Is blogging finished?


As I’m writing this, it’s Tuesday afternoon. I’ve just deleted today’s blog post on coleslaw. Yeah, coleslaw. As much as I like the simplicity of my coleslaw recipe (grate cabbage, carrot and fennel, mix) it’s not really enough for a blog post. It’s a painful realisation. When your blog is reduced to coleslaw, it’s time to face the truth.

I’ve been blogging for nearly three years. It’s been an interesting experience. I can honestly say the discipline of regular post production has helped me become a better writer. With a blog schedule, there’s no waiting for inspiration. You go out and grab inspiration by the throat–or not, witness the coleslaw.

I’ve met wonderful people on my blogging journey. I look in awe at people like Maria Zannini and Shelley Munro who not only write amusing and intriguing posts, but have built a sense of community around their blogs.

But for less talented bloggers (ahem, looks in mirror) I think the reality is blogs are no longer being read. If you haven’t built a community or established yourself as an expert on something, then there is no way readers will a) find you, and b) bother to bookmark your blog if they do find you. Or to put it in economic terms, I think blogging has hit the stage of rationalisation. For a while there every man and his cat had a blog. Now only the successful will survive.

Of course, if you love blogging, keep going. Monologues are fun (hello, that’s what’s happening here!). But if you expected your blog to offer a return beyond the satisfaction of publishing your posts…brace yourself for disappointment.

I hope I’m not sounding pessimistic?

I won’t be abandoning this blog. It’s an integral part of my website. However, it will now be explicitly shaped by the purpose of the website, which is to promote my writing. Going forward, this blog will feature background on my books, release dates, notices of giveaways, and similar.


7 responses to “Is blogging finished?”

    • No, I don't think it's dead either, but I do think the return on time and energy (for me at least) means I need to let go a regular schedule and replace blogging here time with time on Twitter (where I get a much higher level of interaction) and supporting the group blogs I'm part of.

      I'm gearing up for 2013 in which I take a deep breath and accept that I'm not social media superwoman ๐Ÿ™‚

  1. I'm glad you're still blogging, Jenny. I enjoy reading them and seeing your name pop up in my email. ๐Ÿ™‚ I think it makes you accessible and connects you to your readers even if they don't always comment.

    I'm new to blogging and I have no idea whether they're being read or not, but it took me out of my (huge) comfort zone and I have you to thank for that, Jenny. (And Claytons 2012) ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Thanks, DD ๐Ÿ™‚

      Blogging (despite how negative this post sounded) really is a great way to get comfortable online … that whole scary putting-yourself-out-there thing. I'm so glad you're blogging – but the fact I didn't have your blog on my Google Reader reminded me of one of the (unstated) reasons I want to step away from my own blog. I want to squeeze in a tad more time to read and comment on others' blogs, especially group blogs like Darkside Down Under.

  2. I'm glad you're not abandoning your blog. You might find that if you let it rest for a while, it'll resurrect on its own. I'm wondering if you're not putting undue pressure on yourself.

    I've read blogs with coleslaw recipes. The only thing they did differently was include variations and how best to serve them. One person did a short history of coleslaw.

    I wrote a post on the best toilet cleaner for my Back to Basics blog. Believe it or not, it is the post with the HIGHEST traffic. It makes me laugh whenever I see the stats. The only reason I wrote it is because I was ecstatic at finding something that worked without being toxic. And all by itself, it found its own audience. You will too.

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