Bring Back Blogging
The quintessential blogger set up circa 2013
I already know the brave soldiers among us who never abandoned blogging are already rolling their eyes at me but when I say we need to “bring back blogging,” I am talking about those of us who were led astray, caught up in the next, shiny new thing: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. All perfectly good platforms that serve a purpose but haven’t quite replaced the blog-shaped hole in my heart.
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Really, it’s a Google Reader-shaped hole in my heart. When Google pulled their plug on what was arguably one of their best products (I guess they couldn’t monetize it?), it seemed like blogs died with it. Sure, other RSS readers popped up and some, like Feedly, outperformed Google Reader. But you had to be a true blog aficionado to seek them out. Everyone else just gave up on reading them. And when the readers gave up, so did the writers. And thus, the death of blogging.
Gone was my daily morning microdose of skincare reviews, fashion tips, recipes, and DIY guides — instead I started the day with hard news, broadening my horizons but bringing down the overall vibes, you know?
Plus, finding content turned into a Goldilocks situation. Instagram makes it so easy to scroll through heaps of content but:
It’s difficult to find old posts, making it impossible to re-find any important nuggets of information
Most people don’t use it for blogging their thoughts, feelings, and knowledge
There’s a word limit on the caption
YouTube videos, on the other hand, can go on forever but like…they can go on FOREVER. And when TikTok launched, the problem got even worse. The content is short which should make it easier to reference old posts but the search functionality is just not there. If you lose a TikTok, you lose it forever.
Blogs just do it better. So not only am I back to reading blogs, I’m starting my own.