Random Thoughts About Blogging

Blogging is something that anyone can do, but very few do it well. Mind you when I say very few it is a number that is relative to the total number of blogs. How many blogs are there now?

Technorati says that they are currently tracking 60 million blogs and that more than 175,000 new blogs are created each day.

Think about that. That is an incredible number. It is huge, just immense. It leads to many questions.

How many of those blogs are good. How many will last more than a few months, let alone a couple of years. How many of the good ones will be able to maintain a high level of quality.

Life is different in cyberspace. Some might say that bloggers age in dog/blog years. With a little less than three years of blogging experience I am already an old timer, a real alter cocker.

When I look at the corner that some of us call the Jblogosphere I am still amazed by how many newcomers there are each day. New blogs and new aggregators show up like clockwork. If you are one of those people who enjoy finding new blogs there is no shortage.

Instead your enemy is time. It is an impossible task to keep up with all of these blogs. There simply are too many to follow, especially if you get hooked on a few.

Have you ever noticed how some of the really big blogs can get away with publishing garbage. Once you hit a certain size it becomes fairly easy to find shortcuts because you know that unless you consistently tank you will always have an audience.

Here are the shack the posts that receive the most comments are those that are about blogging. When I ask people to comment on their blogging habits/practices I always get a much larger response. Should I assume that this is because people like talking about themselves.

Blogging is addictive. Some people just cannot get enough of it. And some people get too much. For a while it is one of their favorite things to do and then one day they just get sick of it and then they give up.

I don't know about you, but I am quite curious to see what happens to blogging over the next five years.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been blogging for well under a year. But I agree that blogging can be measured in dog years. I feel like an old hand now. I would say I am addicted and really enjoying it. I had to laugh the other day, though, when someone referred to me in a comment as an 'established' blogger. Ha! It will definitely be fascinating to watch the future of this whole enterprise unfold.

Jack Steiner said...

See, it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Jack: I have the solution for the blog explosion issue...I just need a venture capitalist to fund the solution!

(And last I checked, I was ranked around 11,000 out of all of Technorati's blogs...and I PROMISE you that I will not lower my standards and publish junk :-)

PS: You can be an alter-cocker...'cause we're roughly the same age.

tafka PP said...

Should I assume that this is because people like talking about themselves?

Yes!

- I just hit my 2 year blogiversary. And every post is still my last. Gotta break the narcissistic, time-consuming/wasting habit...

Anonymous said...

I've been blogging for close to a year now and man, its tough to keep up the quality- that's why I don't post as often as I used to, but there I go, talking about myself again, just like you said. Perhaps in five years Everyone will have a blog and no one will read any except their own...

Jack Steiner said...

BB,

Wordpress has some of the functionality you are seeking.

Jameel,

No way, you are much much older than I. ;)

PP,

Good luck. ;)

Amishav,

Could be.

have popcorn will lurk said...

To be honest, I'm in it for me. I have a miniscule readership, and that's ooooookay, LOL.

I don't care where I rate on Technorati, I just want to figure out how to get my bassoon recital mp3's on my blog! Any suggestions?

Sheyna said...

Darn... now by commenting, I suppose I'm just proving your point.

Maybe blogging about blogging is the equivalent of talking shop?

Jack Steiner said...

Chana,

Ask PT about the MP3, I am sure that he knows.

Sheyna,

Could be.

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