This post has been in draft mode for the past 24 hours while I published the latest issue of WordBiz Report. In other words, I started to post a note about a new survey by Perseus. I stopped because I wasn’t quite finished writing. And saved it as a draft. .
The draft mode is an interesting feature of most blogging tools. It belies the common assumption that everything about blogging is instantaneous and unedited. Not so. Yet another reason why blogs as a content publishing tool might be appropriate for a business.
Anyway, according to Perseus’ research, there are 4.12 million blogs, but 2.72 million of them have been abandoned. So there are really only one million-plus active bloggers out there. I loved this bit: the survey reveals men are more apt than women to abandon their blogs…
Thanks to Ralph Wilson for pointing me to Perseus’ press release just now.
Well, speaking as a man who recently set up a blog, mostly as a lark, I have to say that, well, in all likelihood I will be abandoning it pretty quickly.
It’s not that I don’t have anything to say. In fact, often enough people are unable to shut me up. I don’t suffer from Male Answer Syndrome, in which I think I know the answer to everything. I’m more than happy to say, ‘I dunno,’ but I do have lots of opinions and I’m rarely shy about sharing them.
So why will I probably give up my blog? Well, because it takes time and all things considered it’s not very interesting. I don’t know the nature of the blogs that have been abandoned (or, for that matter, most of those still being maintained), but I suspect they are similar to what mine currently is: just a way to hear myself talk. (Okay, a way to read myself type, or whatever). Blogging is just another thing to do on a long list of things to do, and it’s got just enough of a narcissistic component to it that I can’t imagine that I’m really adding much to the world by doing it.
That said, plenty of blogs are interesting enough to me to read. I can’t remember how I found yours, Debbie, but I’ve been reading it recently with interest.
Actually that brings up another thought. With the proliferation of blogs and the RSS readers that make blogs so easy to track, I’m finding that I spend less and less time actually doing things and more and more time readying other people’s chatter. Hmmm. Maybe I should go blog about that…
Well I’m also a man, and I spent about six months looking into starting a blog. Including the software, the time, how most people do it, and just how I would work it into my schedule.
I use mine to express my opinions, but also to communicate with family and also with business associates.
In fact, I’m thinking of moving to publishing the blog over my weekly newsletter.
This way I can avoid the possible abandondment of my blog.
I had a blog out on Diaryland.com. Then, I changed email addresses and had to get another one. This was six years ago or so. Both of those are now abandoned. A server crash lost the content of one. The other one is still alive, but the project that spawned it has been abandoned–getting my poetry published (in print), since DIY doesn’t count amoung the lit clique. I’m not professional about my poetry either. An event might push me to write a poem, but these days it’s heads down job hunting. Last winter’s once in a decade snow made for a great poem.
I started two more blogs. They represent my professional work. To keep them going would take having an editorial calendar. Mostly, they would be content I’ve posted on the forums I participate in. And, content extending those discussions. Somebody has already asked me to write a book about it, but who would read it and what publisher would publish it. Wiley maybe.
I’ve read the books on blogs and once you get into the add ons, the complexity seems to explode. I don’t have it in me to deal. And, having a poorly designed blog could be detrimental to my career, so I’m not publicizing them, and I’m letting them die. Actually, I should go out and delete them. I’m not certain where one of them is.
I do want to write a fiction novel called “Nowhere, Texas.” It started on a forum, but nobody was interested. It spilled over into some love letters. She actually wrote into the story. That was cool. That would make a great blog. And, I could probably stick to it without an editorial calendar.
I’ve also got another novel started for a topic on a blog comment forum.
Too many things going on: three startups, freelance writing, looking for full-time work, and the daily due. Not focusing on one means none of them get done. Coached private blogs might help.
The fear of death is the beginning of slavery.
A brute kills for pleasure. A fool kills from hate.