Blogging is not Dead (but I am really busy). 12.7.07
Last week Hugh Macleod used his cartoon defibrillator and his witty word smithing to revive blogging! Last December at this time, the analysts at Gartner made their predictions for 2007 and they said that blogging will peak next year and all the hype will fizzle out. They weren’t the only ones writing about the death of blogging. Hugh on the other hand has provided us with quite a different view on this (still emerging) media:
If you have something to say, then a blog offers a cheap, easy global medium in which to express yourself. This is as true now as it was three years ago, regardless of what the groovy cats in Silicon Valley may be up to.
Whether you have the time and the talent for it, “i.e. the skill and the will”, is another matter altogether. Also, whether other people will want to read it, is something one has little control over. But in both cases, the same is true for all other media.
This got me thinking - and truthfully - feeling quite guilty for not blogging lately. Blogging is not dead for me (as the title suggest, I’ve just been insanely busy). I suppose Twitter and Facebook serve as creative outlets for the time-deprived. [NOTE: I posted my 1000th Tweet on Nov. 5th, which means I did about 230 Tweets in a month.] Yum… metrics! Bottom line here is - in 2008, I commit to making more time for me and for blogging! (Are they one in the same?!?)
I think my Twitter, Flickr and Facebook are important tools that go hand and hand with this blog (not separate from it). In fact, I think all marketers would benefit from maximizing the cross-promotional synergies of blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Magnify, Utterz, Seesmic, , and all the many social networks out there. Hey and let’s not forget off line expression. Be creative and build your micro brand (or macro one!)
If Marshal McLuhan is right and “the medium is the message,” the focus should be on the various ways human beings extend themselves, and how these extensions affect our relationships with others (and as a marketer I would add, with companies).
You may *prefer* one form of extension to another, but IMHO if you’re not making use of the depth and breadth of what’s out there, you’re not doing a good enough job. Fear not - there are lots of people out there to help you.
In addition to my (now relieved) guilt - the real message here is that Hugh’s work really cracks me up. I love his clever cartoons and bon mot. I know, so do lots of people (1840 Followers as of 10 pm EST on 12/7) . I’m just a fangirl! Oh yeah - I’m also just the cutey-pie you met in a bar.
Twitter’s a form of microblogging isn’t it?
Perhaps you’re saying that you’re shifting from long form blogging to micro blogging?
I wouldn’t commit to a technology or a channel for the sake of keeping to a schedule.
Rather, these are tactical level tools, and if they fit in with your strategic plans, then use them, if not, there’s nothing wrong with letting something idle and picking it up later…
Hey Andrew. I would agree with this categorization. It is microblogging..actually even uber-micro.
My blog posts are usually on the longer side (or at least take me longer to write). Tweets take me seconds.
If you are marketing yourself or a product, it is important to have regular communication with your customers. I believe in keeping the conversation going.
All I meant is that if one of these channels goes silent for too long, it is a lost opportunity, IMHO.
Thanks for all your great energy and comments!
Keep them coming!
Best,
Stephanie
I fully agree.
Keeping the conversation going can become pretty challenging, especially if you’re constantly putting out high quality content.
I’ve found that if you’re doing non-specific/non-event based posts, you can probably work on them way in advance of publication.
It does take some commitment to block out those hours to work on a week’s worth on a (hopefully ) lazy Sunday afternoon though…
[...] you read Stephanie Agresta (AKA Internet Geek Girl’s) post “Blogging is not dead (but I am really busy)“, you’d realize that like a lot of popular bloggers (eg. Sam Harrelson, Wayne Porter, [...]
Is it selfish to just use Twitter to broadcast my thoughts and not read everyone else’s tweets? Because I quit twitter for now because it was too much for me to keep up with.
Jim,
It’s selfish, with a capital “S”…just kidding.
I gave up after a while cos of twitter overload too.
I think twittering once an hour is ok, but it’s some of the folks (many of whom who are my good friends) who fire out 5-6 twitters in 5 mins who kinda “twitter bomb” my page.
Why not come up with a “Twitter management” checklist on your blog? Or maybe throw out some roots for a Twitter QS algorithmn?
[...] Blogging Is Not Dead, InternetGeekGirl Is Just Really Busy Ditto…just read this post and replace Internet Geek Girl with “Shannon” Saved me from having to write this, Thanks…LOLOL!! (tags: blogging personal-brand) [...]
In fact, I think all marketers would benefit from maximizing the cross-promotional synergies of blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Magnify, Utterz, Seesmic, , and all the many social networks out there. Hey and let’s not forget off line expression. Be creative and build your micro brand (or macro one!)
what’s your take on the magnify, seesmic, revver & other video channels (particularly the Youtubes, mediaseed, myspace goliaths).. and how competitive will they be? Are they going to cancel each other out? will just a few take over ? will they evolve to make it easier to take content: video, audio, text, photo to the web and even from mobile. I see a lot where they are talking about getting there but who’s gotten there and doing a good job with it– ie, making it user friendly — not just geek friendly
Stevie (who follows Jonathan Trenn)
Interesting that “twitter bombing” comes up in the comments, and I had to unsubscribe to Hugh’s twitter feed because he posts *so much*. =[
Brilliant man, I just can't keep up with him! =]