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Blogs used to be different

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Re: Blogs used to be different

#21

Post by ednite »

I’m old enough to remember when blogs were basically personal journals. Totally agree things have changed. But those diary-style posts are still out there, they mostly circulate in small circles instead of being easy to stumble across.

The upside is self-expression didn’t die, it just evolved into new forms such as vlogs, newsletters, short clips, etc...

My own blog probably fits the “new” style, but for me it’s more about practicing storytelling and sharing something that resonates.

Thanks for sharing.

Re: Blogs used to be different

#22

Post by chupchap »

I don't write online anymore. All my journal entries sit in a notes app (I use Obsidian) because I realised that the goal is for me to write for my own memory and reflection. Writing online is doing free labout for AI models. No thank you!

Re: Blogs used to be different

#23

Post by silicon5 »

In the late 90s and early 00s, blogs were originally "weblogs" or "web logs", just a sort of online diary. It was mainly something you wrote, rather than something for others to read.

Over time, the most interesting blogs became the most popular, and these were generally blogs on a fixed topic. The meaning of "blog" shifted to refer to these high-quality regularly-updated article sites, more like a magazine. It became highly commercialized as people tried to turn blogs into careers or side hustles. The original use of blogging, as a personal journal that only your friends care to read, was supplanted by social media.

Nowadays, pro-blogging has been supplanted by YouTube, since the ad revenue on video is much higher and the audience and discoverability much better. Not every blogger was able to make this transition, however, because the skillsets of a magazine writer and a television host are different.

Re: Blogs used to be different

#24

Post by bdcravens »

I don't remember when I first heard the term "blog", but it must have been around 2001 or so because I had a page on my personal site that was blog.cfm (I think people were still often using the longer form "weblog" to refer to them). It was a series of entries, with a date, and was mostly tech musings with some personal updates mixed in.

https://web.archive.org/web/20011129084149/http://mr-bill.ne...

(I hereby disavow any of the weird takes I may have had in my early 20s lol)

Re: Blogs used to be different

#26

Post by arjie »

This is true and I really enjoy reading those. Sometimes I come across someone's website where they've just done that and it gives me so much joy to read these things.

Someone writing about graduating, marrying, dealing with the death of their wife. Artistically stunning in its mundaneness.

Perhaps it's not for everyone. My own blog is very like that. The thoughts are mostly at whatever bakedness they are and if someone likes it, that's great. If no one does, c'est la vie. Perhaps one day my daughter will read it to see what her father was like when she was young.

Who knows. But the little cairns we make in the wood tell little stories.

Re: Blogs used to be different

#27

Post by elric »

> Ten years ago if you were blogging on Tumblr or Wordpress you were writing to an audience in an attempt to promote something.

Really? That wasn't my experience at all. Neither in the blogs I read, nor the blogs I wr[oi]te. Most blogs have always seemed like a work of passion to me, especially the ones hostes on platforms like WP.

Re: Blogs used to be different

#28

Post by elric »

silicon5 wrote: post #23

In the late 90s and early 00s, blogs were originally "weblogs" or "web logs", just a sort of online diary. It was mainly something you wrote, rather than something for others to read. Over time, the most interesting blogs became the most popular, and these were generally blogs on a fixed topic. The meaning of "blog" shifted to refer to these high-quality regularly-updated article sites, more like a magazine. It becam…

1997-1998ish I helped run a site with a bunch of forums. Regular members could request their own Diary forum, which worked exactly the way blogs would work later on. Some were literal diaries, others became grand works of fiction, some were collaborative storytelling, some favoured pictures etc.

It saddens me that many people feel the need to seemingly monetize their creative outlet.

Re: Blogs used to be different

#29

Post by sunaookami »

lucyjojo wrote: post #19
nextworddev wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t forget blogspot -> Medium -> Substack… which has led to enshitfication of thought

i dont get the substack hate

For me it feels too... commercial? The design is too standardized and everytime you scroll there is this big overlay that nags you to subscribe which annoys me so much that I don't read (most) Substack posts anymore.

Re: Blogs used to be different

#30

Post by chistev »

ednite wrote: post #21

I’m old enough to remember when blogs were basically personal journals. Totally agree things have changed. But those diary-style posts are still out there, they mostly circulate in small circles instead of being easy to stumble across. The upside is self-expression didn’t die, it just evolved into new forms such as vlogs, newsletters, short clips, etc... My own blog probably fits the “new” style, but for me it’s more…

Mine is mainly a diary style blog too.
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