Last Tuesday, I blogged about Aging with Grace. In that post, I blogged a little about blogging:
I've also thought about cutting way down on blogging. Several bloggers I know have either quit in the last year, or cut way back. I hope it is for good reasons....
I've blogged daily since May of 2011. In a way, my blog has become an online journal. It's a fragile journal, one that could go "poof" at any time if Google decides to discontinue the platform. But, for now, daily blogging serves my purposes. It's a journal I can look at any time I have an internet connection.
There were some interesting comments from fellow bloggers. I thank everyone who commented on that post. Here are two of the comments, edited for length:
From reader Liz at Laws of Gravity: "Lately I've begun to think of my grandfather with regards to blogging. He had a CB radio...My brother and I would sit with him when we were kids in the '80s. But looking back, CB radios would have had their heyday in the '70s. I think blogging is becoming that. It's still here, but people are falling away from it as newer social media has come in and shortened our attention spans (yet again)."
And Yogi, who heads the Friday sky watching meme I participate in at his blog Skywatch Friday, commented: "I posted daily on my blog for years. Now it is three or four times a week. You see it with everybody else with the decreased number of people participating in the various memes....And I think we have lost lots of bloggers. It seems to be an older person's passion. Some people just go dark and I don't know if they have passed away or just tired of it all."
They both make good points.
I wonder what I am going to find when it is time for an April blogging challenge I've participated in since 2015 to have its signup. Signup is starting on March 10 for the 2024 Blogging from A to Z Challenge (A to Z for short).
This
challenge started in 2010 and continues every April for the entire month. Bloggers who
sign up (and some who don't) start April 1 with a post whose title and
subject begins with
"A". This year, "A" day will be Monday, April 1. Tuesday is for "B", and so on, except for Sunday. We follow this pattern all the way to Z on the last blogging
day of April (a Tuesday). So,
26 blogging days, 26 letters of the English
alphabet. Some letters are easy. Some are hard (think Q and X.)
But each year, it seems fewer people participate and I get less eager to join up. Last year, especially, a number of blogs never even started (and didn't explain) or quit midmonth without even a "Thank you, and goodbye".
2010 (the first year) nearly 100 participants.
2011 - nearly 1300.
2012 - nearly 1700
2023 - if my math is correct, 231.
A to Z turned out to be good for me last year when I contracted COVID, had a few days of feeling crappy and tired, and even a day when I would have been hard pressed to remember my own name, never mind read any blog. My blog posts, prewritten, posted on automatic pilot, so to speak.
Years ago, I was introduced to some great bloggers (like Liz of one of the above comments) and I think an A to Z Blogger led me to Skywatch Friday. An A to Z blogger also invited me to join the Monday Music Moves Me I participate in.
A fellow Music Moves Me person also co-hosts A to Z, and I respect this person highly. Actually, I respect all the co-hosts: this is a LOT of work. I don't want to waste their time.
I agonize each year about signing up, I know. And, truth to tell, I already have a theme in mind.
But...do I still have the ambition? Is it still right for me? Have I done it too long? Is the joy gone?
Will Blogging from A to Z be for me this year? Or will I take a Leap (this is a leap year, after all) of faith and seek something different?
It's the hour of decision.
...I was in business for 50 years and it consumed my life (in a good way). In retirement my blog has replaced my business, I have too much to say.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been blogging for years. I think younger people do video blogs, it’s easier than writing. I’m not sure about doing the challenge, it was fun last year but it’s a lot of effort
ReplyDeleteI've been blogging for fifteen years. It all started when I was invited to contribute a blog to The Houston Chronicle newspaper and has evolved from there. I enjoy it enormously, especially when I get a reaction from my readers.
ReplyDeleteI'm honored that you respect me...
ReplyDeleteWe'd love to have you join us in our annual trip through the alphabet, but life happens. Arlee felt a need to cut way back on his blogging, too. He's just been doing the Battle of the Bands and I assume he'll do A to Z (it's kind of his baby, because he started it). I think I'm the only nut among the A to Z team that blogs every day, but that's what I do. You do you. If you need a break from blogging, do it.
thecontemplativecat here. I started blogging in 2010 when my daughter looked at my writing, and rec'd that I join blogger world. It has been a source of expression and friendship for me.
ReplyDeleteDaily blogging, that's tough and tiring work!
ReplyDeleteI've never written a diary even for my personal drawer where it naturally belongs.
I'm in blogging since 2008. My purpose for blogging, among other things, is to maintain my knowledge of English (which is not my first language), improve my cognitive abilitythrough writing, exchange views with other bloggers on various life topics that arouse interest and curiosity.
Not as many bloggers participate, which makes it easier to get around and visit them all. (There were a few years when visiting them all was nigh on impossible if you did anything besides blogging.) I think I might jump in. I'm already pondering what if questions for Tuesdays.
ReplyDeleteThis comment is from Ricki Heller, who was unable to comment. You can read her at https://rickiheller.substack.com/p/i-married-an-audiophile-a-blast-from. " I think blogging has changed A LOT since I started my first blog back in 2007. In those days, it was pretty easy to attract readers, and people were much more inclined to comment and interact. Today, with all the social media platforms, plus other "blog-like" platforms (Medium, Patreon, Substack), it's harder and harder to find readers for blogs. But in some ways, we may go back to the original intent of the "weblog"--a log, or diary, on the web, intended more for the writer than the readers. In that case, it's always a good idea to keep it going."
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of thinking about the A2Z challenge and if I decide to do it, it will be something very simple. The majority of my visitors are regulars with only a few hop participants stop by. It could be a good opportunity to finish up some old art or perhaps share daily music. Everyone relates to and loves music. I will give this serious thought. Maybe, I'll surprise myself and everyone else with my return. :)
ReplyDeleteI had to cancel participating last year when I got COVID in late March. So, I'm looking forward to this year. I have my gardening blog all ready, and working on the poetry. I enjoy reuniting with bloggers I only see during April! I know I could see them throughout the year, but I have no time for everyone! I "met" you through A to Z! I've thought how it could be simpler to post some photo of something in my house starting with the letter. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteI came to blogging very late in the game, didn't know the "rules" or really care. I showed up to write, because that's really where I connect, with myself and with others. I appreciate all the different iterations of this platform. I'm glad you're still at it. :)
ReplyDelete