Has Blogging Changed?

There is no question that blogging has changed. A few years ago I stated on the AHA show that "blogging was dead". I truly believed that blogging (on blogger) was a thing of the past. With the new social media platforms such as facebook, writers and readers were looking for a more dynamic interaction (i.e. instant comments and feedback) that blogging couldn't offer. Boy was I wrong.

So what happened? A few years ago, blogging wasn’t a business, it was a personal journal. Most artists were on sites like Blogger but not too many people followed blogs and their popularity was pretty low. And it wasn't that easy to follow (or find!) good bloggers.

Fast forward a couple of years and blogging is now a huge business. There are thousands of bloggers making six figures plus, who blog about fashion, home decor and life as a lonely high school co-ed. Many of them are not scholars, rather they have something interesting to say and they have an audience. Bloggers now make money from sponsors, advertising, affiliate marketing and even sponsored posts. It's big bucks.

Another big difference is that social media has made it a lot easier for bloggers to build a following. Create a blog and then share your message on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Find followers and entice them to follow your blog. Ask your followers to share your message and the next thing you know your blog has thousands of followers. With some work you may end up with tens of thousands of followers. For the hard working bloggers you may end up with over a million followers.

So maybe it is time to rethink the whole blogging thing. You probably have something to say. So just do it.