The Next Web wrote a good blog post about how blogs are not dead, as Andrew Keen argued.
The Next Web argues that blogs are not dying, but evolving and maturing. While this is true, in their original format; as something anyone could create and publish content, blogs are dying. Of course, any one can still create a blog and publish content, but what is the point? The blogosphere is saturated. No one is going to listen – unless you have real talent, as Keen argues at The Next Web conference.
The blogs that were created back in 2004-05 are now considered mainstream news sources. I’m thinking blogs such as Mashable and TechCrunch here, they have transitioned from a “blog”, which is defined by Wikipedia as “…a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary…”, to a mainstream news network. Not maintained by an “individual” but by many contributors.
So yes, I would argue that blogs are both dead and evolving. I’ve tried to draw parallels between blogs and fanzines before, in that many fanzines evolved into more mainstream publications while others stayed in their tiny niches being read by a very, very small audience – and that’s the way they liked it.
Maybe blogs will stay in their true, original format – as something maintained by an individual – but I can’t see how we’ll see a small individual blog becoming a behemoth like Mashable or TechCrunch any more. Social technologies are moving too fast for that to happen.
- Interview With Andrew Keen At The Next Web 2009: “Web 2.0 Is F*Cked” (techcrunch.com)
- Andrew Keen: how (most of us) are royally screwed (accmanpro.com)
April 27, 2009
social media