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The trend is clear
14 January 2014 | by 
The trend is clear. The number of posts decreases. I think blogging has come to an end. Jeff Davis KE9V stopped blogging as well and uses Google+ for news updates.
I use Twitter @PC4T Facebook and Google+ All my internet activities are shown in Google + so there is no need for blogging. I'm considering stopping blogging, again. A lot of my fellow bloggers are on Google+ as well. Why should I spend time with making blog posts? I had to get used to google+, it took some time, but now I get it. I am a slow follower of trends. Maybe you recognize it; any change at my age takes time. So my blog will soon close. Make the switch to google+ if you want. I'll hope to see you there.
I'm more than just a radio amateur.
12 Responses to “The trend is clear”
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- Matt W1MST, Managing Editor
I think that the key is understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each form of online publishing and social sharing service. For example, many have taken their postings to Facebook and Google+. Unfortunately, these are “walled gardens” where you are essentially giving up control for convenience. For readers to participate, you have to be a part of their community. If you don’t want to join Facebook or Google+, you can’t participate in the conversation.
A blog is easy to set up and maintain, is 100% controlled by you if you host it on your own domain name (your-name.com or your-call-sign.com), and you can allow anyone who happens by to participate without having to log in.
Know what you’re giving up when you “log in with Facebook” or “sign in with Google.” You’re building a profile of interests which these services can leverage to better track your behavior and target you with ads. An often-used quote: “If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”
Another advantage of having and using your own domain name is the ability to use a custom email address. If you transition to “[email protected],” you can change email services or ISPs whenever you wish without having to change email addresses.
Domains are cheap. Hosting is cheap. Setting up a blog is simple. Trust me, if you can pass an amateur radio license exam, you can set up a blog. From there you can blog away and completely control what you share or syndicate on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Reddit, or even this site. If you get tired of sharing on Twitter, or if a new social media service comes along, it’s easy to change where you’re sharing your posts.
dr OM!
Maybe some of us either don’t like Google, Don’t like twitter or generally like reading news on one specialist place.
I disagree that blogging is dead just because big social media companies want you to think so.
Since when are radio amateurs trend followers?
best 73
Hi Matt, thanks for your reply, in a way you are right. It’s not for sure that I stop blogging. I will keep it hanging on for a while. Maybe it’s the January blues that hit me. Meanwhile I participate with all kind of social media. Facebook for friends I met 50 years ago sharing old music and photos. Most not radio related stuff. Twitter for quick news, what’s coming along in the stream of endless messages. Two accounts, one for radio and one for sharing photography. And now Google+ and it’s all connected with each other. Blogger is also a Google thing. Well, I think my blog posting will be less in the future. That’s the trend I see here. Hi. 73 Paul
Hi Andor, I am blogging since 1998 and not only radio related stuff. Between 2000 and 2005 the blog scene was very big. Since 2008 the number of blogs are decreasing quickly. Most of them stepped into the world of social media such as facebook and twitter. With my Twitter radio account I can reach almost 800 followers, I wish I had on my blog. Maybe 12 loyal followers for the last 5 years on my blog. Now my blog is redirected to amateurradio.com I will have more readers, that’s for sure. For new technical trends I am sure a follower. Try new digital modes. etc. I think radioamateurism is one of the oldest social media on earth, isn’t it? 73 Paul
My blog postings are down considerably, but really, it’s not about the numbers. It’s about quality, not quantity. Post when the amateur radio spirit moves you, not because you want to achieve a number, be the most frequent blogger, impress people, or build an audience. Write when you are passionate about something. If there’s anything that’s a turn off in blogademia, it’s frequent postings about nothing merely to fill a blog out of obligation or habit.
Google+ has its place, but it’s not a blog replacement. Despite claims to the contrary, blogs are not dead, just like email and email reflectors are not dead. They’re just in post-fad maturity.
Hi Anthony, I do not care if my blog is popular. I just wanted to make reports of my qrp contacts. Nothing else, nothing special. I do not want to meet the expectations to produce quality. I just want to publish the things I like, if others also like it is just a bonus. A blog or web site is not always easy to find when not bookmarked. When someone uses Google or Gmail (and who doesn’t?), I always see reports in Google+, so Google+ is thus in favor. Now I combine all social media and I do not reject it because of a prejudice. 73 Paul
Don’t assume that everybody uses a certain service. Lots of people get by without Google. They provide a beautiful, but walled, garden and if you are comfortable with that and that is your aim, then fine. I am not, so lose me as a follower if you encapsulate yourself in the arms of Google.
Paul,
I can understand your sentiments totally. I have wrestled for the last 6 months with ‘hackers’ who have successfully given me hundreds of hours of ‘fixing’ that needed to be done. So much so that I had to start afresh. Not a thing I’ll be doing again.
I have joined twitter and found it to be like a conversation you can dip into. A bit odd but generally useful. Google+ has given me access to ideas and support from like minded people. They’re very different.
Alex
“Post-fad maturity,” as K3NG says, is exactly right. I tend to post when I’m working on something I’m ready to share. Otherwise, it’s pretty quiet. High SNR. Some have the luxury of doing that every day, others don’t.
Quite frankly, one of the gravest problems with “social media” is the simple fact that you can surround yourself with like-minded people and never see what everybody else is thinking or doing.
You’re right, Ethan. Eli Pariser explains it well here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html
Google Plus is not quite a walled garden. I can see Jeff KE9V’s content without logging into G+. Just try http://www.ke9v.net
Sorry to be so late to the party but I just noticed this post. I really don’t read blogs much anymore but I did want to comment on a couple of things in the comment thread…
If you really want to reach a ham radio audience, Facebook is the only game in town. Like it or hate it, FB is the Web home for tens of thousands of amateur radio enthusiasts. Blogs, G+, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are terribly weak sauce by comparison when it comes to audience and numbers. And let’s dispense with the nonsense that there are people who blog who don’t care about an audience … if you don’t care if anyone reads what you write, why put it online at all? It’s a big lie with the intent of trying to appear to be non-interested but it’s just that, a big lie.
Everyone who publishes online is doing so to attract an audience, otherwise, why not just use a notebook?
Despite Facebook being “king of the hill” in terms of numbers, I don’t care much for it. I gravitated to Google+ because it seemed like a wide open space to do something a little different. I still use Twitter but what really can be said of value in 140 characters? It’s mostly just a link engine for me.
I do believe that traditional forms of blogging are dead — or at least dying, and have been for quite some time. It was a fad that gathered steam because the tools available (Blogger, WordPress) were so drop dead easy to implement. But blogs have come and gone because the hard work isn’t on the server end, it’s creating content that’s valued by someone. Writing well is very hard work and I think if the blogging revolution did anything it was to quickly educate a lot of people about how hard that craft can be.
I’m pleased that Bob pointed out that my Google+ public feed is not behind any sort of “walled garden”. You don’t need a Google account to read what I publicly post. In fact, I provide an RSS feed for that content — you don’t even need to visit Google+ to read it!
I have simply found G+ to be very handy for what I do. If I post publicly, it’s like a “blog” post. If I post to a particular circle it’s like a Tweet. If I post to a single person or a select list of people, it’s like email. It handles my photos very nicely (I bought a Chromebook Pixel and got a terabyte of free data so I try to fill it up!).
Like I said, it’s very versatile but — caveat emptor — and enjoy ham radio on the Web in whatever way that best floats your boat!
73, Jeff KE9V
http://ke9v.net/