Sunday, November 17, 2013

Musings on Blogging

I have been reading on several of the blogs on my reading list laments about the state of blogging.  Some bloggers are simply gone from the scene.  Others blog much less frequently.  Among this last category are a few of my favorite voices: Stitch Bitch, Mainely Stitching and Spinster Stitcher.  With the first two it seems to be a matter of gainful employment taking up more and more of their time.  Life intervenes: pressures of work,  loss of work/job seeking, health issues for oneself or within one's family, a new interest or focus.  There are any number of reasons a blogger may disappear from the scene.

Still, I think it is a bit premature to declare the demise of blogging.  True, a lot of people have found the immediacy of other social media very seductive but there will always be a select few who prefer to read and respond in full sentences comprised of real words as opposed to the debased English of text abbreviations.

Even I, much as I enjoy blogging, had a long fallow period in May and June.  Now that I am back to blogging, I have noticed that it is often a case of once every three days followed by a brief spurt of daily entries rather than my past routine of every other day.  The rhythms of my life have changed and my blogging habits are changing as well.  One thing I am doing in an effort to keep my blogging conversations alive is commenting as much as I have the time for and replying to the comments left on my blog much more faithfully than I have in the past.  This is kind of a catch 22, though: the more time I spend on comments the less time I have to spend on the actual blogging.  

I'll be watching the trends in blogging but I doubt I'll ever get sucked into the FaceBook or Tweeting scene.  A blog with a small following feels much more natural to a hermit like myself.  I have never been much good at small talk or the social scene.  Blogging feels much more like my comfort zone: lunch with a close friend as opposed to the party scene or pub crawling scene.

11 comments:

Donna said...

Hermits unite! Keep up the good work.

Maggee said...

I agree... I just re-opened my FB account, but only to keep up with posts from the family of an ill friend. The rest I could do without--and I do! This year WAS a slower blogging year for me... life just gets complicated. But I am not giving it up! Hugs!

Vickie said...

I also agree! ;)

CalamityJr said...

Well said!

(And you don't have to respond to a two-word comment, :) )

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Social media never will in my mind replace blogging, but I'm not "hip" or "en vogue" so what do I know? The blogging community as a whole has always been very supportive and a well said pat on the back said in a time of need is much better than a simple click on a thumbs up icon.

Ann said...

I much prefer reading a blog than spending hours and hours scrolling through pictures on Pinterest or Instagram. There's no connection to the poster there, just more pictures. I love reading about bits of life from the bloggers I follow. You don't get that from pictures alone.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I want you to know that I enjoy your blog and all that you share. Your work is gorgeous. That said, I also understand when a person has to take a slower pace with blogging. Sometimes life experiences keep us occupied elsewhere. Thank you for putting the words just right for us to read. I couldn't have said it better.

Dani - tkdchick said...

I prefer blogs too, I find that a post on social media disappears too quickly I miss things, and I'm not interested in being on social media 24/7.

I know that I'm not blogging as frequently or putting as much effort into it lately. I think its just me and life in general. I find that life is so busy that I just want to sit there and stitch instead of blog. Or I'm throwing up quick blog entries using blogging apps on my ipad so the pictures aren't as good quality nor is the content. Its just getting something up there.

Heritage Hall said...

Touche ~ A blog seems like meeting
for tea, scones and talking life
Don't think that pace of exchange will ever lose its value. I would not mind seeing a blog sent
less frequently to allow for pauses, than keeping up with a forced entries that seem rushed
just to get them done.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I definitely prefer blogging to other social media. I love the connection between the bloggers I follow, I'm a big fan of the Stitch Bitch and Spinster Stitcher already so I'm off to check out Mainly Stitching now on your recommendation.
When I look at my Followers List I can see the people who have fallen by the wayside but many more who are still around and commenting which is nice.
I have a loose schedule of blogging based around the various SALs. I make 9 posts a month, sometimes spread out, sometimes in a cluster depending on what I've been doing/stitching.

Julie said...

I don't do Facebook or Twitter, I love blog reading, it's so much more personal. Good topic.