Apr 06 2007
Is There a Blogging Backlash?
I’ve been participating in this discussion about how blogs have become less about a window into a person’s world and more about a person hoping to cash in.
Jessie from BlogSpoke began the discussion, John from Finding the Money jumped in and Ms. Q put in her 2 cents.
There is a difference between those who hope to make money from their blogs and those who write about how to make money from blogs.
As you can see from the few ads I have on my site, I hope to make a few bucks for my efforts. Luckily, I have no driving need for the money and can look at my slowly accumulating Adsense account with a bit of wry amusement. I don’t think there is anything wrong about writers who hope to be rewarded.
What I have noticed is the proliferation of blogs that focus exclusively on tactics to increasing blog income and traffic. Now I am seeing an increase in posts complaining or at least remarking on all the “blogging for money” blogs.
Is there a Blogging Backlash?
Do people want to return to the idea of original concept that blogs are digital communities where individuals share their observations, thoughts and perhaps intimate peeks into their inner lives?
While I don’t think we can return to what some may think of as “the good old days” I think we can remind ourselves that blogs are not just for financial enrichment but for social and personal enrichment.
Christian from Peogles posted the question, “Community, Social and Personal Blogs: Where Are You?” and wrote, “Isn’t a blog supposed to be considered a daily journal of your environment, observation, interest, and life in general? Whether it is about TV shows you love, movies, or music. Or if its humor that gets your heart going, or life journey questions that you often want answers to?”
Ricardo from Unloaded remarked: “I had always read that to have a blog with a following, you had to focus in on a niche and never deviate from that. I think it’s totally wrong. A good blog should be able to go wherever it wants to go as long as it’s an honest place that readers can connect with. And if it’s genuine, they will connect.”
I’ve read the same advice - stick to a niche and have consistent content if you want to gain loyal readers. I agree with Ricardo - readers don’t need you to stick with a niche to become a follower. In fact, we should all hope to become our own niche.
Didn’t blogs start out by being whatever the writer wanted it to be?
Wasn’t it all about “My Blog, My Rules?”
I follow certain blogs and it’s truly the overall “vibe” that grabs me - I don’t care if they don’t stick to a particular topic. In fact, it’s more interesting if they write about a variety of subjects.
I write all over the place and at one point I wondered if I should worry about it and try to focus on one topic. Then I realized, hey, my blog is not a service, it’s ME and I don’t want to change who I am.
What I have found is that loyal readers, like friends, want the big picture. They want to know you. They want to know that you have fixation on public restrooms and that you’re four-foot-ten-and-three-quarters…short.
Am I tired of blogs about blogs?
Not really. I read several blogs that focus on blogging and making money from blogs. I think they provide valuable information. I would like to increase my number of readers - what blogger wouldn’t?
I find that there are still plenty of “old school” blogs.
How about you? Do you feel there is a blogging backlash?
There is enough blog space to go around for everyone. Half the blogs I do enjoy I barely have time to read. What I do have a problem with is the ad space that takes up a lot of the blogs.
It becomes unappealing. But the bills have to be paid.
Side Note: Thx for leaving your comment on my page. In my morning stuper I accidently spammed it (if you have time please comment again).
I agree with the comment and it actually went into something else that I will tackle later.
Oh… I enjoy your blog. Keep musing.
Urban Thought: urk on deleting my comment! I’ll have to remember what I wrote. Then again, sometimes when you re-write something it comes out better.
I understand the auto-delete response when it comes to the morning stupor! If I gave you an idea for another post - cool!
I don’t think of a blogging income as a way to be rewarded for writing so much as a way to turn the tables on how corporate money flows; that is, to be paid to do what we already do - socialize.
Businesses pay billions of dollars to other businesses to - among other things - get us to interject their products into our normal conversations. While certainly not free for the business, the money paid to get us to talk about their stuff isn’t anything we ever see. Blogging is one way to change that.
But therein lies the rub; because if we’re not doing what blogs were actually created to do - have conversations, connect - then what we end up with is a cheap (to put it kindly) imitation of conventional media advertising. It’s like turning on the TV for the sole purpose of watching commercials. If blogging isn’t an interactive, dialog-driven experience, it has absolutely nothing over conventional media; complete waste of time.
On the other hand, if you are connecting with others, making friends and networking, you’re absolutely making your own niche no matter what your topic is. “Niche you”, so to speak. That completely distinguishes blogging from traditional media, and is as old-school as it gets.
What will you do with that influence? Unlike a face-to-face conversation, internet dialog can be tracked, quantified, and therefore monetized; hence come the blogs about making money as methods to monetize become more sophisticated and mainstream. There is some backlash concerning them, but they actually reflect the potential for changes to the real-world status quo.
And if there is such a thing as a “blogging status quo”, does it really make sense to be conservative about it? It’s going to evolve whether we like it or not. After all, “old-school” bloggers, web-surfers and internet users haven’t been the majority on the internet for some time now… and never did represent the majority of people anyway.
-j
Thank you much.
John: Thanks for such a well-thought out response! I hope you extend it over at your blog.
I hadn’t thought about blogging income as a way to turn the tables. I’ll have to think about this a bit more. I like your analogy about turning on the tv just to watch the commercials - some blogs do seem that way.
Urban Thought: you’re welcome! Now you’ll have to follow through with a post!
As with all things, I say blog away if it feels good. = )
I like making money from my blog!
That said I do not blog to make money, I make money by blogging.
I think that makes all the difference in the world.
Then I realized, hey, my blog is not a service, it’s ME and I don’t want to change who I am.
I heartily agree!
[...] Is There a Blogging Backlash? - at Qmusings. Many blogs are becoming incestuous. Blogging has bubble written all over it. I’ve heard the best way to make money blogging is to blog about blogging. Think about that… It’s like saying the best way to make money on Real Estate is to sell Real Estate to Newbie Real Estate agents. How long could that last? Pretty soon there will be a lot fewer newbies, which means - no audience. [...]
I see what you’re saying, but things change. I look at blogs in the same way I look at the magazine rack at the grocery store. The only real difference is that blogs are usually (not always) authored by one person. As far as the advertising on blogs…what’s wrong with making money?
What I find funny (or ironic, I’m not sure which) is that although blogging started out as a very personal media, the most popular blogs in the world talk about 3 of the most impersonal things you could imagine: 1) Politics 2) Celebrities 3) Techno-gadgets
Granted, some of the bloggers whose blogs are about those subjects do a great job presenting that material, the material itself is completely non-personal.
However, all 3 of those subjects (and other popular subjects) share 2 common traits: 1) People love to talk/debate about them, and 2) People are starving for the latest information about them.
I think that the question might actually be “Are people willing to visit monetized blogs over the long-term in order to get their information fix?” My answer to that would certainly be yes, but I do see a definite shelf life on blogging about blogging.
Unlike the “personal” effect that any given blogger brings to the table in their niche, I wonder if the actual raw technical, social, and search engine optimization data that people who blog about blogging keep repeating over and over again will be able to hold the public interest.
Wow - you’ve really added to the conversation we’re having here! Thanks for bringing it to my attention on how popular the non-personal blogs are. I don’t follow politics, celebrities or gadgets and I am probably atypical in this regard. I don’t even have a TV.
I can see how people would be drawn to them - even if they are impersonal, I would guess that each site has it’s own particular slant or way of presenting the material.
I agree with you about people returning to monetized blogs - as long as they provide value, people will return. People watch TV and put up with ads all the time!
When it comes to reading blogs about blogging and making money from blogs, I’ve cut down on my reading of those sites. I first started reading them when I began my blog - I think most bloggers do if they want to figure out ways to improve their blog.
I do see a lot of repeat information on SEO and posts on revenue generated and I’ve begun to lose interest! I’ve started to move away from the “make money online” type sites and to more personal sites - sites where I get a sense of the person behind the site.
MsQ,
That’s a great analogy about how people keep watching TV! I’ve seen the monetized blog concept discussed a few times, but I don’t think I’ve seen an analogy that covered it in such a perfect manner.
Your analogy proves conclusively what we have been talking about here - that if the value is there, then people will keep going to those blogs.
However, if a tv show gets canceled because not enough people are watching it (blogs about blogging), then that show goes away.
All of that being said, I am not heralding the death of blogging about blogging, but I am predicting (in my opinion), that the reach of of that niche is limited, and that those bloggers should think about diversifying.
On the other hand, what do I know? We don’t even have cable. ;)~
I’m tired of typing “blogs about blogs” - let’s all refer to it as BAB(ble)!
I agree with you - the babble will die down and the babblers will have to start writing about other things if they want to stay in business (draw more readers).
Technology keeps making it easier to blog and once it reaches the tipping point people won’t care so much about the ins and outs of blogging, they’ll just want a template that optimizes whatever content they produce.
Those templates (Blogger, Yahoo 360) already exist but blogging itself hasn’t tipped yet. Well, I don’t feel it’s tipped!