5.27.2014

What's wrong with bloggin'?





Recently read this on another's blog:

 "Ten years ago blogging in my opinion was much more about pure writing and 'journaling'  and much less (if at all) about linking, sharing, liking, networking, promoting, commenting, critiquing, contests and give-aways, advertising ... and the quality of posts was not determined by the number of comments/followers/friends that one has--which is the criteria for success that now dominates the social networks."   (http://sundaybrocantes.blogspot.com)

Now, Aunty luvs some blogs that is a gentle bidness like the lady who wrote that now has...ya' know the sort I mean, whar' ya can see purty homes or gardens an' such but,  heah be the trouble--they implore ya to link and like an' help get their viewer numbers up so some magazine will feature them and their bidness. In short it is about bidness, not jes' folks getting to be blog mates.

I wish thar wuz another word for them blogs that are commercial or promotional. Mah own sense of loss in the blogosphere is that the former spirit of community is missin'--ya' know, whar'  honest exchanges occurred-- and it was never about turnin 'yore blog into a revenue stream. Nothing wrong wif' that, as long as it's clear an' promoted as a bidness . The old give and take, the communal commentin' an' the true concern for events in the lives of others, sharing stories- all that is fading away and  Aunty do miss it. 

Yore thoughts? 

10 comments:

chickory said...

Thats what i didnt like either. The commodification of it. Like everything now. Im with you facebook is very ugly and tiresome but blogging seemed to have a season and die. I started in 2006 and it was great for years. But there are only so many blog you can attend to. I use mine now as the occasional place to journal as you say.

Doom said...

Oh, I think people will return to it. When they realize the world really doesn't like them, can't like them, no matter what they do or write, and they have to figure out how to be comfortable in their own skins again... Well, and when they realize, for the effort they put in, they receive almost exactly what their efforts are worth... How many of those ad-blogs do you think honestly pay for the time and effort? My guess is less than one tenth of one percent. Eventually, over time, everyone does the math... or just tuckers out without having profits to show for it.

I've been at the lead in many tech things. The first flip-cell, the internet when it was just small collections of servers (billboards, I think they were called), various social centers (even before AOL, which is now pretty much gone itself). People burn out on the silly and get back to the real. And, I have faith that they will again.

Still, nothing past will come around as it was. A mix of old and new as people try to roll more things together, or less, and figure out what works. Though social networking seems to be as much of a symptom of social decline as anything else. No one seems to know their neighbor, right next door, but "knows" Joe and Sally from Pittsburgh? People have to make some social decisions, it'll have to start at home.

Aunty Belle said...

Ande and Doom,

I have hope but not a real expectation, 'cause two generations have been raised to understand themselves as consumers, rather than as persons.

Very few folks can imagine a life that is not driven by tabloids.

I does often wonder what these folks would talk about round a campfire at night. No gizmos, jes' the face across the fire...

Susan said...

In my case, I just got burnt out. But whenever I try to blog again, I've noticed the change. I started in 2005 and stopped in 2010, then tried a bit of it in 2011-2013, half heartedly. I think I felt I said what I wanted to say. I hope Doom is right as I miss the days of exchanging authentic thought for its own sake. I'm also a lot different from how I thought when I began blogging, so I would return with a different agenda.

If people regard themselves as consumers, brainwashed by the system that views them as nothing else, then blogging will have to get downright subversive in order to sustain a conversation about genuine issues.

Susan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
darkfoam said...

I started in 05 .. I can basically ditto susan..
I don't have much to say anymore on a blog besides the occasional haiku.
However, aunty .. I will always visit you should you post a blog post.

czar said...

Hi, Aunty.

My blog wasn't designed as a revenue stream, per se, but as a way to troll for potential revenue -- which actually happened; I ended up with clients in Australia and Lebanon and a number of other places. I also ended up giving free advice to a bunch of youngsters along the way who imagined themselves future editors. A blog response would turn into hours and hours of emails with people I don't know -- which I didn't mind at all. I hope some of those folks are now plying their trades.

Then Google Panda and all that came around, and I have to post a few times a week in order for my services to get back on Google's radar. I'm back and forth on whether I really want to do that. As much as it's fun to attract new folks to the stable, there's no more room. I don't have a life as it is.

But blogging ended up becoming a whole lot more of a social and emotional investment than I expected, mostly as a result of Haiku Monday. I discovered a community of friends and acquaintances I never would have otherwise. God knows, too, that in this crowd I'm certainly the political outlier, and for that, I appreciate everyone's indulgence.

And if it wasn't for blogging, I doubt I'd have developed the excellent professional relationship I have with Moi, even though we met in person before I even thought about blogging. I probably would also have less contact with my old pal Fleur. On hearing of Haiku Monday, the czarina said, "You should let Fleur know about that." You see where that led.

Hell, I even found that Chickory and I have a mutual acquaintance. How does that happen?

But, yeah, it's the old lightning-in-a-bottle thing. And as Jack Kerouac said, "Something you feel will find its own form."

So, every once in a while I try to be a little more proactive about posting, but most of the non-HM readership I once had (but never really imagined cultivating) seems to have gone away. For all I know, though, new activity might generate some new relationships or new perspectives . . . or nothing at all.

But I do like seeing that people are visiting. Always wished they'd leave more comments when I was actually on topic, but whatcha gonna do?

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,

An interesting perspective. And interesting question.

Oddly, I stumbled across Haiku Monday by seeing an invitation on the blog of someone I knew. I was not into blogging, but do some freelance writing now and then. I started writing to share my knowledge of the wild through stories that can entertain while they teach. I have always had a love for words and their proper use.

HM was appealing due to the challenge of telling a tale with such brevity. Ultimately, so I could become a full partner in the game, I established a blog, just for HM - so in case I ever won, I could host. So oddly, my own blogging has been strictly related to HM, and some side conversations with other players.

It can be a real time eater, though. And so, without HM, I am not sure how much I'll do. I may go back to writing. But in doing so, I'll miss the interaction that HM has provided for several years.

By the way, with no winner to announce, my blog is still open for anyone who wants to drop in and say hi, or drop in a haiku.

Any volunteers for who will host the next free for all Haiku Fest?

Unknown said...

As someone who blogs because I like to write, I find this new era of blogging to be very unnerving. It makes me question everything I am doing. "Are my blog articles too long?" (too bad you have such a short attention span) "Why isn't my blog monetized?" (because I used to sell ad space for a living so why give it to google when i could sell my own thumbnails? And I don't want ads cluttering up my blog!) "Will you write about my product/restaurant?" (NO unless I actually use and like the product which has happened once in five years) "Look at all the comments they get, why don't you?" (they don't even post their own damn recipes! It's someone else's and they get a million comments!") "Why don't you post recipes anymore?" (because it's a lot of work and I'm tired of giving away my intellectual property for free and publishers won't publish a cookbook with stuff that's already been online) 'Why aren't you doing give aways?" (because I write what I want and am a story teller, my blog is not an advertising platform for your product for free) From my stats (not off Blogger but sitemeter) I still get a fair bit of traffic. Whether they are reading the blog or not, I don't know. Comments have dropped since we all were part of our little blogging community. I will continue to write my blog as I see fit as part of a branding/credibility exercise that supports my business. Facebook doesn't put asses in seats but it has given me credibility as a chef/culinary expert and also is a great place to resource people and products.

Unknown said...

Ooops. That "Unknown" comment is from me, La Diva Cucina!