A post by Louis Gray about the Blogger recently celebrating its 10th anniversary caught my attention for several reasons. One, it’s hard to believe anything on the mainstream anything on the mainstream Web is a decade old until you remember it has been 14 years since Netscape’s IPO, which symbolically marked the official transformation of the Internet into the Web.
While Blogger ranks among the world’s leading blogging platforms, it really doesn’t get the respect it probably deserves. Meanwhile, Wordpress basks in the spotlight, although a recent security hack, which I experienced a couple of week ago, is probably not the kind of attention it wants.
Blogger struggles to get its props because, frankly, it is buried deep within Google, which acquired Blogger in 2003 (Twitter’s Ev Williams was one of Blogger’s co-founders). While Google users Blogger for its publicly-facing blogs, Blogger hasn’t really received a lot of love and attention from Google.
Sure, there has been a tweaks here and there, but Blogger is still pretty much the same platform it was six years ago.
Blogger also suffers from not being “cool”. Blogger is regarded as a blogging platform for beginners, who want something simple and easy. And in that respect, it’s a terrific product.
But when people get the hang of it, there’s a perception that anyone serious about blogging needs to migrate to Wordpress – sort of like trading in your tricycle for a bicycle.
No doubt, Wordpress has done a fantastic job positioning itself as the blogging platform. Matt Mullenweg, Wordpress’ founding developer, is a tireless evangelist who travels the world talking to disciples. And the Wordpress platform is enthusiastically supported by thousands of third-party developers who happily create plug-ins that expand and enhance the platform.
But when you look at the numbers, Blogger is doing pretty well. Below is a chart comparing unique visitors (U.S.) for Blogger to Wordpress.com. Blogger is leading, although Wordpress’ numbers don’t include the millions of people who have self-hosted Wordpress blogs.
Still, it is interesting to see how the number of unique visitors to Blogger has grow 25% over the past year at a time when blogging seems have lost some of its luster.
Do you use Blogger? If so, why haven’t you climbed aboard the Wordpress bandwagon?
11 Comments
For one, wordpress doesn't allow you to monitize your blog. I tried to use wordpress but as soon as a figured this out, I stayed on blogger until I manage to find the time to use a self hosted wordpress solution.
There are lots of people who have blogs on blogger because of this, I often thumble on them while searching for tutorials (or whaterver) with google.
I'm assuming that people who bother to follow my blog are doing it because or my writing, not because of the platform that I chose. If that's true, then a platform change will not make much of a difference, so why bother. I doubt that staring all day at a Wordpress editor widget will inspire me any more than staring all day at a Blogger editor widget.
I don't regret using Blogger & don't have a reason to switch, but I do regret not establishing my own domain right away. That seems like a bigger issue than the platform.
Blogger is terrible. It doesn't deserve any respect. The comment system is awful, there is no community, and tools available aren't that great either.
We'll catch up to Blogger one of these days.
Testing, please ignore.
Thanks – Michael, IntenseDebate
When I started my first blog in October 2003, I chose to use Blogger, and (with the exception of some special-purpose blogs like my last.fm journal) have pretty much used Blogger ever since. My reason for sticking with Blogger is, frankly, inertia – I don't really want to learn a new blogging platform, and Blogger does everything that I need it to do. If I were to ratchet up my blogs to a more professional level, would I continue to use Blogger? Possibly – Louis Gray proves that it can be done.
WTF? No.
Colby,
To throw the ball in your court, when do you think the Internet turned into the Web? I mean, the Internet in early-1995 was still used by only a small group of people relatively speaking. To me, the Netscape IPO was the first sign of the Internet entering the mainstream.
Mark
The Internet didn't become the Web. The "WTF?" you elicited was not an issue with your timeline, it was with the notion that the Internet has–or could ever–become the Web. That's akin to asserting that Earth became the United States after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
It's fine if the remainder of your comment is what you believe; I'd say many people would agree. But the idea that the Web and the Internet are two terms denoting something at two different states on a timeline or to be used interchangeably is wrong.
I have used Blogger for a long time but now also use WordPress for 3 blogs and as I get more used to WP I'm finding it harder to get excited about using Blogger as a blogging platform.
The above graph is very interesting, it looks like the gap between WP and Blogger will always be the same.
Imagine if Blogger actually innovated their offering.
I use blogger because I don't feel like hosting my own and the Wordpress.com hosted option stinks. I've been using blogger for 4 years, and looked long(ingly) at WP for my current blog. I'm sure I'll hear about how easy it is to configure my blog on WP, what I am missing, etc. but frankly it is not what I want to do. Lazy, absolutely! But I don't feel like being an admin for a system.