Blogs are becoming harder and harder to maintain. Some are calling blogs dead.
My blog hasn’t been the exception. It’s not that I don’t have ideas that I want to continue discussing with you, my faithful readers. It’s more that the platforms where to put those ideas are becoming more and more powerful.
Take a look at this Google+ post. Aside from blowing your mind because of its great concept, it contains two of the things that any dream blog post has: amazing content and great feedback (1,344 pluses and 1,686 shares). It even made Techmeme and Philip Kaplan calls it “one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read”.
But it’s not a blog post. Or is it?
This begs the question: why maintain a blog anymore? Why would someone come all the way here, to my little dark corner to participate, if I could just type this same text on Google+ or Tumblr or any of the other great social platforms?
Here are some reasons I can think of:
- A blog can become a community of people that doesn’t necessarily participate in one of those platforms. Even though those posts can be read by anyone, participating might require people registering in that platform. In here, anyone can come in and leave a comment just by entering their name and email.
- I still believe that personal branding might be better managed in your own blog. For example here in my blog I have my posts, my Google Reader shares and my full bio. I could have links to personal projects, and other useful content areas that might not be possible using other platforms.
- There is a slight chance that these services disappear, taking your content with them. Even though this is hard with more established companies, just look at what happened with Google Buzz. Is there a guarantee that Google+ won’t close in the future? No.
There is also something about perseverance. Continue building something that didn’t exist and slowly see it become something bigger as time goes by. It’s not about fame or making it your full time job. It’s about the little seed that becomes a small plant.
So for those 190+ faithful readers who wait for my posts to come around, hang tight. I will continue writing my ideas right here.
I ain’t goin’ nowhere.
