduced to a sentence, you know?
anyway...i'm still here! i'm glad you're still here! and i'm still a terrible, Terrible correspondent...oy...
ditto.
I LOVE and miss the blogging of friends, but am guilty myself of neglecting my blog. . .sometimes it's just hard to fit it all in. And then when I do, it's such a long post trying to recall everything, I probably loose people either way.
And I love hand written notes and personalized emails.
And I'm still here, even if I get to the comments late! And I'm glad you're still pondering and posting!
I like FB in some ways, but have definitely tried to cut back on my time spent perusing since first joining (which I held out on for a long time, too!) And I joined Twitter before FB and really liked it, but got bored because no one else ever posted and now lots of people use it, but almost too frequently and I just don't have enough room in my brain to process it all.
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