Saturday, December 17, 2011

Another one bites the dust

What the title is referring to is the fact that the Lipstick Chronicles blog is bidding adieu to the blogosphere.

Lipstick has been a great group blog written by some of the coolest women mystery writers today: Nancy Martin, Elaine Viets, Harley Jane Kozak, Sarah Strohmeyer, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Margaret Maron, and, well, you get the picture. It's been around since May 2005, when mystery writers were grouping up and forming all those cool blogs (I do have to add here that my former blog, First Offenders, was if not the first then one of the very first, starting in October 2005, but FO hung up its hat some time ago).

In the final blog post, the Tarts as they call themselves explain that Facebook and Twitter and, well, WRITING, actually is taking up a lot more time these days. And their hit numbers are going down.

That last reason is something I've been thinking about a long time. No one seems to be reading blogs anymore. And yes, I realize the irony of me writing that sentence in a blog post. But it's true.

I haven't posted much in the last few months, mainly because I've had a lot of other things going on my life and just not enough time. But another reason is that sometimes I forget I even have this blog because I'm not reading blogs like I used to and I wonder if anyone really cares what I have to say. Especially since I haven't had much to say at all lately. My writing is going in fits and starts and I can't really talk about what I've been reading for reasons that may become known later. I don't know that I want this blog to be about more than that, either. I could start blogging about my daughter's new sport: fencing. But I don't know much about fencing yet, and does anyone really want to know about that? I could post about my cats, which could be popular, but unless I figure out how to take video, it's really not all that interesting.

So I figure I'll post here when I think I have something to say, and any of you out there who want to read it, will read it.

But I'll leave you with a question: Have you been a big fan of blogs? Do you still read them like you used to? Or do you think that Facebook and Twitter and other social media have pushed blogs aside, making them a little irrelevant?

6 comments:

J. Kingston Pierce said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J. Kingston Pierce said...

I realize I'm saying this as another blogger, but no, I don't think blogs are a dying breed. I do, however, think that a lot of people who started blogs did so without realizing the commitment they were making, and many of them have fallen by the wayside. But the more serious bloggers, those who feel they have something to say and are persistent in saying it, will probably continue to deliver their messages in the same form they've been delivering them.

On the whole, Facebook and Twitter don't offer real writing; they're merely networking tools, not intended for long-form remarks or creative prose, which the better blogs can supply.

Cheers,
Jeff

Anonymous said...

That's a thought-provoking question, really.

I do find that I spend less and less time reading blogs. But I'm not quite sure whether it's because I've made the decision to scale back or because there's increasingly less to read.

I can say for certain that I do spend more time with Facebook and Twitter. And when I started writing my online book column, I pretty much abandoned my personal blog.

Speaking of which, when I was hired to write said column the position was listed as "blogger" though once officially on board I was encouraged to avoid that word.

I'm sure that says something - I'm just not sure what...

John

Gerald So said...

I read about the same number of blogs I always have--maybe not the same ones because a handful of them are defunct--but I think the form remains relevant for the reasons Jeff mentioned.

Also like Jeff, it seems to me a lot of people started blogs because they were trendy, not from a genuine desire or talent for blogging. I'd bet many of the same people have gravitated to Facebook or Twitter for the same reason.

I've had my personal blog for almost eight years. I started it with the simple goal of organizing my thoughts, which would ideally increase my creative output. Of course I use my blog to bring attention to my work, but my work isn't my blog's sole focus. I've never had a schedule or a formally stated purpose. Readers can jump in anytime.

I'm not on Facebook, but I am on Twitter. I use Twitter for in-the-moment thoughts, but my blog is still the place for anything I want to discuss in full.

Karen Olson said...

Interesting conversation.

Jeff, I think you are right that people didn't realize just how much time blogging could take, if done properly. And it's nice to know that you are still reading blogs.

Gerald is right that I think many people started blogs because it was trendy. Although First Offenders didn't start one for that reason, since we were one of the very first group blogs and everyone came after us. We hung up our hat because we felt it had run its course.

John, interesting that you were discouraged from using the term blogger.

David Terrenoire said...

I stopped blogging when I felt like I'd said everything I wanted to say. That's beginning to change a bit and I've written Facebook posts that in the past would have gone on The Planet. But to answer your question, I don't read blogs like I used to four and five years ago.