This here blog is going to be 5 years old next week. I can hardly believe it. This project, that started as hey, maybe I'll have a blog, is now 5 years strong and 1341 posts in. I'm not sure I have ever kept anything up that long. I used to knit. I gave it up.
But I find myself 5 years in, at a cross roads. I once read somewhere that once a child reaches a certain age, a parenting blog either needs to go away or evolve. And I think almost 7 is probably that age. Michael doesn't know I have a blog and I'm not ready to explain it to him, but I am cognizant of what I write and say about him. Plus, there aren't many cute my kid is in 1st grade stories out there.
I used to write a bazillion and half places. And now I write here. And I still edit the entertainment section for The DC Moms and I'm contributing to a new political site, The Broad Side. But I'm writing less and less here, mostly because I find myself with less and less to say.
I used to think somehow I could turn jodifur and social media into a career somehow. I've watched friends and other bloggers do just that. It seems like nothing but a pipe dream now.
I'm pretty sure the personal blog is dead or dying. And that makes me sad. Not just for my blog, but because personal, no niche, memoir blogs are what I like to read the most online. Not that there is not a place for other blogs. I read pop culture blogs, and style blogs, and book review blogs, and even tech blogs, but it is the parenting blogs, the blogs that got me into blogging in the first place, that I always go back to.
I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be here. This is not a goodbye post or even a beg me to stay post. This is a I don't know how much more I have to say post, and I'm not sure what to evolve into. I like blogging. I like having my own space online. I love the community and the opportunities it has brought me. I cannot imagine the past 5 years had I never opened Blogger all those years ago and hit create blog.
5 years later so much of who I am is wrapped up in jodifur. I can't imagine not having this space. But what now? Where to?
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the personal blog is dying too, and MAN, what a loss that will be.
I’ve only been blogging for a a mere seven months, so I don’t have any practical advice to offer. I am still ignorant as to so much about blogging, social media, and all that comes with it.
I started reading blogs at the same time I started writing them, and I have found a handful of blogs that I treasure – where you feel a “virtual” bond with the author and a respect for the writing. I’ve been using those blogs as a model for my own blog – for how I want it to evolve and what I want it to become.
Your blog is one of those blogs for me. So, regardless of where you decide to take your blog, thank you for that!
I hear ya. I’ve been having similar thoughts lately but I love my place. I love yours too so I sure hope you don’t go anywhere soon.
I’m not sure I’d agree that the personal blog is dead but I do think marketing is more powerful when it’s niche-driven. I’m not a personal blogger. I blog for a brand and I think our blog is one of our more impactful channels. It’s far more stable than Facebook, Twitter and other social spaces and of course, I own it. So no one can ever take it away or penalize me for doing things a certain way. With all the regulation Facebook has imposed on marketers, I am finding that returning to the blog is more important than ever. And finding personal bloggers with a distinct voice to talk about our products is a great way to move the needle. Just my two cents.
yup, yup, and yup. And yes, we need to talk
Reasons to maintain a personal blog:
1. for money
2. for attention
3. because it has become part of the fabric of you – part of who and what you are.
Personal blogs aren’t dying so much as they now have to compete with all the other forms of blog out there. There was a time when all there was was personal blogs. Now there’s Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and all the micro-blogging platforms – all of which distract the part-time and/or less than dedicated blogger. But what’s left are the true bloggers. Writers, Moms, Dads, and people with a certain passion, no matter what it is. I read a blog by a woman who is working on her PHD in Geology. Her passion.
Will your blog evolve? The question is – will YOU evolve. And if and when you do, will your blog remain part and participle of you?
So I guess the real question is – why do you blog?
I went through this recently myself. I got some good advice from a friend which was to take some time off. “It’s not going to hurt you to take a month or two off, and if it does so what?” This was the one of the best pieces of advice I’d ever received since I joined the social media world in 2004. It’s sometimes hard to sit, be quiet, and think about what you’re doing while you’re still heavily participating in SM, and for me it was too easy to get caught up doing stuff that I really didn’t want to do. So, I took the time off and towards the end of it, it came to be what it that was actually the most important to me when it came to social media. I’ve been focusing on that ever since, and I’ve found the joy again in blogging. Good luck!
I agree with Lou. I blog because I have to. There is something about it that makes me feel better about me. It is away to unwind and let things go. I can’t imagine not ever doing it because I need it so much.
I’ve heard this before, that the personal blog is going away, but I don’t see that at all. I read almost 100 personal blogs that I love. They are really the only ones that I subscribe to. I think they are there, but just maybe lost among the clutter.
I had those questions when I started my little blog a year ago, have them now and I must admit – it is nice to know that an established blogger has them, too. Thanks for sharing this!
i’ve been at it for 5 years also. i’m finding myself at the same crossroads. my youngest is almost 8 and my others are teenagers. i only blog now a couple times a week. i’m finding my life to be unbloggable these days. mostly, i enjoy writing fiction now. that seems to be the direction i’m evolving. i’ve let my stats get me down a little more than i’d like to admit. i mean, 5 years in and only 100 visits a day is less than exciting to me.
i spend more time on twitter and fb now, especially since i’ve taken on some sm clients. but, i miss the personal blogging of yesteryears, where it seemed to matter. it’s definitely not what it used to be.
but i’m not giving up being online because i love it. i’ve found a voice and i’m not afraid to use it.
Oh, honey. I think we’ve all been there, but like you, we just can’t give it up. I’ve been scattered lately and just not sure where to put my energies. As someone above said, it doesn’t hurt to take some time off. I did that, inadvertently without really deciding to, and it seems to have cleared my head and helped me to see the direction I’d like to go. At least that’s something. Good luck to you.
I don’t think it is so much that personal blogs are dying, it is just that there are all sorts of other blogs and media to catch our attention. There will always be a place for stories from the home and the heart, real stories. I think what you need is to find that place where you fit in now. Your child is older and a ton of personal blogs are from moms of little kids (because they are stuck home by a computer a lot and little kids don’t have the off button that older kids have, making them oodles more interesting to the rest of the world). That being said, you have new challenges and experiences that are addressed differently. Perhaps its not the personal blog is dead, its just that you need to find a new group of personal blogs where your experiences fit in and you can get different ideas. Or maybe it is time for a vacation from blogging so your mind can get refreshed.
I don’t believe the personal blog is dead, per se. As another commenter observed, there are many other spots these days to distract us.
I do understand that “not feeling it” feeling. I am certainly not ready to throw in the virtual towel on my blog, but I have slowed down and only write when I really, really feel like writing.
This makes me sad. Yet, I get it. I don’t think personal blogs are dead. However at some point what do we do anymore? I don’t have any answers.
Not really sure what to say other than I hope you keep blogging so I can keep getting to know you – I came in late on the scene when it comes to personal blogging, so I am not sure, like some others say, whether this is a lost or dying art. I just know that I blog about whatever the hell I want to – and people will either read it or not. You should too, IMO.
I started reading mom blogs a few months ago, right before I was going to become a mom. I am so sad to hear you say you think they are dying, because I really, really love so many of them. I visit gossip sites and style sites and beautifully written parenting sites with articles, but it’s blogs like yours and amalah’s and Shan’s and Kelle Hampton’s and Heather Spohr’s that I keep going back to again and again because I want the narrative. It’s the difference between reading a short story and a series of books. I always want the series. I don’t want everything to be condensed into 500 word “sponsored by Hallmark” blurbs. I check these blogs before I check my EMAIL.
Thus,
What @lceel said.
I don’t think you have to make a decision right now. I don’t even think you have to decide to take some time off. That’s one of the beauties of blogging: it’s here and it’ll always be here. The only mistake you can make at this point is to delete it. Please don’t do that. As you said, it’s your personal space. It doesn’t have to fit a niche.
I know you have to do what works for you, but I for one would miss your blog.
I am feeling the same way. Not sure where to go from here.