Where have all the bloggers gone?

I was reflecting today on the drive home about what happened to blogging. This reverie was induced by the recent return of my pal Nanner to the blogsphere after a bit of an absence. It got me to thinking that only about 2 of the bloggers I used to regularly read still post on some sort of regular basis. Most of them (including myself) almost never post any more. Some have even taken down their blogs. It seems Facebook and Twitter have replaced the blogsphere.

I get how it's much easier to put up one sentence or post a quick picture and move on. Writing a blog requires writing. And it seems like we don't have time for it anymore. It's almost like the death of the much lamented letter. You remember. When you used to have to put pen to paper and then stuff the result in an envelope with a stamp? We've become an impatient culture. We need instant gratification and access to the web 24/7 via a smartphone. How many of you have one? I do (though it's not my personal device. My personal cell phone is just a PHONE.) How many of you have a smartphone with a touch screen? That's what I thought.

I must say that I miss my friends that I found via the world of blogs. A couple I got to meet in person, some I spoke to on the phone, but I got to know all of them from their writings. Tales of family triumphs and tragedies. Rants about things that annoyed and thoughts philosophic. You really got to know people. Now, I have like 70 friends on Facebook (some former bloggers) and I really don't care what they have to say. Some posts are indecipherable (such as a song lyric that means something only to the person posting) or the fact that they're going to bed now. How low did we get that we need to catalog every moment of our lives for the world to see?

Those of you that have me as a friend on Facebook know that I don't put much out there either. I must admit, it is easy, but the only reason I do is just because most of the people I care to put up content for are on facebook. I dumped my twitter account because it was dumb. And I NEVER used it. So does this mean I'll be regularly posting here again? Beats me. Perhaps when I'm in a mood such as now I'll just ramble away. After all, I'm a rocker and a guy, and I tend to ramble. But you knew that from the blog title, didn't you?

So beyond the philosophical meanderings of the current state of blogging, I'm entering into my "slow" season of the year. Meaning, instead of having a kid's activity EVERY day of the week, it's only like 4 times a week. And my graduate course is winding down. Come July 9, I'm done with school for the summer. I plan on doing some summer reading, as much biking as I can fit in, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I may post something about how I appreciate all the women in my life as it occurs to me periodically how blessed I am to have some especially wonderful women within my circle, beginning with my beloved wife (yes, I said beloved. Blame it on Shelly as I just finished reading Frankenstein). I might post something on the joys of biking in general and my new road bike specifically. My thighs are killing me since I'm using new muscles. I could post something about how Christopher managed to turn his grades around for 4th quarter and do really well, under threat of pain of death. Or I could go on about how Nicholas (formerly known as Grasshopper) makes me crazy. So much material.

So you can expect me to be around this old place more often. Or perhaps not. Time will tell. I will say that I got the most amusing notice EVER today. Blogger is set up to email me when someone comments. I got a comment from someone I didn't know concerning an old post of mine about smash sandwiches in France. For some reason, I get a lot of hits when people google it. As it turns out, this post was from 2005. Yes, someone commented on a post I wrote FIVE YEARS AGO! Which leads to the realization that I've been doing this for at least that long. Anyway, I know a couple of you stop by her on occasion so I'll gladly continue to fill you in on all things banal and exciting as the muse guides me. In the immortal words of Led Zepplin, I'm going to ramble on. Or perhaps more like Steve Martin rambling. And if you don't know what I mean, go look it up.

Comments

Lois Lane said…
welcome back :)
Jude said…
You just said it all Vince! I've been lamenting the fact for awhile now that so many of my blogger buddies abandoned their blogging for Twattle and FaceBleh. Like you, one-liners just don't keep me up to date on my friends like a good ol' blog post does. It has actually made me quite sad.

Like many others, I don't have the time I used to to be able to blog daily like I once did but I still love it and blog a few times a month at least.

I'm PUMPED that you'll more than likely be blog posting more over the summer, yours is one blog I'd really miss if it was gone. So I look forward to your stories of biking and summer activities, and how Ellen, Christopher and Nicholas are doing.

Enjoy your summer, and your new bike. Rock On! :-)
sydwynd said…
Lois: Thanks!

Jude: Thanks for the kind words. I'm reminded of Abraham when he asked God to spare Sodom and Gammorah if he could find just one righteous person. For the sake of the one (or two) bloggers that read here, I will not take it down.
cybele said…
Vince, I'm still blogging. Still at CrushWorld, since 2003. Did you say Hi at AJ's All Your Blogs Are Belong To Us? It's the A Land Called Blogville, Epilogue post.

I keep my blog because it's tidier than a series of spiral notebooks, and more legible. Plus the sense of possibility of audience makes me consciously less autobiographic and more (I hope) entertainment-oriented.
Kate said…
I find it's almost a disadvantage for me to have a blog because my friends read it and feel like they talk to me every day and I know nothing about them. I support more people getting blogs.
sydwynd said…
Cybele: Thanks for the info! I went over there and saw some familiar names. I'll stop by your place from time to time perhaps.

Kate: Know what you mean. I'm all about reciprocity.
AJ in Nashville said…
Hi Vince! I thought since you came by my place I'd stop by yours! Thanks for your comment! Yep it's pretty eerie that we'd both be thinking along the same lines at the same time and write similar posts, huh?

And it's even weirder (to me) is that we've never really met, you and me, seeing as how many common friends we have. I recognize both your handle and your real name, but forgive me for not introducing myself sooner.

It seems like we've always been in the same neighborhood, just not hanging out in the same place at the same time.

Like you, I never really stopped blogging but things have indeed slowed to a crawl for the last couple of years. But I decided to give it a try to get things going again, at least for myself. Hopefully the inertia from the two of us will spur others to do the same.

Don't be a stranger over at AYBABTU, and I'll start checking in on you here as well.

Keep on bloggin' man! Take care.
sydwynd said…
AJ: Thanks for stopping by! I put your feed on my google blog page to keep an eye on things. I too was amazed that we had so many people in common. I'm going to get back into blogging, I think, if only just to have a place to write down my thoughts. That was the original reason I started. Then it started feeling like an obligation to keep up with the other kids in the neighborhood, but now there's no pressure any more, right?

Who knows, maybe two people can start a movement and change the world.
Traci Dolan said…
I wanted to stop blogging for a while because I wanted to concentrate on my fiction writing but then realized, wow, I just miss blogging and I need it. I really miss some of the people I used to interact with on an almost daily basis.

I don't Tweet. Facebook helps me keep in touch, especially with family and friends who have stopped blogging. I'm trying to get back into it.
sydwynd said…
Nanner: Me too. That's why I decided to pick it up again. Just to put out there what I'm thinking or what's going on. There's so much more to say that you can in Facebook. I cancelled my Twitter account because I never used it.

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