Twitter & Blogging - Are they slowly being phased out?
Well I’ve never been one into social networking websites or blogging but I decided I would give blogging a go and also get set up on Twitter. As a newbie blogger - as of last year I decided I would start off with a free Blogger account, so I was going along nicely and I happened to mention to someone oh btw I’ve just started a new “Blogger” blog you should check it out and tell me what you think and they were like what?! No one is using Blogger anymore they are all gone to Wordpress…so i’m thinking, oh…best get on there too…- So I did that and now I’m just wondering are blogs being phased out slowly but surely? They don’t seem to be as popular as they were a few years ago from my all my Googling around the web, is it all drying up? :scratch:
With Twitter, I’ve never got this whole appeal factor, I mean…yes it’s great for business but many say it’s not really meant to be a chit-chat tool like say instant messaging but many times I see alot of people using it for just that purpose. But that’s not what I want to discuss here, basically to cut a long story short, I’ve set up my twitter account but is it all in vain? Are people bothered anymore to keep tweeting, has it lost it’s appeal or are these just misconceptions? Will it be one of those things like blogging and social networking sites/services/tools in general that will always be around or do you think it might just fizzle out and become a has-been of its time? Maybe you find that your blog or tweets have been as busy as ever?
Looking forward to what your experiences are and feedback
I think blogging and tweeting will be around for a long, long time to come—at least until the end of the year ( ) Something will replace them eventually, but I don’t think it’s come along yet.
Quite a few people make big money from blogging. Authors/companies can give you reason to keep in touch with their site by posting interesting information—thus increasing sales or ad revenue. It’s all about creating a following with desirable content. Twitter helps to spread the word.
I enjoy Twitter because it’s an easy way to follow news about things you’re interested in. I follow a lot of design mags etc, and I feel like I keep up to date with what’s cooking out there. Twitter chit chat is of no interest to me.
Can’t see either from dying just yet. Funny I discussed this with a friend of mine who didn’t see the point in social media marketing. I told him about a friend of mine who is making a fair amount from it.
As long as people keep making money from them, they will continue.
So basically you heard someone say no-one uses Blogger (which isn’t true - else the service wouldn’t exist anymore) and you followed the flock to Wordpress (which is better than Blogger in many respects but it’s just a tool, the content is what drives traffic). Blogs are just as popular as they used to be, Twitter itself is a form of blogging, every news website, most major businesses, movie websites, etc… they all have blogs of some sort, blog websites make up more new websites than anything else. Any idea that their slowly disappearing is totally false. As for Twitter itself, it’s popularity is testament enough that twitter isn’t going anywhere and it’s become one of the most popular methods to communicate, anywhere in the world. Social networking isn’t email mizwizzy, it’s not something that will stay in a stagnant position for all time… this is the Internet you know… things evolve, social networks will change, people will move based on what does the job they want (to communicate) in the best method possible… no social network has it perfect (mySpace is proof that if you don’t keep innovating, you’ll die). I’ve been tweeting since January and find it serves a good purpose… it allows me to “blog” my thoughts on web design (as I have them) without needing to invest hours into writing a proper blog - which I don’t have the time or energy for, I’ve no need for Wordpress for my life, I just have musings which last 140 characters or less.
I think Facebook or future networks like it are here to stay. Blogging is on the decline - I read an article with some surprising stats about how much it’s shrinking but I can’t find the source. I still can’t really understand the value of Twitter except for a few obscure things, and I predict that it’ll die off.
Personally I don’t “get” Twitter much myself either. I follow a few folks because it seems they update Twitter more often than their blogs, but as a business user I don’t see it as being all that great of a tool. Once you get beyond a handful of followers I can’t see it being as personal as it was intended to be, then it become another one-to-many broadcast tool like email…except I think it’s safe to say a lot more people have and use email than they do Twitter.
I can see blogging getting a bit less popular over time, but think it’ll still be here long after twitter is gone.
Twitter IS blogging, it’s micro-blogging… as in the ability to send short meaningful messages to a wide audience of readers and subscribers. It’s the perfect platform to put across information without needing the time and resources for traditional blogging. Sure some people don’t understand it’s very real benefits but I certainly have gained from it’s usage. I guess it all depends on how you choose to use the technology as to what prospects it may hold.
And that’s just the free wordpress blogs. The self hosted blogs are likely on the same trend.
The only mentions about blogging being on a decline I find on Google is in its specific uses.
So maybe the real question should be whether blogging is on a decline in a particular use, such as online socializing? With social networks on the rise, it may be on a decline in that area.
However I know that wordpress is used for so much more than just blogging as per its intended purpose. But it’s still blogging, unless original site’s structure is completely re-done. That one is not going anywhere anytime soon. And I myself use wordpress as a CMS for any new site I create, and I consider those sites to be blogs.
I may be a little biased on this subject since I do both for a job… but tweeting and blogging are fantastic business communication methods and I can’t see them disappearing anywhere fast.
Even the “Personal” blogs I used to read are finding a niche (often metablogging, or politics, or turning into TV blogs), I certainly don’t blog too much about what I do on a daily basis (bar the odd “I’ll be at this event, say hi!”), leaving that to twitter & facebook.
I am also seeing a convergence of social networking. I don’t think it’s dying out, but I do think that in the end you’re probably going to only need to be on one or two different networks for each thing - no point being on Myspace, for example, as everybody is on Facebook.
I doubt either blogging as a content platform or Twitter as a communication tool will go out of use anytime soon, Twitter seems to be picking up speed to me. I hear it mentioned so often that it’s slowly getting promoted up my long list of the things I need to get my head around.
What’s interesting is that the majority of Twitter users are young and only 35% of adults have accounts on SM tools like Twitter (Demographics of Social Network Users ) so there’s plenty of room for growth still.
The tools of the trade might change but I think social Marketing is here for a good while yet, in fact it might be evolving into something new already - Trends in Social Influence Marketing.
wow, I thought I was good at insulting and patronising people…
I’ve never been one for Twitter and like yourself JJ I too thought it was time I actually go and find out what the fuss was about - On a personal level I don’t see the attraction of just chit chatting on it but for my business it works for me plus helps me connect easier with clients :tup:
As what was mentioned I don’t think twitter will completely die out unless it’s replaced by something else - I agree - but whether or not twitter is as popular as it once was it still a question I have!
@Saul - that’s a really interesting link you shared - I can’t believe there are that many using the .com version - plus 2nd highest is the spanish language! very interesting indeed! Any ideas about the self hosted numbers?
@Rhysboy - Do u think facebook will go the way of myspace? When Twitter first came out I thought that was going to be the end of FB!
Do you guys reckon Blogger is on it’s way out then if that many are using or migrating to Wordpress - I can understand the attraction of monetizing a blog but do u think that personal blogs have had their day now? Or have those personal blogs just morphed into a business model instead?
I think that Twitter is similar to blogging in that once the initial novelty wears out, we’ll see the actual utility of the tool.
There was a time when just about everyone was blogging. Everyone was enjoying sharing their thoughts regardless of how boring or irrelevant they were to others. Nobody wants to hear about my cat, or your bunion! Over time, the good bloggers rose up in popularity, the business bloggers survived if they were decent, and the ‘just having fun’ bloggers gave up if they weren’t getting an audience.
Twitter is sort of the same. Is there really much useful content you can provide in 160 characters? Perhaps sometimes, but in most cases it’s not useful or even interesting and will slow down.
I’m taking bets on this one: in 10 years Twitter will be irrelevant and ‘microblogging’ will be a small niche. 160 characters just isn’t enough except for special cases.
Sagewing - do you reckon that Twitter is now becoming saturated with the cast-offs of the blogging world - those that didn’t make it perhaps on a personal or indeed business level? I find that sometimes when I log onto my twitter I have about 20 new followers over night, people I don’t know trying to send “free ebooks” or what not - tweeting some random message and it’s like a one hit wonder!
Well I’ve never been one into social networking websites or blogging …
With Twitter, I’ve never got this whole appeal factor, …
Honestly it sounds like you might have reached your conclusion before you asked anyone.
I think twitter is as active as ever, at least for the people I follow. It’s not like I log in and see no new tweets for days on end (quite the opposite in fact). But the big thing about twitter is that it’s a self-selected group, so your conclusion might be the right one for the people you follow.
As for the decline of blogs, I think there’s a simple explanation there: social networks got popular after blogs, they attracted many bloggers (among others), and there’s only so much time in a day. A blog is also a whole lot more to maintain (especially once you’ve built up a body of work over time and/or decide to host and maintain the blog yourself) than a simple twitter profile or facebook page.
I can see how you would think that by just focussing on those few words! It was a generalised comment but I have started to use these tools now as you can see from my OP and seeing what the fuss is about, my thread is stemmed from that and that is the topic I wanna discuss not my views on social networking etc!
So…is it fair to say then that most twitters are ex bloggers?
I dunno, but it’s pretty darn popular. Just gotta look at the number of businesses it has orbiting around - from themes to plugins, etc.
I dunno if anyone is migrating between blog hosts or not, more likely each service has its following and the new users land where they happen to land.
Wordpress is more popular because it is also a software.
I don’t think so. Twitter has not become so popular immediately - it was launched in 2006 but became mainstream only last year (or was it 2008) when the mainstream media picked it up for one reason or another. Then it got flooded with people that never used anything like that before. I think Facebook shares a similar story.
“Ex bloggers” are still bloggers - they integrate social networks with their blogs. Those who might have used blogs only to connect with their friends might have moved completely to social networks, since all they do is… “socialize”.
I decided I would start off with a free Blogger account, so I was going along nicely and I happened to mention to someone oh btw I’ve just started a new “Blogger” blog you should check it out and tell me what you think and they were like what?! No one is using Blogger anymore they are all gone to Wordpress…so i’m thinking, oh…best get on there too…- So I did that and now I’m just wondering are blogs being phased out slowly but surely? They don’t seem to be as popular as they were a few years ago from my all my Googling around the web, is it all drying up? :scratch:
) Something will replace them eventually, but I don’t think it’s come along yet.
very interesting indeed! Any ideas about the self hosted numbers?
It was a generalised comment but I have started to use these tools now as you can see from my OP and seeing what the fuss is about, my thread is stemmed from that and that is the topic I wanna discuss not my views on social networking etc!