Blogs are so over, Wired magazine says

by Mathew on October 21, 2008 · Comments

Hey, didn’t you hear? Blogs are so 2004. They’re dead now, says Paul Boutin (who also writes for Valleywag) in a piece he wrote for Wired magazine. Here’s his argument (such as it is) in a nutshell:

“The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths.

It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.”

Wow — that’s pretty persuasive, isn’t it? You can’t miss with a great environmental metaphor like that. I guess I had better stop blogging then. To tell you the truth, I’m kind of surprised that Paul didn’t put a headline like “Twitter and Facebook have killed blogging” on his piece. Things are always killing other things in the kind of world Boutin describes. And what evidence do we have that blogs aren’t the place to be any more? Just this: Jason Calacanis quit blogging and moved to an email newsletter, and Robert Scoble is mostly doing video posts and Twittering.

So there you have it. Case closed. Jason Calacanis, whose blog was intended solely to promote the entity known as Jason Calacanis, and Robert Scoble — a man who claims it’s possible to interact in a meaningful way with 10,000 Twitter friends and 50,000 Facebook friends. These are the people Boutin wants us to look to for guidance on how to live our lives online? At the end, just to make sure you haven’t missed it, Paul summarizes his point in a Twitter-style paragraph:

“@WiredReader: Kill yr blog. 2004 over. Google won’t find you. Too much cruft from HuffPo, NYT. Commenters are tards. C u on Facebook?”

I’m hoping that Boutin’s post took about the same amount of time as it did to come up with that Twitter message, because it has about as much value. Is everyone going to have a blog? No — and they never were. Facebook and Twitter are probably enough for many people. Not writing at all is enough for many people. But why does it have to be all or nothing? What we have now is the option to micro-blog (i.e., Twitter) some thoughts, post others to Facebook, share things on FriendFeed or through Google Reader, and blog things that take longer to think through. But I guess that’s not as catchy as a “blogs are dead, Twitter killed them” scenario.

Update:

Seamus McCauley calls Boutin’s post “flagrant flamebait,” which I think is probably true. And I fell for it :-) And so did Tish Grier.

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  • Totally on the mark, Mathew. I keep having to make the same point about print and online: it's not either/or, it's everything as appropriate.

    But then again, telling people to use their judgement and choose the best way to communicate is a lot less catchy than saying "if you don't do it this way, you're a loser".
  • Interesting commentary but I think what Wired was getting at was more the general option that you have these days vs what you had back in 2004. Nowadays if you want to be part of the web and have a voice and what not you no longer need to solely depend on having a blog. Vlogging is no longer an odd obscure sect of the scene and is driving alot of innovation and adoption via concepts like QIK, JustinTV trend, YouTube enabled devices like cameras you buy that scream "hey I can connect to youtube right now!". Take this trend and connect it to microblogging via Twitter, Pownce or even as far as to say connecting it to microblogs and you start to see alot of options out there to get your word out. I guess it depends on what you wanted to get out of the web. But clearly the blog isn't your only option any more. You could own a YouTube channel, stream video all day long with QIK or Kyte, or Ustream, or follow the crowd on twitter and assult your peers 140 characters at a time. A blog is hard work compared to micro conversations.

    Of course Wired is going to a stand of all or nothing, they know how to sell a headline and be assured at getting a few hundred thousand hits.

    Theres different kinds of consumers and creators in the web these days. Not all will fit the blog profile, some will hate Twitter, and wouldn't even dare to think about video streaming their life. There's a place for everyone but one thing is for certain it isn't just about blogs any more.
  • Spot-on, Mathew. I totally agree.

    There are two big holes in the article: (1) Pauls
    case focuses around narrow, dubious case studies and (2) he assumes that only trolls exist out there now. Not only is that inaccurate but it basically dismisses everyone on the evidence of a few bad apples.

    There are certainly more options available online now than in 2004. That doesn't mean the 'older' tools (which aren't really old) are irrelevant yet.

    Pure link/flamebait.
  • Biting, brilliant and a lovely undertone of sarcasm. One your your best posts to date.
  • Mathew, sarcastic?? Never......
  • :-)
  • Nicely written. The post by Boutin is a joke.
  • Didn't we go through all this about 8 months ago? (I think it was a NYT article then, maybe.)

    :P
  • i use all these tools. blogging, tumblogging, twittering, facebooking, flickring, disqusing, etc, etc

    each is good for something unique and worth doing if you've got the time and inclination

    and that's not going to change anytime soon
  • Excellent, Mathew.
  • Thanks, Shelley.
  • Don Kosin
    Man you sound bittar!
  • This made me want to start blogging again.
  • yeah, I'll admit...I'm a sucker for some good linkbait, and this was a big, fat juicy one! besides, I needed a little typing practice this morning ;-)
  • Agree. Paul's original post was well summarized in his 140 char Tweet. Why am I even wasting time commenting?
  • Good point, Elliott -- and just think, your somewhat existential comment only took 108 characters or so :-)
  • Ryan
    Interesting as Wired is so 2003... No credibility to make such claims, should have put it in his personal blog.
  • I hear print is so 1950's.

    Actually i think what's really happening is that blogs are becoming so integrated in the digital landscape most people are differentiating anymore. My mom thinks she's never been to a blog ('cepting mine...of course) but then she'll show me a recipe and I'll be like, mom, that's a blog.

    As for flamebait, that's too bad. Wired has had some really great content lately. Don't think BS and stupidity really does much for their brand overall (although maybe they are that desperate for some more higher impressions???!?...)
  • Great post. I appreciate your sarcasm. Blogging isn't going anywhere for some time much like Wired will still offer a print magazine.

    The best way to maximize marketing effectiveness is to use as many tools as possible.
  • Definitely linkbait.

    The irony is, of course, that the story is posted on Wired's blog. What's even more ridiculous is that Paul Boutin writes for Valleywag. Essentially, this is a gossip blogger writing about how bad blogging is because there is so much gossip and crap on blogs.

    Less flame-like thoughts here:
    http://www.i-boy.com/weblog/2008/10/paul-boutin...

    ~G~
  • I did too, ha. Noah Brier linked me to the Virtual Economics post, which brought me here and to SmoothSpan. Makes me think this was just one big experiment, rather than being serious...
  • It sounds like Boutin is just lazy. Yes, there are bad blogs out there. There are bad examples of everything out there: twitter pages, Facebook pages, books, movies, albums, etc. It will always be that way. But if you take the time and put in a little effort, you can find great blogs out there.
  • Wow. I thought the "Death of ..." meme was SO 2006. Guess I was wrong. In two days both blogs AND RSS have been declared dead.

    Poppycock. I've been wanting to use that word all day. There it is.

    I don't know what to say except "utterly ridiculous."
  • Barry Welford
    I read this morning that Britney is now tweating and blogging. If true, clearly blogging is the place to be
  • lol! wow, blogs are so over in a blog! real smart there. BTW, dont think that way, digg your blog, or get a stumble and you site will have much more comments. Finally, make the site contriversial
  • Yes, I rather think Wired's linkbaiting rather disproves their point. In any case, I don't see them rushing to push their enterprise off Wired.com to Facebook and Twitter. ;-)

    You didn't "fall for" anything, though. You've done what bloggers do: you've had your say. And we've enjoyed reading.
  • Thanks, Chris.
  • Yet another example of an out of touch / bored / Silicon Valley / Web 2.0 / elitist techie that does not have the faintest clue about the masses who, for the most part, neither fully understand blogging, nor understand a thing about Twitter ... yet.

    Regards,
    The Greek
  • People are about wanting their thoughts to be there and available immediately. Facebook and Twitter allow this sort of thing to happen where as it takes time, thought and work into putting a blog together, which is something most people aren't willing to do. We're all about instant satisfaction and it's sad to see how many people's lives are becoming so much like the instantaneous results like Facebook. It seems people now a days put the more time and effort into the short thoughts and relationships on facebook than they do in real relationships, friendly or romantic.
  • compassioninpolitics
    This made me loose it:

    >>>@WiredReader: Kill yr blog. 2004 over. Google won’t find you. Too much cruft from HuffPo, NYT. Commenters are tards. C u on Facebook?”

    The tools work together and it isn't always an absolute numbers game.
    It is sad, however, that you can just write useful or passionate or creative posts and not
    get noticed on Google.

    As this generation graduates and CNN and other media outlets engage blogs, I believe they will experience a resurgence.

    Your prose is on point. Fantastic post!
  • Right on, I totally agree with nyou
  • Paul's weak-ass link bait clarifies exactly why blogging might not be an option for him.
  • Hehe, I liked the update part, I do not agree to the claim about the death of blogs. Blogs are here to stay and grow, but he's probably right that the era of naïve and grassroots blogging by amateurs is long gone and it's being professionalized (if that's a word).

    In Denmark, where I live, blogs are only beginning to become rich and important sources for inspiration and information and I see a lot of people using their blogs for exciting things that the facebook platform or twitter is too sterile for. Blogs are a format for easy publishing, not a hype like facebook "Which Pizza are you?" apps...
  • melishefner
    :)

    Great post

    It couldn't be that any one would want a blog to simply-write!
  • sam
    But a lot of the info that people are posting on twitter or on facebook are information written on people's blogs?
  • Omar1
    This post is just hype. The issue is not blogs vs social media sites. It's beyond that.
  • nice
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