Deep thought

Journalists have been trained for many years to take their own voice out of their stories. But in blogging, it is a definite advantage to keep your voice in your posts, as it helps create a connection (when there were just newspapers, there was no need for a connection -- their authority as being Journalists in a newspaper).

This could be one reason why there are still some journalists who moan about 'those damned bloggers.'

Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere

Via NewMexiKen.

The New York Times had a story on why bloggers stop blogging. It's no secret that the amount of bloggers who actually make money off their blogs is about the same as the people who are making money playing sports -- only the biggest of the big make money, and the rest of us are playing pickup games at the park for fun.

From the New York Times story:

Richard Jalichandra, chief executive of Technorati, said that at any given time there are 7 million to 10 million active blogs on the Internet, but “it’s probably between 50,000 and 100,000 blogs that are generating most of the page views.” He added, “There’s a joke within the blogging community that most blogs have an audience of one.”

That’s a serious letdown from the hype that greeted blogs when they first became popular. No longer would writers toil in anonymity or suffer the indignities of the publishing industry, we were told. Finally the world of ideas would be democratized! This was the catnip that intoxicated Mrs. Nichols. “That was when people were starting to talk about blogs and how anyone could, if not get famous, get their opinions out there and get them read,” she recalled. “I just wanted to post something interesting and get people talking, but mostly it was just my sister commenting.”

I have written a few blogs. I have stopped nearly all for various reasons, so I relate with this article.

That said, I still have fun writing this blog and don't see that changing any time in the immediate future.

Functional Ambivalent says goodbye

A blog that I read on an occasional basis (I'd drop in about once a week) was Functional Ambivalent. I say was not because I've stopped reading it, but rather because Funcational Ambivalent will no longer be a blog.