Most bloggers are wasting their time

[sitepointRefugee]

Tech commentator Frank Catalano says "Most bloggers are wasting their time. http://www.webtalkguys.com/030904.shtml" Does anyone agree with that? He compares blogging trend to personal home page trend. Most personal home pages created in mid-90s were basically weeded out because 1. No one(well, most people) checked those home pages and 2. Most people stopped working on them.

Personally I think that blog will be more widely adapted than personal home page, but I'd like to hear what other people say about it.

[MarkB]

He's talking out of his arse. Most bloggers don't blog to take over the world - they do it as a way of putting their thoughts down, and keeping up with friends. And as such, they aren't wasting their time seeing as most of them achieve what they want - a blog read by their friends.

[incka]

Yes, I often read Ethan Kaplan's blog, it's interesting. He doesn't do it to take over the world - he does it to communicate with friends.

[sitepointRefugee]

Most bloggers don't blog to take over the world - they do it as a way of putting their thoughts down, and keeping up with friends.

Keeping up with friends is a good reason; it's sustainable. But how about putting their thoughts down? A lot of people start keeping diary, but most of them quit. I don't see why people should continue keeping online diary or are more motivated to continue just because it's online.

Personally I think many more blogs will survive than personal home pages mainly because blog is much more accessible and also easier to allow others to participate. But I also think that many blogs will disappear, though I don't make any controversial statement like "Most bloggers are wasting their time."

[chromate]

"Most bloggers are wasting their time"

What a stupid, un-informed statement to make.

I think that most bloggers do it as a way of getting their ideas down and sharing them with others. I read a few blogs. People are naturally interested in other people's opinions. That's why blogs work.

Comparing them to those early home pages: "Hi my name's richard and I'm 23 from Bedford welcome to my homepage! I like..." It's just rediculous.

[incka]

If Chris, Chromate, Mike, Mark B or Dethfire made a blog I would read it.

[MarkB]

I do have a blog - but I'm not sharing it LOL

I've been online journal'ing, and now blogging, since 1997.

I check two blogs daily: powazek.com and tailored.com.au.

[MarkB]

Originally posted by sitepointRefugee
Personally I think many more blogs will survive than personal home pages mainly because blog is much more accessible and also easier to allow others to participate. But I also think that many blogs will disappear, though I don't make any controversial statement like "Most bloggers are wasting their time."

By that same argument, many people running AWS sites, web hosting companies, or Mom'n'Pop stores are wasting their time because they won't last. There are always people who lose interest in what they're doing -- just as there are always people who stick at it because they get personal satisfaction from it, and outlast everyone else.

Not everyone does something to make a profit, or to be popular or a 'success', and I think it's sad that many people are in the mindset where they assume this is what everyone is after!

(referring to article man, not you, SPR)

[Yoda]

I think blogging will go the way of the personal home page in the sense that many will die out and be virtually ignored by the Internet as a whole, yes. However, I think most of those that do will be those that resemble personal home pages; that is, places that would only be of interest to someone who knows that person, or someone who has enough free time and empathy to care about someone else's daily mumblings.

The real power of the blog lies in targetting. Go to GeorgeWBush.com or JohnKerry.com, and you'll see the future of blogging. My friend is an amateur filmmaker, and his blog is about film and very little else. The blogs on SitePoint are another great example: each one is focused on a specific topic or programming language.

Targetted, specific blogs will stick around, because they are very useful to anyone interested in the topic they deal with. Personal, rambling weblogs will definitely take a dip, however. The value of blogs lies in their ability to differentiate themselves from mere personal journals much in the way informational sites have differentiated themselves from personal home pages. The same situation will play itself out in the blog world, I think.

[thebillionaire]

Blogging is growing widely; it was even in the news on how blogging may make a difference in elections. Blogging is a slower but a better way to chat it reaches out to many users, and allows sharing ideas.

[ASP-Hosting.ca]

Blogging is just a way to publish information online (blogs are simple web content management systems) and the destiny of each blog depends of the quality and sometimes quantity of the information it has.