Aug
25
2007
Why I’m blogging less
Posted in the Category of In the News
Because I'd rather be planting my garden. Or picnicing with Lucy, age 3 - see feet at left. And as Hugh Macleod puts it: "Believe it or not, some of us have better things to do... "
That includes client work, reading and savoring the last few days of summer. Back soon...
P.S. Meanwhile, some of the most prolific bloggers (Steve Rubel, for example) have taken to Twittering in favor of blogging. Some call it microblogging. I call it, if not written as tightly and meaningfully as haiku, TMI (too much information). I may change my mind but I'm not using Twitter much yet.
Useful Links
Some Bail on Blogs In Favor of Twitter - Steve Rubel, March 13, 2007
When Less is More and More Is Less - Steve Rubel, July 30, 2007 (on why he'll be Twittering more and blogging less)
Why We're All Blogging Less - Hugh Macleod, Aug. 12, 2007
Marketers Twittering, But Not About Second Life - The New York Times (July 16, 2007)
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Comments
John Whiteside said on August 26, 2007 at 08:44 AM
I would rather read one interesting blog post from you than a stream of Twitter brain farts. Thanks for not jumping on the “microblogging” train.
Here’s what I find fun about Twitter - I follow about 10 or 12 people, and it’s sort of a time-delayed conversation. Most of those people are not professional contacts. (For example, one is a friend from Houston who took off to NYC to start a whole new life - it’s cool to hear what he’s up to.)
But people who are replacing their blogging with Twittering are, for the most part, become a lot less interesting. It takes more than 140 characters to develop a thought.
Debbie Weil said on August 26, 2007 at 03:13 PM
I like that - a time-delayed conversation. So it’s a cousin to IMing.
John Whiteside said on August 26, 2007 at 03:21 PM
Well, that’s how I use it. I’ll take a look at it and find out that three hours ago someone said, “Hey, does anyone remember where the site is with ____?” and if I do, I’ll reply, “Yeah, I think you mean ____.” It’s fun to see that one old friend is having a transit nightmare trying to get from Manhattan to Jersey City, or another is engrossed in a good book. I send similar tweets out - “Oh, what a day!” or “Guess what the puppy just did” or something like that.
The more weighty people try to get the more annoying it is. Particular those who feel compelled to tweet “I just posted to my blog” (and if I care, I’ve got your RSS feed bookmarked) or “I’m reading an article on TechCrunch!” ("I’m shredding documents!")
The folks who talk about the great conversations on it often are following 4,000 people. Or so their Twitter page says; I suspect they’re not actually reading any of it.
Silliness.
Kevin Holland said on August 28, 2007 at 07:30 AM
“Some of us have better things to do” ... amen, Debbie! (And I’m afraid Twitter has proven the worst of what people said about bloggers a few years ago—pointless narcissism, now in concentrate). Enjoy the rest of your summer!
David Koopmans said on August 29, 2007 at 06:04 PM
Debbie,
For someone who’s not interested in ad revenue from their blog, daily posting is nonsensical.
Your, or my readers don’t need to hear from us every day, really.They probably read dozens of blogs we do them a favour by posting when we have something really interesting to say.
Who needs more noise? I read Steve Rubel ‘s blog, but have zero interest in his twittering. Have a look at http://twitter.com/steverubel and see if there is anything half interesting there. I don’t care about what Steve does. I care about what he knows.
Steve said on September 1, 2007 at 10:37 AM
I went to sign up for another subscription since I hadn’t received any emails in so long. I think your reasons for not blogging during the summer are great! See it shows that we pay attention when I actually went to your site to see why I hadn’t received an email for so long. I look forward to seeing more emails soonl.
Katie Baird said on September 7, 2007 at 07:57 PM
Your perspective caught my eye, Debbie, even though I have never stopped at your blog before.
As one who slooowwwwws down in summer and actually closes for a month in mid-winter, I am an advocate of time away from work.
It’s easy to get caught up in some kind of manic productivity when trying to blend life and work.
Yes, we work to earn a living and it’s great to feel inspired and zesty about your work.
Better still to spend more time at living so as to be able to really bring it when you do sit down to work, or blogging, or both.
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