Archives for November 2008

The Death of Blogs

There has been quite a bit of buzz around the Internet lately about the death of blogs. This discussion is fueled in part by the recent departure of some high profile bloggers from the blogosphere. The irony of this discussion, of course, is that much of it is occurring on blogs.

Fallen! Fallen! Oh, how the mighty BLOG has fallen!

The arguments that blogs are dead usually center around several key points.

1. The growth of high-traffic, high-profile, multi-author blogs destroys any hope for the average individual blogger to be discovered and gain any meaningful audience.
2. Newer forms of social media, like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr make the need for personal blogs obsolete.
3. The never-ending comment spam, coupled with comments from obnoxious readers, simply require too much energy and time.

These observations are completely accurate based on my experience with blogs and the Internet.

The Trouble with Blogs

Comment spam and obnoxious people hiding behind the pseudo-anonymity of the Internet serve to deter many people from starting or continuing their blog. Even when the comments are not spam it is hopelessly frustrating to see an endless stream of comments that prove the person leaving the comment did not bother to actually read the article before firing off a comment.

The advent and rapidly growing popularity of multi-author blogs and high-traffic blog networks make it very difficult for the new blogger to gain any significant audience or to achieve reasonable search engine placement. Further, multi-author blogs are able to deliver quantity of content due to multiple authors and quality of content by having multiple authors with different specialties. The average solo blogger simply cannot compete against mega-blogs and sites like Wikipedia for search rankings and traffic.

Are Blogs Really Dead

The question must be asked though – are blogs really dead? Is there really no future on the Internet for blogs?

Nothing lasts forever – especially on the Internet! However, blogs have redefined how people communicate, obtain and interact with news, and even elect presidents (in the US). Blogs have become an integral part of the Internet landscape and it is certainly hard to imagine them going away any time soon. Blogs (to use the term loosely) have further become an entrenched part of the Internet as blog platforms like WordPress have increasingly seen double duty as both blog platform and CMS. WordPress is my blog platform of choice and my CMS of choice because of the power and flexibility of the program. So where does the blog end and the CMS site begin?

I suspect that part of the problem is that blogs were overhyped as the ultimate solution to online publishing. This situation is reminiscent of the dot.com boom of a decade ago. The technology was (and is) destined to become a major player in the emerging Internet economy – but the hype needed to be tempered by reality.

Blogs Still Have a Pulse

Despite the challenges associated with blogging I believe the humble blog is not really dead. I suspect we will witness a continued evolution of blogs for some time as blogs continue to be integrated into the Web fabric. For instance, many CMS-powered websites now also have an integrated blog. Many social media sites also offer integrated blogs for their users. Blogs as we know them may eventually decrease in popularity as newer forms of the blog emerge but the blog is not likely to be buried any time soon.

Comment spam is a significant problem for bloggers. Anti-spam measures can help (Akismet, etc.) but are always an imperfect solution as spammers continue to develop new methods to beat the filters. Comments can also be disabled or restricted to registerd users. Some social media fans will chafe at this suggestion but, for many sites, this is the best solution to the spam and unwanted comment problem.

Multi-author blogs do present a formidable challenge to new bloggers. Competing for search engine placement against established mega-blogs is a tough challenge. However, this does not mean that it is not possible to compete with established blogs and websites. The blog does level the playing field and provides a voice to anyone willing to invest the required work to make it happen. Blogging in the context of an established network (HubPages, Squidoo, and Associated Content are a few examples) provides a free and easy way to blog while taking advantage of the traffic of an established network. This can greatly increase a new blogger’s traffic and exposure. New bloggers can also compete by focusing on a niche, by writing in a unique voice, or by providing a perspective or information other similar blogs do not provide. Competing with a mega-blog is somewhat like a mom and pop store competing with WalMart. Many small operations will not succeed because they fail to differentiate themselves sufficiently to build a loyal customer base. Independent blogs, like independent stores, can always deliver unique value to their customers.

What’s Next After Blogs

What is next in the world of social media? What will replace the venerable personal blog? The transition appears to already be underway. Social media sites like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Delicious, and a host of others, offer a synthesis of photos, videos, blogs, status updates – in other words, lifestreaming. Blogs are optimized around text rather than multimedia and, while it is now possible to integrate a variety of multimedia into a personal blog, many people find the technical challenges too great. Social media sites facilitate the integration of mulitmedia into a personal web portal – usually at no cost to the user.

The most recent trend that I have seen in social media is toward convergent media. There are several social sites now providing convergent media services. I have recommended YUDU several times recently as a great example of a convergent media site. The idea of convergent media is that multiple types of media are all hosted in one online space, including text, pictures, audio files, video files, and web bookmarks. This appears to be the direction that personal blogging is headed. Lifestreaming is an obvious trend but is based on collecting various posts, videos, photos, etc., from a variety of sites to display them all in one place. Convergent media sites like YUDU, on the other hand, allow users to collect all of this together in one place to begin with rather than posting in different places and then needing to stream the various media together afterward.

Long Live the Blog

Blogs provide a unique communication and publishing medium that has revolutionized the way the world communicates, shares with friends and family, conducts business, obtains news and information, and even elects presidents. Blogs have become thoroughly integrated into the fabric of the Internet and, as the technology continues to evolve, promise to become even more integrated into the Web. The blog may look different as it evolves and newer forms of social media and convergent media emerge, but it is unlikely that the blog will disappear altogether in the near future.

Are blogs dead? Absolutely not! Are blogs changing as the technology matures and evolves? Absolutely! Blogs may look very different (and may even cease to be called blogs) as the technology matures and evolves and is integrated with newer media forms but, ultimately, blogs are here to stay. The growing popularity of sites like YUDU, Twitter, and Facebook prove that convergent and social media have earned their place on the Internet.

[Link – WIRED]

My wife and I were at a cafe for a meeting earlier this week. As I approached the counter to order, coffee was brewing in siphons and I asked the baristas if I could take a few photos. I wanted to take the opportunity, since siphon brewing was something I didn’t encounter everyday.

They declined, though. I’m not sure if it was because my camera was a digital SLR, or if it was simply company policy not to allow picture taking. With the wide use of camera-enabled mobile phones and small digital cameras these days, you’d think it’s useless to enforce a ban on picture-taking, as you’d have to ban almost all cellphones from the premises! Becaue of this, some theaters and establishments would usually limit the ban to “professional” cameras. I doubt, though, if my Canon 400D qualifies as a “professional” camera (and I do think being professional had more to do with the person rather than the equipment).

Most establishments that I know to have such a policy are mostly theaters, jewelry shops, banks and the like, where picture taking potentially compromised security or privacy. But I tend to think that restaurants, cafes and similar businesses could actually benefit from the publicity of photos being posted online by patrons. I’ve been posting food shots on my Flickr account whenever my family eats out, and I’m actually starting a food-related blog. And I must admit that some of my dining decisions were influenced by what I read online.

This experience reminds me of how some businesses today are still averse to new media. While many have embraced the use of blogs, social networks and the like as viral marketing tools, there are those that would threaten to pursue legal action against bloggers who write about their products and services–particularly if these were mostly negative, although honest, reviews.

And then there are those businesses that effect a ban on their employees from blogging, for fear of disclosing corporate secrets. You probably know of one or two high-profile consumer electronics companies that have resorted to legal action against bloggers for this very reason.

In a company I previously worked for, I was involved in drafting a reasonable blogging policy that we asked everyone to sign and agree to. It was not so full of legalese, but it basically said we could blog about anything as long as it did not involve disclosing trade secrets, and as long as it did not defame the company or other people within the organization. I think this makes for a sound blogging policy for any business.

I know it’s much harder to control what gets published when it’s a third-party who posts stuff online. I have encountered a few newspaper websites that actually have a no-link policy. Not only do they not want you to copy snippets of their content on your blog. They don’t even want you to link to them at all!

I have one advice for the cafe that tried to prevent me from taking photos. They could have just asked for my email address or mobile number, and where I intend to post these photos. Perhaps that way, they can provide feedback if and when I did post those photos and write about their coffee (which was really good, by the way).

In the end, I was still able to take a few shots, but only with my mobile phone. Fact is that cameras are becoming smaller and smaller and phone-cams are becoming better and better at taking quality pictures. This means businesses would find it increasingly difficult to control snapshots taken from within their grounds. And, of course, with the written word, it’s not that simple to ask people not to write about your company or product.

So what’s a business got to do? Instead of shying away, why not embrace new media?