The olden days
Got “recognised” by two different people on reddit yesterday as “that blogger” and god, if it hasn’t made me miss the olden days of blogging.
Write any old crap that comes to mind, publish, receive immediate feedback and support from peers and friends. Do it all again a few days later.
I’m not sure at what point I decided posts had to be “worthwhile”, when I stopped just throwing any old thought down on record. Maybe when I had kids and realised they’d grow up to read this absolute load of bollocks (Izzy, if you’re reading again, it’s not worth it poppet)
I’m not sure at what point social media became the preferred online time-sink instead of browsing and reading endless personal rambles and snippets from internet stranger’s lives. Maybe when those people grew up and got jobs and had kids and found something to do offline so stopped blogging too.
Huh, maybe it’s life before responsibilities I’m pining after, not the olden days of blogging. 😂
Adastra said:
On 16 May at 5:59 pm
The problem is that social media killed blogging… 🫠Before Twitter existed, blogging was so much easier and less anxiety-inducing than it is today…
Jem said:
On 17 May at 8:39 am
Yeah, I think I started taking my random thoughts – which “back then” I might have turned into a blog post – to twitter. Unfortunately when I stopped using twitter because of knobhead taking over I didn’t start blogging more frequently again 🥲
Sarah said:
On 16 May at 11:59 pm
When blogging turned into a “brand” and “business,” combined with social media and people “building a following.”
I struggle deeply with feeling like I’m speaking into the void whenever I blog. It’s not much better on social media when you have to go semi-viral to get engagement.
Jem said:
On 17 May at 8:41 am
Yeah, definitely think that contributed – had to be careful what you posted so it aligned with your goals, had to fit in monetary content etc etc. Definitely aligning more with the personal journaling side of it now, even if it is (like you say) shouting into the void!
Joanna said:
On 17 May at 2:51 am
Yeah, I miss the days when blogs were just blogs, not “content.” I get that people would like another income stream, but it really changed the blogosphere.
Jem said:
On 17 May at 8:42 am
Completely agree with you. There seems to be an indie web/personal blogging thing on the rise again though, so hopefully we’ll see the “blogs as blogs” thing once more!
Rhys Wynne said:
On 17 May at 10:08 am
Do you know if they still read?
BTW, like most of society, I blame the death of blogging on Google Reader being discontinued. It was so easy to follow a bunch of blogs there :)
Jem said:
On 17 May at 10:58 am
I didn’t ask, my ego couldn’t take it 😂
Feed readers are making a comeback if mastodon is anything to go by – feel like people I’m connected to are talking about them constantly!
Claire toplis said:
On 21 Jun at 8:05 am
I blogged of old and just throw my uniqueness into it. Everything now is about micro blogging.
Tracy said:
On 26 Jun at 12:46 pm
Hi Jem,
I know I stopped after having my first child – just checked my archive :)
I do not spend time on personal blogs anymore and I lost interest in html and css, yet I still pay for my domain (just saw Jebelle.net is available again… hmm) and hosting each year because I just have to, I can’t say bye yet, so many memories…
I miss google reader though, it really did make reading the blogs easy.