Are We Wasting Our Time Blogging?
I found this image on Flamingo House Happenings. After several weeks of writing a blog, reading other blogs and commenting on numerous blog entries, it struck a chord. I’m not sure if Denise feels that surfing the web and reading blogs, or writing her own blog, is “wasting time on ridiculous stuff”. Probably not.
But sometimes I look at the sheer volume of words that are produced and re-produced and copied and edited and linked to and from, and I’m thinking to myself “this is insane. Why the constant, endless chewing of the same topics, over and over again?”
Or as Hugh Macleod of GapingVoid put it, “Sure, blogging is huge. But the barriers to entry are so low, the number of people trying to get a piece of the action is so enormous, there’s going to be a lot of really, really tiny pieces out there”.
I did find out today that “a number of media outlets in recent years have started treating the blogosphere as a gauge of public opinion, and it has been cited in both academic and non-academic work as evidence of rising or falling resistance to globalization, voter fatigue, and many other phenomena.”[Wikipedia].
So all this endless chatter does have some significance.
But I also found out that some researchers believe that blogging is not necessarily here to stay. This is research from 2006 that tells us blogging rates will peak in 2007, then start falling. Couldn’t find newer data. So soon it will be all over?
To me, the most valuable content out there is the deeply personal one. When I read about Jenn’s victory over drug addiction, or about Gena dealing with, and surviving, bullying during her childhood, I was inspired and in awe of these beautiful examples of human strength.
Some of these “tiny pieces” are not so tiny after all.
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Denise responds:
Posted: March 20th, 2008 at 7:50 am →
Ha! I love that you took the Bart image and applied it to the vast overwhelmingness that blogging and blog reading can be.
I actually created the image because my teenage son was assigned to write a sentence 1000 times as punishment and I really disliked it.
But still, I can see where you’re coming from. I can’t say that I can completely relate because I errr work for BlogHer and I truly believe that both blogging and reading blogs are important. I don’t necessarily think they are of equal importance to everyone, nor should they be.
Your examples, Jenn and Gena, are excellent ones. Those are important stories that we probably wouldn’t have had without blogging. The fun, dare I say shallow, is also important for pure entertainment value. It’s like people who rant about how horrible TV is and what a waste of time it is, I don’t watch TV (ok an hour of Survivor a week) but I don’t see it as a waste of time or some horrible thing that people shouldn’t do.
We all find value in different activities and in different stories. For me, blogging is huge and I don’t think it’s dying. I think it’s evolving.
Thanks for the link and the interesting thinking this morning.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: March 20th, 2008 at 9:48 am →
I can’t believe that teachers are still using this type of punishment.
I can probably add to the examples of the “big” tiny pieces BlogHer’s Letter to My Body project. Specifically, the very touching letter that I read this morning. As you say, these voices wouldn’t have been heard without blogging.
http://www.blogher.com/my-pathetic-unforgiving-letter
Ashleigh responds:
Posted: March 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm →
I don’t blog, but I love reading your blog as well as a few other blogs. Sometimes you are fun and shallow, sometimes you make me think. I don’t consider this a waste of time at all. I hope you stick with it.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: March 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pm →
I promised myself that I would give this a full year.
I don’t always keep my promises to myself, so we’ll see.
Chase March responds:
Posted: August 9th, 2008 at 7:58 pm →
Good quality writing is never a waste of time. Reading and connecting with other people’s thoughts is never a waste of time either.
We get to be open and honest in blogging. We have the opportunity to get things off of our chests. We can vent. We can identify with other people and be identified with. I think blogging is wonderful.
Long live the blogosphere!
Chase March’s last blog post..What Happened to Pan and Scan?
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 9th, 2008 at 11:46 pm →
@ Chase: “I think blogging is wonderful. ” I think so too, although I wouldn’t say all of it is “good quality writing”.