Blogs, death. And the death of blogs
Via Sebastian, I learned that Steven Den Beste has died. I remember him from the early days of blogging as well, though I cannot say I was a regular reader. But I remember reading his stuff because everyone else at the time linked him. And someone on facebook mentioned another old school blogger who passed ten years ago. Acid Man.
Going down his blogroll (Links to other blogs on the sidebar. Remember when people had those? *checks* Oh, I still have one.) and seeing all those blogs I used to read. And most of those sights are completely gone now. A whole wealth of good material and political insight just gone. Most domain names bought up by Russian and Chinese spam companies. The other day, I noticed Ravenwood commenting again. Hopped over to his sight to see if he was writing again. He has been but sporadically. And went down his blogroll. Same thing. Links to dead air of people I used to read all the time. Gone.
I’m with Sebastian on this. The professional blog and social media are going to end the personal blog. Traffic here is less than half what it once was. That’s a combination of the change in the internet of things and that I haven’t, frankly, been putting a lot of effort into it.
The internet will go into a consolidation mode where professionals manage the social media and it’s scooped under the name of a few players. Just like what happened with radio and cable television.
October 27th, 2016 at 6:25 pm
Those were the good old days. Not long ago, the folks host People of the Gun decided to be nice and run a link check on my site. Heh. I haven’t even looked at it myself in years. Lots of dead links. And some active, but going to blogs which aren’t being updated. I liked things better back then. I guess Alphecca and Billy Beck will just stay at Facebook. I imagine some others I used to read went that way too.
But, there are still a lot of good folks out there plugging away at it.
October 27th, 2016 at 6:59 pm
I think there was a golden age of blogging that we lived through and participated in. I felt that we were saying things and communicating in ways that were novel and innovative. Now with social media like facebook and tweeter there doesn’t seem to be much point in dusting off the old blog. I post sporadically if at all. Plus life gets in the way, and I don’t have the time to devote to it like I used to.
Now I enjoy reading blogs that are written on topics I care deeply about (like guns). You fill a niche market and I enjoy reading it. But it seems like the general political blog is going the way of the dodo.
October 27th, 2016 at 7:43 pm
I don’t think that what happened to radio and cable television must happen to bloggers.
Radio is limited by bandwidth. I can’t just raise an antenna and start blogging because the Feds have leased the spectrum out to everyone else, and there’s no room for the new guy unless I buy out someone else.
Cable is theoretically unrestricted by bandwidth, but it requires a serious financial investment in equipment just to make content. A video camera and recording equipment at the least, much more if you don’t want to look like a cheap highschool A/V project.
Starting a blog is a one-man job. It’s as simple as registering with one of the big hosting companies and writing something regularly. I’m still working on the second bit.
I don’t think blogging is dying. Older generations are signing off and new guys are getting started, but that’s not death. That’s change. I just hope that the new guys match up to people like you and Sebastian, and maybe even Lawdog.
Sorry if this comment sounds bitter. I’ve heard the “We’re a dying breed and corporate mush is replacing us!” wail before, and I didn’t buy it the first time. It’s practically all you hear from some of the older science fiction authors.
October 27th, 2016 at 8:52 pm
Radio is limited by bandwidth.
The Internet is limited by Google. Just because you’re broadcasting doesn’t mean anyone is listening.
October 27th, 2016 at 10:06 pm
Maybe you should look at it as a quality/quantity type of thing. Yes, a lot have dropped by the wayside over the years, but much of what’s left is top-notch and it would be a loss to see any more of them fold the tent. Blogs very definitely fill a need. Many of us don’t do Twitter or Facebook, and appreciate the depth that comes in a good blog post.
Illegitimi non carborundum, Unc.
October 27th, 2016 at 10:20 pm
Reddit.
Sometimes I almost feel like blogging again about something.
Sometimes I read blogs like yours and wish I could upvote the good comments
Reddit is a toxic biased place that I hope will eventually get replaced with a standardized distributed database of independent subs, (a/k/a Usernet all over again) but for the meanwhile it has the needed “critical mass” that the blogverse had at one time.
Reddit has at least the same somewhat of anonymity that using a pseudonym on a blog has, without the social network overhead that makes you think that if your aunt knew you supported jury nullification she might believe you were a supporter of stormfront.
October 28th, 2016 at 2:42 am
Dude I love your blog and think of you as a professional. Think of early blogging as practice and now that you’re a rock star you just pick up and jam out.
October 28th, 2016 at 9:12 am
I used to blog but times got a little hard and between working two jobs and taking care of an ill loved one, it got set aside. I am on Gab (will be putting twitter out of business soon) but it all has the feel of a sound bite mentality. Sure and that is fine for some things, but I still prefer the blog environment. I’ve been reading SayUncle for years and it’s still a daily visit for me. There are others I visit regularly because they’re entertaining and informative. Unlike the Yellow Stream Media being forced down our throats. Thanks for keeping on.
October 28th, 2016 at 11:29 am
If it doesn’t pay the bills, it’s tough to keep it going forever. It’s one thing to have a hobby, it’s another when the hobby has you.
Thanks for the work you put in. Will miss if/when you drop out off. Maybe handing off to someone you trust with the ability to take back if needed?
October 28th, 2016 at 12:28 pm
Gab.ai
@ProGunFred
#2A #GabFam #GabVets #III
Uncle, you would like it, I think.
October 28th, 2016 at 1:57 pm
The Internet is limited by Google. Just because you’re broadcasting doesn’t mean anyone is listening.
I can only speak from personal experience, but I don’t find blogs by searching through Google. I found Lawdog by a random link on TVTropes to his story about the cigarette interrogation, and I found the rest of you through his links and the links you guys had to each other’s blogs. I’ve found other people because they had a presence on messageboards that linked back to their blogs.
October 28th, 2016 at 3:14 pm
Well, when I got back in to guns about a11 or so years back and really looked AAT the political side of 2A issues, having all the bloggers around talking about issues the msm wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole was helpful.
And even if they did touch it they’d have misrepresented it.
So yes, less gun bloggers is a bad thing, I think.
October 28th, 2016 at 5:17 pm
That’s the problem with digital media. They all have an expiration date. Our grandkids will see none of this.
October 28th, 2016 at 8:20 pm
Den Beste was one of the good ones, may he rest easy.
Same to Acidman. Rob was a helluva Southern Gentleman, and a gracious host. If you weren’t able to spend time with the man, you missed out.
October 28th, 2016 at 10:52 pm
I remember the Acid Man.
He was having (if I recall) tax / IRS problems at the time of his death & I kinda hoped he’d faked his death, given the finger to Uncle Sam, and moved to Costa Rica.
October 28th, 2016 at 11:07 pm
Acidman, if anyone, is my blogfather. I started blogging because of a comment conversation started on one of his posts. I miss the man, and I consider it a signal honor that he put my blog on his blogroll.
October 30th, 2016 at 1:21 am
I gave up when people were more interested in the site that was wantonly stealing everyone’s content – including my own – rather than the originators of that content.
People get what they want. Good and hard in this case.