Wired Online had a small article arguing that blogs are a thing of the past. The argument is that you can express yourself faster with tools like Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter. I will admit there may be a point to that. I have been blogging less. Part of it for me is the lack of time, but it also the feeling that I actually need to have something of substance to post. Writing does take some time and effort; this post was written a few days ago, and I let it simmer before posting here. The obstacle for me when it comes to blogging is time, or the lack of it.
In addition, I have discovered that I can use Facebook, post a link, and make a brief comment about the item I linked. It is much less effort than opening Blogger. Even now that I am using Google Reader almost exclusively, since I got tired of all the grief Bloglines was causing, firing up Blogger to just point out a small article of interest just does not seem worth the effort. At least for me it does not. Plus sites like The New York Times have that little "Share This" button, which often includes Facebook in their sharing tool selections. If they would make Blogger a bit more ubiquitious, I might use it more. So, yes, I will admit, a lot of it is ease of use. What often happens is that I find an interesting news item or article, press the button, add a short reply or comment, and it gets posted without fuss. It's microblogging in essence (for those of you who worry about lingo), but it has been working for me.
Not that I am giving up blogging. When I started this blog, I did not start with any great aspirations. Over time, it has become a tool for reflection along with a way to make notes on things of interest or that I thought are useful. That has worked for me. The article notes have been a pretty good way for me to keep track of what I read in terms of professional development. The thought of giving up has not crossed my mind. The frequency of posting has gotten lower, but such is life. Then again, I am going to say that there has not been much of anything substantial in the librarian blogging area. Certainly not much I would want to discuss. One of my firm resolutions in blogging is pretty much not to beat dead horses. Work here has not been too spectacular either. It does not mean I do not have a lot of work, but a lot of it is "busy work," the kind of things that are not glamourous, and there is no need to blog about them.
I guess the bottom line for now is that my blogging habits are changing somewhat, or at least evolving. I still do post to our library's blog (another thing that takes some time). And The Itinerant Librarian, the unruly cousin, keeps on being as unruly as ever. I like that idea, the idea of one's writing evolving. We'll see how it goes.
A hat tip to Bookninja.
