In July, a popular blogger posted an article on a well-read site that announced Blogging was dead – long live the blog. Not the first and not the last article that has/will proclaim the death of blogging. With the cyber atmosphere full of negativity many blogs not in the business to make money, sell, promote, etc. reacted and stopped, yep stated blogging was dead and like many before them just stopped blogging. Personal blogging has been declared dead more than once.
There is the “ugh oh” when bloggers realize that everything they post is out there – and make no mistake about this it is out there FOREVER. Security and privacy issues arise. I have waffled back and forth on this one. It is getting harder and harder to keep the online me from the private physical one becoming connected by the data miners. A personal blog allows me to control what I share or do not. While I can choose what I share on the larger social sites, I cannot stop them from collecting my data and selling it. If I am going to make an arse out of myself, I prefer someone else not making money off my idiocy.
Fifteen years ago, Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems made his notable quote
“You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”
Personal blogs use a journal/diary format BUT they also provide connections. If they were just diaries why have comment system? The end game (purpose?) is to make connections with like-minded people and when comments drop, it can quell ones enthusiasm. In addition, just like in other social groups (friends, family i.e.) feelings can be hurt and trusts broken.
Blogs do not guarantee an instant circle or group of friends. It takes time and effort to write a post. Personally, I am usually LAZY and the harder it gets to type, read the screen, and mentally express my ideas the less apt I am to post. It is tempting to just insta gram it, pinit, or forgo it altogether.
Blog posts do stay around longer. After awhile the importance (to them not you) of a particular conversation on the big social media sites diminishes. A blog post will be found easier for a longer period. You have control over what you can post without the “terms of service” many forget to read.
Going back to the roots of blogging and just posting interesting stuff I have found in cyber space is an option. I will continue in my belief that personal blogs really are not dead. Or I will have to see you from the far side of the moon.
I will end with a video. That inspired the title of this post. One of the earliest Internet memes “All Your Base Are Belong To Us” was about the flawed Japanese translation of the opening dialogue from the Sega game Zero Wing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vfwqvUPIRkg?rel=0