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?
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Blogger: The Rodney Dangerfield of Blogging
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?