Blogging blues?
Submitted by James on Mon, 02/21/2011 - 8:29am
The New York Times today reports that blogs are rapidly going the way of typewriters, falling from favor among Internet natives. Our own experience at BlueNC doesn't reflect the heralded decline in traffic, though I do have the sense that the number of comments has dropped somewhat over the past five years. On average, we have been holding steady at approximately about 4000 unique visitors each week. Is that worth all the effort that goes into this site? You tell me.
The irony...it burns!!!
Did this story run in the dead-tree issue of the NYT?
: )
I'm living in Maryland most of the time now, though my wife is still in Chapel Hill and insists on getting the paper delivered. I don't know if this story made the print version or not.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
There are "blogs" and there are "blogs"
I'm pretty sure that the NYT article is not talking about sites like BlueNC. They're using "blog" to refer to sites that individuals set up and post to alone. You go to that site to see one person's postings. Like mine, for example.
Sites like BlueNC, Kos, etc., can have hundreds of authors and are simply different beasts from what the NYT is talking about.
It's like using "capitalism" to describe both Microsoft and some little startup in Carrboro.
BTW, projects like disaspora are trying to find yet another model where individuals can control their content better than with Facebook but share it better than with personal blogs. Tumblr is also interesting and growing fast.
Besta é tu se você não viver nesse mundo
http://zabouti.tumblr.com
"Blogs"
I hear you, George, but I can't help noticing patterns of convergence and collision. One interesting point in the article was a comment about feedback ... and how those of us running blogs can lose enthusiasm when comments decline. It's sort of like trees falling in the forest sometimes.
Which is why I always appreciate it when you take time to weigh in.
:)
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
I wonder if it's the way we read blogs, too.
I read most sites, including BlueNC, through the feeds and usually actually go to the sites only when I want to comment, read more, etc. Doesn't that affect your statistics of readership?
But, of course, as the world converges towards bigger and bigger entities, so is lots of commenting energy. E.g., lots of people now comment at the NYT itself rather than on blog posts about the articles.
Besta é tu se você não viver nesse mundo
http://zabouti.tumblr.com
P.S.
And I appreciate all your work here.
Besta é tu se você não viver nesse mundo
http://zabouti.tumblr.com
It's the writing that's in decline
Like a few people quoted in the story, a lot of the (mostly younger) folks I've talked to about this prefer Facebook and Twitter because they don't have the time to write lengthy, multi-paragraph blogposts.
But I have a hunch that time is not the only issue. When you compose something that's more than a couple of sentences, you're putting your intellect on trial in the court of public opinion. Both your writing skills and your reasoning skills are on display, and not everybody is comfortable with that. I would even go as far as to say that only a small minority of folks are comfortable with that.
Onto Something Here
As a person on the fringes of various political campaigns, I find myself intimidated by the breadth of knowledge and intellect displayed here. So I refrain from posting not because I am uninterested, but because I feel that I have little more to offer.
Now, this is not a bad thing. I visit the site several times a day and read everything on the front page. So it is absolutely worth keeping it going. I cannot imagine a day without BlueNC.
This isn't even a BlueNC "problem" either. Politics used to be very insidery. Now with all the blogs and cable news and whatnot, politics is like the NFL now. While everyone can't play the game, they all know how the game is played.
If I had a suggestion it would be to front page more user posts. Perhaps even an interesting comment for debate could become a front-page story.
Finally, come summer 2012, this post will look antiquated as The Big One goes into full steam. So keep up the good work and know that even if people are not commenting, we are here.
We've been working on this:
First of all, I want to say upfront that there are a whole lot of great diaries that aren't pushed to the front page. It is, by no means, an indication that the diarist has failed to achieve some high writing standard or is lacking on the information front. If anybody is lacking, it's me, for not telling people how much I appreciate their posts.
As to the front page, there are several factors that come into play. Probably the biggest is that we try to keep the front page exclusively about North Carolina. A few national or international posts make it from time to time, but there is (quite often) some NC connection to them as well.
Another factor that may keep a really good post off the front page is duplication. I've seen some days when there were 6-8 good posts by different authors, but all on the same story/subject. Again, with the feeds going out, putting them all on the front page might stifle traffic from new readers.
And just a note: I've read and learned from your writing for years, and you definitely do have something to add, my friend. :)
Thanks
Thanks so much for your kind words. I have always been treated well here and have had many of my posts front paged.
While I understand that not getting front-paged has nothing to do with specific content, newer users may feel that they are neglected. This is why I also advocated creating new posts based on reader comments.
And yes, duplication is a serious issue. It seems that almost any good post here is cross-posted to Kos, etc. This isn't a bad thing, as most authors want to get an audience.
This is, imo, the crux of the matter. Politics has become so nationalized that many people only look at national issues, what they see on cable news, etc.
I would never advocate BlueNC becoming a national site. After all, it is BlueNC. What I would advocate would be more user-driven posts. Rather than just reporting news, make an ask. Engage rather than inform, if that makes any sense.
Again, my two cents. I will still be here every day, and will appreciate what you do every day. Just trying to be helpful.
BlueNC Google Juice
BlueNC has juice. It regularly returns as a top result for any number of web searches related to NC and Natl politics. What is written here is read repeatedly months and years later.
The community is invaluable for that reason alone, and of course, a strong argument can be made that the community is good for it's own sake aside.
- - - - -
http://twitter.com/Jerimee
Well worth the trouble ...
Like other blogs of its kind, BlueNC is part of an information ecosystem. Pull it out and the progressive ecosystem of which it is a part is damaged.
I think community blogs
have a stronger base that individual blogs. Besides you can just facebook/twitter to share individual information much more easily.
Come the 2012 convention in our state, I'm betting this site picks up even more.