Journalism tells us to present the most important information first, with additional information in desending order of significance. But in the age of information, people (myself included) can't assimilate all the data coming at them every day.
I try to use a good "hook," and include include pics so readers can quickly determine if my post interests them. I put the most pertinent info in the first paragraph, as a courtesy. Short and sweet!
But blogging isn't as much fun as it was 2 years ago. My theory is that now people are looking at Facebook, Flicker, Twitter and what-have-you - rather than quilting blogs. Does a quilter now have to maintain presence on multiple media forms?
And there are less comments. Have we been spoiled by the "Like" button on FB?
In the interest of jazzing up my blog's appearance, I played around with the new Blogger designs - some which are quite attractive. But I came back to the standard format because the new designs either reduce the font and photos OR they lose all the verbiage - even the title of the post. They also exclude your widgets, profile and followers - as best I can tell. So changing my design isn't going to be an option for the immediate future.
I find its getting harder to follow OTHER quilters. I like that Google button that says "Follow." Nice and easy! But now there are so many other options - its a bit confusing.
And so, I'm perplexed. I'd like to know what other bloggers make of all this. I'd like to expand my readership, and engage in more discussion. But I'm not quite sure how to get there from here. Am open to feedback on my own blog, or your assessment of blogging in general.
Thanks! :)
Chris
7 comments:
I don't know about blogging being passé, but I know with myself and some of my friends, we are blogging less. You are probably right it is because there are so many more ways to spend (waste) time on the internet.
For myself I have realized that I only blog for myself, not because people visit my blog or to have more followers etc.
I agree it is confusing with all those other buttons. Also, I want to stick to blogging and not get into that other stuff as I spend way too much time on the computer now. I don't need more places to visit. I want to save some time to quilt!
I was just thinking about this today. It may be true that we are blogging less. Many bloggers have gone commercial too which is annoying. I also find that I am driven by linky parties rather than just what I want to say. Times they are a changin'.
Chris, Even I have slowed down my blogging. I refuse to start Tweeting and FBing in multiple places because of lack of time. I only blog for fun and to get occasional feedback from others. I get such great ideas from other's blogs, I am always hoping others get great ideas from me too!
I hope blogging doesn't go away. I get so many ideas from the blogs I read. I try to blog 4-5 times a week and try to include a variety of interests. I mostly write the blog as a journal for myself but am tickled pink that others enjoy reading it enough to follow. I have a facebook account but only use it to keep track of family. I already spend way too much time on the computer to try anything else.
Thanks to my bloggy friends who took time to share your own perspective. Seems we all agree its something we do mainly for ourselves - and that we need to limit it so we have time left to do some actual quilting! My blog shall carry on - Happy Quilting! :)
Wow, this gets into a very large topic that is a bit too large for me to try to address in a comment, so I'll keep this as short as I can.
I don't think blogging is passe. Bloggers and readers will come and go. There are definitely more social media tools out there than years past.
I try to encourage bloggers to find their own voice. Why are they driven to blog and stick with it. For some it is a diary, for some it is a way to release stress and creativity, and for some a way to commit and hold them to follow up on what they say they are going to do. And, some research (eg. like me). There is no right way or wrong way, but to me it should represent what you want to do with it.
For some comments have dropped and others not. It can be reflective on the blog's content, blogger/google issues with leaving comments, and yes, overall social media content in that more read than comment. But again, why do you blog? Are you blogging to just get comments?
Again, interesting topic, but one that one-on-one discussions, open chat forums, etc make it easier to go in-depth on it.
Lastly, there are also many webinars and social media websites that also talk about this and you may want to pursue that area, if it really interests you.
What ever you do follow your voice and only do it if it is fun.
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
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