Twitter killed the blogging star?
on May 21 in General by DanSimon over at Mere Bagatelle wrote an interesting postrecently about why he thinks Twitter is killing blogging. In it he argues that Twitter poaches all the little ideas and theories you have throughout the day, and so prevents them from germinating and developing into a proper blog post at some later date.
I haven’t noticed that to be honest. But then again my relationship with Twitter is a pretty frosty one. I’m not one of these people who sees it as a harbinger of the decline of civilization as we know it, but all it does for me is make me feel excluded from the in-crowd and overwhelmed by the pace of tweeting going on.
No, in my opinion Twitter’s for the birds.
But Simon’s post did prompt me to solidify some thoughts about another threat to blogging that I’ve become aware of recently. The iPhone. Or more accurately, the iPhone’s symbiosis with Google Reader.
I don’t know about anyone else, but since I got the iPhone I do a lot of my blog reading when I’m nowhere near a computer at all. In bed, on the toilet, or waiting for Amy to come out of school. The iPhone enables you to entertain yourself during all those moments when your brain would otherwise be on idle.
And that has two risks. Firstly you’re focused on whatever it is you’re consuming at the time, making it less likely that your wandering consciousness will stumble across the seed of your next great blog post (“mmmm, I wonder what would happen if you put milk in a sodastream machine?”).
But additionally, and to me this is by far the most worrying, is that if you are reading someone’s blog feed through google reader on the iPhone you are much less likely to then head over to that person’s actual blog and leave a comment. It’s just too much faff. First you have to zoom in so that your fat fingers can click the “read original” button, then you have to zoom in again on the original blog page so you can press “leave comment”, and then you type your comment in using the iPhone’s touch screen keyboard (which even it’s most ardent fanboys surely can’t describe as a completely frustration free process).
I’s a real pain in the backside, which usually means I won’t bother. Sure you can mark the post as unread and come back to it next time you’re in front of a computer. But lets face it you’ve probably forgotten whatever smart arsed thing you were going to say by then.
And we all know that a comment is to a blog is what caffeine is to Diet coke. It’s not absolutely essential, but it certainly make things a lot more stimulating.
I don’t have an answer to this by the way (although last time I complained about Google Reader Whit rode in on his white pony and saved the day), it’s just been floating around my head for a while and I thought I’d give it an airing.
How about you? What do you think are the threats to blogging?
Related posts:
- Blogging about blogging
- A half arsed Twitter suicide note
- YouTube killed the Blogger star
- An Alternative State of British Parent Blogging 2009
- Blogging for Fun and Profit?
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I concur with that sentiment, yours that is. I don’t have an iPhone but I have a Sony Ericsson C905 and the web capability is excellent for picking up emails, and for Google Reader. With the single problem being it is too cumbersome to reply to emails, and comment on blogs.
Emails get caught up, as if I don’t delete them I eventually download them to Outlook. But there have been quite a few blog posts that have missed my highly valued input due to my reading via Sony Ericsson.
Re: Twitter I fall in and out with it, but it certainly doesn’t sap my blog ideas or prompts. I actually think it does the opposite. And if you twit, then twit a blog link about same subject, people are more likely to click through, as they will have a secondary memory of the original mention.
SingleParentDads last blog post..My Turn
I also agree completely! Ever since I got my iPhone I have read more but commented less. I love the convenience of being able to catch up with blogs wherever and whenever I like, but I do feel gulty that I’m not commenting as much as I used to!
Penelopes last blog post..Staying in!
Mmmm.
On the twitter thing, I think it is only a threat to blogs of those who blog purely to be involved in the online experience. It’s another sub-media for them to use. There will come newer ones that will leave twitter in the dust also I’m certain.
Bloggers who do it for the writing experience, or to tell a specific story or with focus on a topic, will never be lost to the 140 characters.
On the mobile technology, I’m using an HTC thing of sorts, but I won’t go much further than checking my mail on it. Reading blogs to date is something I genuinely enjoy doing at leisure, on the ‘big’ screen.
Xbox4NappyRashs last blog post..Now for my next trick
I would have commented, but unfortunately I’m reading this on an iPhone.
Simons last blog post..Aw, birdies!
I’m with you on Twitter, I don’t see the point. (Word limits!?)
And you probably know my feelings on iPhones too. I’m with Charlie Brooker…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/may/09/screen-burn-charlie-brooker-knight-rider
Rols last blog post..The Scaremongers are Born In A Barn
@Rol, this was a long time ago I know – but i just read that Mr Booker has now bought an iPhone.
you’re the only one left Rol, the only one left.
I have noticed that I am a bit less focused on my blogging in the week or so I have been on Twitter. Though I don’t know how that will play out as I get used to it. I definitely agree that fewer comments discourage and that will = fewer posts. But there will still be plenty out there to read.
James (Seattledad)s last blog post..A Few Miles West of Expected
i am upset that face book and twitter has even cost me my family….at least 10 family members stopped posting on my blog…barlowputz, and i am so god damned entertaining
(I want an iPhone. I want an iPhone. I want an iPhone)
I wonder if this explains it – all my readers have got iPhones? Either way, I haven’t noticed that Twitter affects my blogging particularly but it’s utterly ousted Facebook for me.
dadwhowritess last blog post..Sex
I’ve started a twitteraccount last week, but somehow reallife has prevented me from sitting behind my computer enough to do much with it. But that also kills my blogging…
Arjans last blog post..Dawn of war 2
I agree with everything wrote. However, I do have another threat to blogging to share. It’s having another kid to the mix. I have trouble making time now.
VegasDads last blog post..of doctors, dangling bits and humiliation
I use Twitter purely as a side thing, I love that I can use it so easily on the iPhone and it is actually less distracting than the blog during work hours.
It depends on what you hope to get out of twitter and that’s something you have to evaluate for yourself.
I’ll happily blog about something I wrote on Twitter.
Lees last blog post..Spider-Man and the Green Goblin
OK–to answer your question–exposure. I’ve never blogged anonymously but it is a bit different when you know who is reading your stuff.
I agree with you or is it Simon I agree with–sometimes a 140 character Twit completely zaps the thought processes of a longer post.
And I think you are implying that maybe Twitter didn’t kill the blog post–iPhone killed it!
Ed (zoesdad)s last blog post..Breakfast
My blog usually has a lot of visual material on it which won’t work on Twitter. This makes it easy to keep ideas for my blog and my Twitter feed from conflicting. When it comes to my commenting on blogs, however, the time I spend on Twitter definitely takes away from that.
Dave2s last blog post..Idolatry
I was all very late to the Twitter party but once I started I found the amount of my blog posts decreased sharply. So yeah, I was totally nodding in agreement as I read Simon’s post.
Kevin Spencers last blog post..Stormy
Totally agree with you, Dan. I am able to read so many more blog posts now that I have my iPhone with me everywhere I go (poor magazines never get any attention in the bathroom anymore).
I use the Byline app for my feed reading, and it’s got a handy little button to take me to the blog site for commenting. Only problem is, I have yet to grow accustomed to typing long and thoughtful comments on the iPhone keyboard.
What is a threat to blogging? Facebook. I find myself spending too much time there most evenings when I could be composing a dazzling new blog post.
Twitter… I signed up, but then lost interest even before the web site finished approving my account! It’s a combination of “I doubt anyone cares what I’m doing at the moment,” and “I don’t even care what I’m doing at the moment.”
Idaho Dads last blog post..Wordless Wednesday
Hero is such a strong word.
Whits last blog post..Two Ear Infections and a Microphone
SingleParentDad – Don’t have an iPhone? Really? I didn’t know they still made other brands of mobiles. How quaint.
Penelope – Yes, there’s a danger of people starting to think I’ve stopped reading them due to my very poor commenting of late.
Xbox – The online experience might not be the sole reason people blog, but it’s certainly one of the major reasons people keep blogging when they otherwise might have got bored of it. Would blogging still be the same for you if you didn’t have your billions of adoring fans and features in the newspapers and radio stations? (you bastard). I’m sure you would still be doing it, because you have a story to tell, but the feedback and support has to be nice.
Simon – You have left exactly the same comment as I would have if this post had been written on someone elses blog.
Rol – To be honest I’m surprised you even blog at all, luddite. And although I’m sure he’s a complete prick in real life, I’m with Charlie Brooker on most things too.
James – Maybe it will just reduce the amount of posts, and so people will blog only when they have something they particularly want to say rather than just bleat inanities for the sake of it. So that’s this blog empty then.
b – I just googled your blog and you certainly are interesting.
dadwhowrites – Get an iPhone then! They are free on a £40 contract (or £30 contract if you know someone who works for O2, hurrah!). Although I suspect any reduction in comments on your blog has more to do with your rebranding.
Arjan – I think twitter is only really valuable if you have a mobile device from which to post and read it.
Lee – I’m not sure what I expected from twitter. I mainly used it to follow people rather than actually post there myself, and I got bored after a while (I’ve tried it a few times now).
Ed – I don’t think the blog post is dead exactly, but I think that the medium is in danger of changing towards being less social.
Dave2 – Twitter certainly has limitations. I personally find I’m much too wordy for it to be useful in expressing myself. And any new thing I get into online has the side effect of taking time away from the old stuff I was doing on-line. It’s this damn finite time thing, everything would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to work damnit.
Kevin – Simon’s theory doesn’t hold true fopr me, but i can certainly appreciate that it will for a lot of people.
Idaho Dad – I was watching Babylon 5 while on the toilet the other day. It doesn’t get much better than that. I’m going to have to look at the byline app.
Whit – But so apt.
The feedback IS nice, and sometimes it’s what’s kept me going when things weren’t so good.
BUT, I’m certain I would still be writing the story even if no one read it.
40 comments, papers, and radio are great, but they haven’t fixed anything. The story is leading the rest.
But it’s one of the many different reasons people blog.
and re: Twitter, it definitely works best if you’re mobile.
Xbox4NappyRashs last blog post..Now for my next trick
Xbox -I’m currently in the process of transfering my blog into a book using lulu.com. It’s basically cut and pasting into word, but I’m hoping a hard copy will be more lasting than the ethereal one here on the web. I still am convinced that it’s only a matter of time until you get a book deal (if one isn’t allready in the offing), but the story of your struggle would be a nice thing to hand to your child so they would know just how much you wanted them.
Idaho Dad said my exact thoughts; Facebook is killing my blog. It’s so much easier to draft a quick status update than it is to build about a great story about a single sentence. Instant gratification can be a dangerous thing.
Hygiene Dads last blog post..What I Learned in Grad School
Heh, there is nothing in the offing, but feel free to keep telling people there should be ;-)
I’ve see lulu, it’s a great idea, and I intend to do the same should things work out.
I think it will make a great gift to your kids when the time comes.
I’m curious to hear how it works for you.
Xbox4NappyRashs last blog post..Of course, what else?
HygienDad – Yeah but the hit you get from facebook is so much less satisfying than the one from blogging.
xbox – It’s working well so far, although it is a bit of a pain cutting and pasting all the blog posts into word. I’m on July 2007 so far, it’s going to be a long job.
And things will work out man.
Yes, yes and yes and yes very much so with regard to Facebook.
I too thought everyone had an iphone these days…who knew?
gails last blog post..A pile Up.
I don’t have an iphone nor does my phone take pictures – it is an old fashioned might as well be made of bakelite black and white one and apparently you can look at tinternet on it but I don’t know how to and anyways I prefer the laptop.
I think it’s all to do with people’s attention span getting shorter and ……..
I do most of my blog reading on my phone as well, and I do find it tougher to actually make myself go over and post a comment.
Holmess last blog post..Tough Guy
and I LOVE how you’ve been discovered by Putz!
My favourite Mormon.
Xbox4NappyRashs last blog post..Feline literature from Guantanamo