Kirsten posted this on her blog the other day, wondering if the time of blogs might be coming to an end. I’ve been wondering the same thing. Yes, I know blog traffic is cyclical. And I also know with the warm weather beginning, the next three months are going to see a reduction in blog traffic. People prefer to be out in the sun rather than hunched in front of their computer, reading my words of wisdom. Foolish mortals.
But after a spectacular first three months of the year for traffic, it’s been a steady downward spiral since early April. I can attribute it to any number of factors listed above. Hell, perhaps people are simply bored with this blog and are no longer visiting.
I’m also wondering if the reduction in the local blogging community is having some impact. I’m a member of two – Newfoundland and Nunavut. With due respect to my colleagues in the north, only a handful update regularly, as in at least once a week. As for the Newfoundland ones, a few notable ones have either shut down (Liam at Responsible Government League) or have gone quiet (where are you Vicki?). If there are fewer local blogs of interest, the community grows weaker and that leads to fewer people checking them out. (I was hearing rumours that Ed might be shutting his down, but mercifully that hasn’t happened).
But I honestly think it’s Facebook. Right around the time that my traffic stats began to dip was also right around the time I started getting all of these e-mails to join Facebook from friends. Most people only have so much time to spend online in the run of a day. And I think most of them are having more fun, and spending more time on Facebook than playing around on the blogs.
I now have 70+ friends on Facebook. And I’ve rejected requests from people I don’t really know (I can count on two hands the number of people I liked in high school. Just because we went to the same hellhole, does not mean I want to be your friend. Odds are you were a dick towards me). I would have sworn on bibles that I did not have that many friends, but there you go. And not all of my friends are there.
Anyway, there is the instant gratification aspect of Facebook. It’s a lot less work to keep up with than blogging. A couple of words and you can let people know how you're doing. One minute and you can get a rough idea how dozens of your friends are doing that day. I can certainly see the appeal. Especially for people who aren't writers.
So what does this mean for this blog? Am I giving it up? Tune in tomorrow for part two of this ramble to find out.
4 comments:
You know... it just might be the Facebook thing, especially if you import your blog to your notes section on there.
I have a question for you, does the traffic register when someone reads your blog through an RSS reader like Google Reader?
I check out your blog all the time. I glaze over on the political stuff (except your post about that dude shitting all over Danny Williams in a speech), but your observations on daily life in the great white north are interesting enough to keep me coming back.
There are very few sites that I visit regularly and you are one of them! So no teasing about ending this blog, please.
I love your day-to-day commentary, political insights, and consumer reports. But I am not a fan of comic books but you make up for it other ways.
In Iqaluit
Well, cliffhangers like that will certainly encourage return visits.
Arrrrrg, Facebook. It is evil, I tell you. Evil!
I will remain a regular reader even if you do continue writing about curling. Teehee.
I have no idea what our stats have been like lately. Ian has taken an extreme vacation from our blog and I have a hard time creating even a weekly post - I'm aloud to blame my pregnancy for that.
But it gives me inspiration when I see you keeping up your daily.
-jennifer
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