Thursday, August 9, 2012

How Authors are Like Batman or My Theory on Blogging

*waves* Hi.

I know I've been sporadic in blogging. Life gets crazy sometimes.

Over the course of the past year or so, I've noticed a  wave of change within the blog-o-sphere. Maybe it's just me, but maybe not. Here's what I have noticed:

#1) People are blogging less. Those who used to consistently blog 5 days a week, are down to 2-3, if that.

#2) Topics of blogs are becoming redundant. This could be because of the blogs I'm following? Because these bloggers I follow are now at a different place than they were when I first started following them? Because people have less time to draft new blog posts, so they recycle old ones? I'm not sure.

#3) There's just less going on in the bloggerly world. With Twitter, Facebook, personal websites, Tumblr, GoodReads, Instagram, and everything else out there, I think people are reaching their limits with social networking and trying to stay connected. So they have to draw the line somewhere.

With those observations in mind, here's my theory on blogging:

The landscape of the virtual world has shifted to a point where priorities have to be made. Those priorities are generally chosen based on both audience-reach AND an author's comfort level. Some prefer Twitter or Facebook, others maybe a blog post here and there, but what it comes down to is OPTIONS. Authors are now more like Batman: with a whole arsenal of (interwebzy) tools on their utilty belts.

So really, don't feel pressured to use anything you're not comfortable with, because there are so many to choose from! Pick your tool and use what works for you.

5 comments:

Ali Cross said...

Hi Windy! *waves back*

I've definitely noticed the same thing as you regarding the frequency of blogging. I'd say most people have gone with fewer posts.

Not sure if I think the topics seem redundant or not, but I suppose they could be. Of course I'm frantically trying to figure out if *I* have become redundant, lol.

And you're also totally right about the other media available. I'm trying to move to Facebook more because I can connect with my readers better there.

Kirthi said...

Hello Windy :D
I definitely agree with you on the blogging less point. At one time, I blogged like crazy, then went through ups and downs of stopping and starting, and now I've decided to blog twice a week. The pressure in school increases every year and I have less time, you know?
OK I don't use social media. I have a twitter, but never use it, and a goodreads, but only to get summaries and book covers for my reviews. I have a tumblr, but I just browse through Tom Hiddleston pics, and I have a pinterist but I just pin a few pics and that's it. It does seem a bit overwhelming, but yeah :D
I'm an old fashioned blogger and I prefer to just use my blog to do blog things, and not use social media for that. Does that make sense?
And GERAT observations! All are true :D

-Kirthi

Kirthi said...

Hello Windy :D
I definitely agree with you on the blogging less point. At one time, I blogged like crazy, then went through ups and downs of stopping and starting, and now I've decided to blog twice a week. The pressure in school increases every year and I have less time, you know?
OK I don't use social media. I have a twitter, but never use it, and a goodreads, but only to get summaries and book covers for my reviews. I have a tumblr, but I just browse through Tom Hiddleston pics, and I have a pinterist but I just pin a few pics and that's it. It does seem a bit overwhelming, but yeah :D
I'm an old fashioned blogger and I prefer to just use my blog to do blog things, and not use social media for that. Does that make sense?
And GERAT observations! All are true :D

-Kirthi

Amanda Bonilla said...

I agree. I think we're just overloaded with so many social networking options that something had to eventually take a backseat and blogging drew the short stick.

Nichole Giles said...

I agree as well. Blogging requires more work than a 140 character tweet, or a single sentence status update. But I do think there's still a place for blogs when people have something more to say, or when we're looking for something more to read.

But yes, if you have the opportunity to be Batman, you really should. I mean, really. Why wouldn't you?