Has the Blogosphere Stalled?
According to Valleywag, (based on a post by BusinessWeek’s Blogspotting) the number of active blogs within the blogosphere has plateaued at 15 million, which is a far cry from the 70 million tracked by Technorati (the difference, apparently, lies in the number of active and inactive blogs). Not sure if this is a trend or a break in the action but it does put the spotlight on the reality that while setting up a blog is easy, writing one is difficult after the initial enthusiasm dies off. Even someone like me, who spent 15 years writing every day for newspapers, finds it a challenge at times to pump out posts every day. To blog well, you need commitment, energy, passion and, ideally, a solid hour or two a day to write. That’s a lot to ask of anyone.
Then, there’s the money. A lot of people thought they could make some decent coin writing a blog but if you’re depending on AdSense to pay your mortgage, you’re dreaming because Google has got the game tilted wildly in their favour where they make a lot from every click, while you’re lucky to make a few pennies. Another factor could be the explosive growth of MySpace and Facebook, which provide people with the ability to write and share their thoughts without setting up a traditional blog.
If the 15 million blog figure is, indeed, accurate, I’m torn. On one hand, it’s disappointing to see the medium lose some of its momentum. On the other hand, the disappearance of blogging wannabes, personal diaries, etc. may be a healthy development if it raises the profile of blogs generating solid content on a regular basis. Update: By “wannabes”, I mean people who think blogging is so cool, only to abandon a blog soon after they start because it’s too much work.
Update: Fred Wilson (aka A VC) doesn’t think blogging has stalled at all and dismissed CNet’s assertion blogging is a bubble. “I don’t think it’s a bubble. I think its a revolution. We are taking over the media, slowly but surely. And this revolution isn’t going to burst.” Amen, brother!
Here’s a chart from Blogspotting:
April 27th, 2007 at 11:21 am
“On the other hand, the disappearance of blogging wannabes, personal diaries, etc. may be a healthy development if it raises the profile of blogs generating solid content on a regular basis.”
Hrm - it sounds like you consider “blogging wannabes, personal diaries” to be inferior/not as good as/of lower rank and value than “blogs generating solid content on a regular basis”. Has it occured to you that personal diaries, etc. are considered to be “blogs generating solid content” to some people? (though obviously not in your opinion) Just because you don’t consider a particular blog to be “generating solid content” doesn’t mean others agree with you.
Of course, I could have misinterpreted what you meant, and it that’s the case you’ll probably want to reevaluate how you express your opinions less you be misunderstood by a great number of people.
Just food for thought.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[...] Evans pulled a few threads together for me [Has the Blogosphere stalled] citing statistics that show blog growth leveling off. Mark thinks as “factor could be the [...]
April 27th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Jonathan: That came across as somewhat dismissive, didn’t it. What I meant was that many people throw themselves into blogs and then quickly abandon them once they realize it’s more work than they thought. It’s like getting into a relationship and then realizing you have a commitment-phobia because making a relationship is a lot of work.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I think political blogs are partially to blame. Potential millions of blogs were made before the November 2006 elections and then abandoned after the fact, glutting the web with now dead blogs.
April 28th, 2007 at 4:40 am
Mark: I see your point - thanks for clearing that up.
April 28th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
[...] this “plateau” in the blogosphere. C|Net was gathering comments from folks like Mark Evans and WebProNews covered it as well. Now the question is, so [...]
May 7th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
[...] the momentum that web 2.0 continues to gather. For example Technorati claims the Blogosphere has 71 millions blogs yet in reality the number is closer to 15 million. This type of statistical hyperbole is the Soylent Green of Web 2.0. The populace is fed numbers [...]