I stay pretty tuned in to the activity on our little blogosphere and for the past 6 months I’ve noticed a significant downward trend in the number of posts and comments coming through Google Reader. Is this slow down a direct result in everyone’s increased use of Facebook? My hypothesis is that people who were using blogs to casually post quick tidbits about life have migrated to Facebook and abandoned their individual blogs.
I think a big part of this migration is that the barrier to posting is very low on Facebook and the audience is quick to reach. I don’t mind seeing what people did last night or checking out some of their photos, but I don’t expect to have any deep discussions on Facebook. There’s little incentive for people to post anything too meaningful because as soon it drops off the front page of everyone’s News Feed it is essentially lost forever. Posts and comments on a blog are much more permanent and easily retrieved. I could easily find a blog post from last year, but I don’t think I’d be able to find a Status Update from last year. Why invest time in creating content that might as well be deleted after it reaches an age of one week?
Of the 18 or so blogs on my Blogroll, I’d say only 5 or 6 could be considered active. All the people who’s blogs are dead are active on Facebook. That seems like fairly good evidence that Facebook killed the casual blog. Not good or bad, it just is what it is.
Yah…to really stay plugged into a blog people need to either check actively, or have taken the time to setup something like google reader.
I agree that facebook isn’t great for in-depth conversations. The sheer fact alone that facebook truncates long responses and forces you to click “more” is a gentle way of saying “keep it simple.”
I need to make a concerted effort to post on my blog more, whether it’s pictures/videos or just deeper topics for debate. But like you said…if no one reads it, then is it really better?
I like my blog. I used to be a little upset about how very little people commented on it but now I think I’m embracing it. When I really think about it, I really don’t want all of my facebook friends to chime in on a discussion because, honestly, I think half of them are morons. The other half is composed of people who I don’t speak to on a regular basis or just aren’t close friends of mine. I think our little blogosphere that we’ve got going is a tight knit group that can’t be replaced. I would much rather post something deep and meaningful here than on facebook because at least I know I’m going to get some good responses and not every little acquaintance of mine is privy to such information or able to voice their possibly stupid and meaningless opinion. That all sounds a little harsh, but that’s just my opinion.
yeah…and I tried the “get a ton of friends on facebook and try and have a discussion,” and it didn’t work very well. Sometimes a ton of people just makes it worse.
You gotta get on Google Reader Cory, we’ve been having mini discussions there on stuff we share. Good place for sharing a link and talking real quick about it without making a full blog post.
alright. I’ll figure out how to get that.
Great point. I noticed that a lot of blogs i used to follow stopped updating on a regular basis also had moved their activity to Facebook. While i do like Facebook i agree that along with Twitter it is a great way for quick updates but not so much for a longer conversation.
Roy Paeth
Chicago First Time Home Buyer