Death of Blogging

[commonpeople1]

I've been thinking today if blogging and livejournaling is dead. Dead in the sense that most people who used them before have gone on to acquire many more social networks, and because of the increase in their personal admin (checking Facebook, checking Twitter, checking Instagram, etc) they no longer can tolerate long pieces of writing.

Twitter, to me, seems of the time. Tiny digestible nuggets that can lead you to longer articles if you so desire, but there's no pressure to read - you can easily just move/scroll on.  Before, with blogs and livejournals, there was the online social pressure to at least skim read.  Make some noise that you were paying attention. Now, they lie unread, uncommented, unnoticed. Or saved for "later" reading.

The age of people keeping blogs to document their lives as policemen / ambulance drivers / sex workers is also dead. Again, I think personal admin has got in the way and that type of cultural product is resigned to the noughties much like a lot of reality shows.

For myself, I sat in an old cemetery for lunch today and read some Walt Whitman.  I now know that Livejournal will never be the same, but I'm Ok with continuing to write here, for myself and for the few that still read this.  I've also started writing letters to friends who refuse to use social networks, and on Monday mornings I find a cafe before work and do a bit of fiction writing.

Comments

[arafel1.livejournal.com]

I am not sure if I agree with you. True, most of the people and friends I knew here are gone. But now the community seems to be more mature. There is much less drama or people with made-up identities. So, what if nobody reads your writing and nobody comments? At the end, most of the things we do pass unnoticed and have value only to ourselves.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

At the end, most of the things we do pass unnoticed and have value only to ourselves.

But then why publish anything online? Why not just keep our writing to ourselves, in a paper journal for example?

We are here to share our writing, and even if the audience is more mature (which I agree!), it's a shame when it feels like it's gone unread. Then again, I think people now get plenty of notice and connection from Facebook and/or Twitter - but I think those platforms aren't as fulfilling or with as much good potential as Livejournal or other blog platforms.

[arafel1.livejournal.com]

Yes, I suppose it is true. If I just were publishing for my own sake, I would not do it on an open channel. I really enjoy the feedback and through out all these years I have found good friends in LJ. That’s why I never locked it down like many others. But readers would not be reason enough to keep me posting.
I do like writing and finding photos and articles. I like the act of composing it in a cohesive point of view. Even without an audience, that process is important to me.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I also found some very good friends here - I just can't see the same happening on FB or Twitter! Well, maybe on Twitter you can start easily chatting to someone else, but on FB definitely not - relationships there seem so superficial or fait accompli.

By the way, how did you find my journal? :-)

[arafel1.livejournal.com]

We share a friend: Vikki, also known as la_mascherina.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Ahhh! I remember now! We used to be LJ friends as well didn't we? I thought you'd left LJ. I really enjoyed reading your writing... would you mind if I added you back?

[arafel1.livejournal.com]

Adding you is a pleasure. I probably visited your journal years ago but this is the first time we meet and share words. No, you were never on my friend list until now.
Days ago Vikki told me she was thinking about keeping a blog again. Fair enough, she doesn’t want to resurrect the old one. “Always onward!”, smiles… When we had that conversation, I visited her old blog and discover that, among the long list of friends she had, you were one of the few still active.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Please send my best to her next time you speak - it was really nice corresponding with her while she was here. I never got to meet her in person but another LJ friend, desayuno_ingles, met her a few times in NYC (Desayuno eventually moved to London, got married - I was her best man! - but sadly left LJ).

Look forward to getting you know more - have a lovely weekend!

[arafel1.livejournal.com]

Smiles. My story with Vikki is similar. We started chatting in LJ, so many years ago. She was living in Hong Kong by that time. We met in person once, when she visited Madrid. The European Gay Pride was celebrated here, over 4 million people from all around the world. After years of correspondence, we met that day at a party and it was fun.
I’ll give her your greetings. We keep contact thanks to FaceBook.