The scope and future of blogging

1.3. THE SCOPE AND FUTURE OF BLOGGING

From a mere online journal that was started in the 1990s, blogs have formed a formidable industry that resides in the online environment.  Blogs have ceased to be a venue for self-expression only although it still continues to provide that.  Blogs of today have likewise become venues for leadership, expertise, and professionalized work.  So how does the blogging industry stand today?

If we are to base our answer on how blogs are behaving, it can be surmised that the blogosphere is very much alive where thousands of blogs are opened each day for varying reasons including personal use and business.  There are already millions of existing blogs and to see this number increasing by the minute is a true testament to the life of the blogging industry.

What keeps this industry alive is the continuing interaction that is happening by regular postings, commenting, marketing, or just reading. This has been made livelier by the presence of businesses maintaining company blogs, although personal blogs still continue to lead in numbers.  There is however a tendency for many blogs to be neglected or abandoned after some time thus creating a lot of inactive blogs that simply clog the industry.

Blogging and social networking are happily co-existing at this time junking the fear that the latter might drive the former to extinction.  It would appear that these two were able to find their respective places and function in close relation with each other.  A big chunk of participants in blogging do not earn enough from it to consider it earnings but they continue for the love of it.  A very small percentage has found blogging as a highly profitable profession. English continues to be the main language with Spanish following but still quite far behind.[1]

Darren Rowse, a Christian minister turn blogger[2] is one of the most popular blogger who blogs about blogging. It is rumoured around the blogosphere that he earn about 40-60 thousand Dollars a month. In his blog,[3] one of his reader asked about the future of blogging. He replied, “I don’t think blogs are ‘past’, but I would say that we seem to be in a period of consolidation and extension”. He continued that many bloggers are beginning to add interesting features to their blogs that attempt to add value to blogs. He think that what we’re seeing is bloggers more willing to see the limitations of blogs and wanting to blur the edges of what is and isn’t a blog.

“Are blog dying?”, is one interesting question in the blogosphere today. The state of the blog in a world where social networking site like Facebook has become the most popular website real estate in the world, raises the question “Is the humble blog on a path to a quiet extinction at the hands of the social media juggernaut?” Facebook has certainly motivated some casual hobbyist bloggers to desert the blog and they have leapt onto Facebook and started publishing their information and updates there due to its ease of use, wide range of features and tools that allow them to easily publish and share. Jeff Bullas of www.Jeffbullas.com is confident that blogs are here to stay but they are very different to what they were 5 years ago and will continue to evolve.[4]

Blogs are already a mainstream media platform. It's interesting to note that the true growth of blogging is not coming from individuals using this empowered publishing platform to share their insights with the world. The credibility and growth from blogs moving forward seems to be coming from the mainstream media's desire to have a cheaper, faster and near-real-time platform to distribute their content.[5]

The Blogosphere report goes on to say: "The number of blog creators is also expected to climb, though not as steeply as that of blog readers. For many people, the appeal of blogging is not as intense as it was when blogs were the leading form of social media. Today, people have many other social tools at their disposal, and some of them are more fun and less labour-intensive than blogs. Facebook offers most of the capabilities of blogs; users post frequent updates that can include photos, videos and links. To give an idea of how blogging stacks up against social network usage, there will be 26 million bloggers in the U.S. by the end of 2010 compared with about 150 million Facebook users. ...Nevertheless, overall blogging rates will inch upward. The biggest factors driving the increase are the ease of use of blogging platforms and the growing comfort level with blog reading among U.S. Internet users. Blogs with broad reach - whether media blogs, corporate blogs or influential technology or celebrity blogs - are creating a culture in which blogging is accepted as an integral part of the media landscape."

How much earning one can get by blogging? Some people may feel that it is much better to do a job and earn because they may earn only few bucks online as compared to their salary but they are extremely wrong as blogging has much more income then any job or business. It is just what you think about blogging . If you never feel that blogging can give you huge income you would never get it. The biggest benefit of blogging is that it’s easy to do from home and it may not require entire day .The chances of earning from a blog going pretty much high with time is pretty much more then it getting reduced as the number of visitors to your blog will increase with the popularity of your blog. One more thing that can help to increase the amount of earning from blogging is that one can start as many blogs he wants to start as there is no limit and one can choose any niche according to his wish. 

What is the scope of blogging in future? As many people are getting to know that blogging has so much earning and many other advantages many more people may start blogging and after it there will be more competition in the field of blogging too. Many companies are also looking forward to promote their products through blogs which get lot of visitors and this may help to increase the earning of bloggers. The scope of blogging is going to increase a lot and it may be the right time for you to start blogging. [6]

Unbelievable as it may sound, there are many people making a full time living and income from blogging. The road to financial independence through blogging however is not easy. The primary requirement is a change in mindset. You have to stop thinking like an employee and start thinking like an entrepreneur. To rely on your blog as your sole source of income will require to you to focus all your efforts in this direction. Of course since blogging involves the written word, you will need to practice writing. And there is no better way to do that than by—what else—maintaining a blog. Inculcating the habit of writing will help you cross the first major milestone on your road to blogging success.

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[1] ___, “The Blogging Industry Today” (www.blognetworkwatch.com: 18/4/2013), http://www.blognetworkwatch.com/blogging-industry/the-blogging-industry-today/

[2] ___, “About Darren Rowse “ (www.cbm.org.au: 18/4/2013),  http://www.cbm.org.au/content/what-we-do/travel-blog-darren

[3] Darren Rowse, “The Future of Blogging” (www.problogger.net: 16/4/2013), http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/04/21/the-future-of-blogging/

[4] Jeff Bullas.com , “Are Blog Dying?” (www.jeffbullas.com: 16/4/2013),  http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/11/08/are-blogs-dying/#Oui8TW56l2Q11StM.99

[5] Mitch Joel, “The Future Of Blogging Might Surprise You” (www.twistimage.com: 18/4/2013), http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/the-future-of-blogging-might-surprise-you/

[6] ___, “Increasing The scope of Blogging” (www.exposeknowledge.com: 18/4/2013), http://www.exposeknowledge.com/kb/2502-increasing-scope-blogging.aspx