Do Blogs/Bloggers Have Expiry Dates?
I’m not even going dip a toe in the is Jason Calacanis really retiring from blogging or not debate but his “announcement” did make me wonder whether blogs and/or bloggers have expiry dates.
Does there come a time, for example, when a blogger simply decides enough is enough after writing hundreds or thousands of posts? Do they wake up one morning, and just not do it any more? Do they think about it for awhile or is it just a snap decision.
As someone who enjoys writing and blogging, it’s difficult to personally envision this scenario but many variables (personal, professional) can make blogging impossible or just not worth it. A good example is Daniel Lyons, who just walked away from the Fake Steve Jobs.
There are times when I do wonder what keeps the A-list bloggers going. Many of them have been pumping it out for a long time; generating multiple posts day in day out. Writing one post a day can be a grind, let alone several posts! For some, the money is motivation but what about all those people making little or no money. What keeps them writing every day?
The other scenario that’s interesting is when a blog is no longer relevant. A blog about a particular company or person can lose its mojo. For example, a slew of Facebook-focused blogs emerged last year when Facebook was all the rage. Today, Facebook isn’t nearly has interesting so the need for all those blogs has evaporated.
For people write those kind of blogs, I would think that shutting them down must be easier because you can tell when the appetite (aka traffic, interest) for them is no longer there. Even so, it must be difficult to realize the blog has expired.
So, what do you think? Do blogs/bloggers have a “best until” date?
Technorati Tags: Blogs, jason calacanis
July 13th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I think that sooner or later, 99% of bloggers will retire from blogging or at least their current blogs. There comes a time when anyone has said all they have to say and all that keeps them going is ego. If they can come to grips with the ego question, they’ll move on to something else.
That something else may be a different blog on a different subject matter and a fresh perspective. Or it may be to leave blogging altogether.
For some people, that will come with a dramatic declaration that “I’m outahere.” For most, however, I think it will come about with less and less frequent until things simply peter out.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:48 am
[...] Jason Calacanis’ announcement that he’s done with blogging and asks the question, "Do blogs/bloggers have a ‘best until’ date? [...]
July 13th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Hi Mark,
All I can say is that I hope blogs/bloggers don’t have a ‘best until’ date. I blog because I love to write. It’s a place for me to put my thoughts down and make sense of them. I do it for me, not an audience. So long as I have thoughts in my head that need to get out, I’ll keep blogging. But maybe Joe is right in a sense - I likely won’t always be able to blog about my quest to break into the PR industry, or a least I hope not. Someday I hope to blog about what it’s like to be IN the industry. So I guess as people and society evolve, so will blogs.
-Kerri
July 13th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Kerri states it well. When I’m done, I’m done. I don’t think there is any magic or secrets to it. Jason? heh, yeah, not touching it either.
July 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I recently shut down a garden blog I had kept for almost two years. I started a new one in its place about tech, blogging and random thoughts. I think as long as there is blog software I will be blogging.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:46 am
In my opinion it isn’t really “expire” date, it’s just a time when for any reason you don’t feel like writing. My personal semi-private blog is running since 2003, but looking at calendar I hadn’t made a single post in whole 2005. It was not “expire” date, just was two dates when I decided to stop and when I decided to come back.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
[...] Do Blogs/Bloggers Have Expiry Dates? [...]
July 16th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hi Mark,
I don’t blog for money (I’m hosted on WordPress.com, so I can’t really monetize my blog), and I publish anywhere between 3 and 6 posts a day (in addition to teaching, research and various other academic responsibilities). I can’t say if I’m an A-list blogger or not, but I do it because I love it, and because it allows me to create new interactions with interesting people who are looking for ways to make technology work for them.
I considered quitting blogging, but now I can’t really
August 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
[...] Do Blogs/Bloggers Have Expiry Dates? [...]