A few days ago I wrote a post that included this sentence:
Change is the lifeblood of the digital age, and regular transfusions are mandatory.
The line referred to recent dramatic changes in the Facebook format, changes which caused an uproar in its community of followers. But there are some radical, if more subtle, changes in the blog world too and I've been observing them with keen interest.
Here's what I see:
- A genre of young lifestyle bloggers who are making blogging a profession, not in terms of generating ad revenue, but in terms of selling their message to the world. They talk about relationship, building your strengths, community, writing. They network voraciously, creating and promoting events.
- A group of slightly older bloggers who are using their blog stories not only to connect with a select group of readers, but as a way to expand their professional horizons and develop new career opportunities.
- Both groups use social media to the max, posting links throughout the day to their blogs and to other blogs of interest.
When I started my blog in 2006, I quickly connected with a group of women who were writing about their lives, their art, their passions. Blogging was a way to explore and share new avenues of creative expression, whether that was writing, photography, poetry, crafts. It wasn't difficult to find a group of like minded people to learn from and share with. Memes were king in those days, and were a way of spreading the word about your blog to others with similar interests. Now Facebook and Twitter have usurped that function, allowing you to send links to blog posts over a far-reaching network of people.
My son, who has been blogging in one form or another since 2003, is in the process of "overhauling" his personal blog for the tenth time. As a corporate webmaster, he knows only too well the importance of keeping things fresh in the digital marketplace. Here at Becca's Byline, I just keep on doing what I do - writing about the intersection of life in general and my own in particular. I'm trying to take some pointers from the young folks. Shorter but more frequent posts seem to be the standard these days, an easy change to adopt. Months ago I purchased my domain name, but haven't been brave enough to switch to a self-hosted sight. I hope to make that happen soon.
Meanwhile, there are so many more opportunities opening up for people who are talented in local search optimization, people who can do local business marketing, or local search marketing.
It's a brave new world out there in cyberspace, and things are always happening to shake it up.
Not so different from life in general, is it?
How about you? Has blogging changed for you since you began? Do you have changes you'd like to make in the way you blog?