Are blogs still a thing?

[Calmyourtitsdown]

I know that here on Tattle, there is a whole forum dedicated to ‘bloggers’.

But I was wondering, does anyone read any or write their own?

I was wondering about starting a blog, not for fame, fortune or freebies, but because I’ve always enjoyed writing and find it cathartic.

I used to journal endlessly as a teenager, and wrote stories as a child.

Anyway, I digress. Thoughts very welcome!

 

[DanaScully]

I've had a private blog for over ten years that I use sort of like a diary. It's great to be able to go back to old posts to see what was in my mind at the time. Would recommend!

 

[PollyPerks]

I write a music blog and I love it. It doesn't have a huge readership but it has led me to some great opportunities. Because of my blog I've appeared on TV talking about the Manic Street Preachers' Millennium gig, and contributed to a book about Mansun - that's two of my all time favourite bands! I definitely recommend it, just expressing your thoughts can be very cathartic as you say, and when I do get positive comments it's very rewarding - much more so than my day job ever is!

 

[Funsizes]

I find it really sad that it isn't a big thing anymore, although I understand why - its much more convenient having everything on Insta, and vlogging can be both more engaging and less engaging if you prefer to just have it in the background. But blogs are just so much more creative and personal, I miss them

 

[Calmyourtitsdown]

I write a music blog and I love it. It doesn't have a huge readership but it has led me to some great opportunities. Because of my blog I've appeared on TV talking about the Manic Street Preachers' Millennium gig, and contributed to a book about Mansun - that's two of my all time favourite bands! I definitely recommend it, just expressing your thoughts can be very cathartic as you say, and when I do get positive comments it's very rewarding - much more so than my day job ever is!

Wow, that's amazing! How long have you had your blog? Still, it's nice that you have got some readers
Who through, did you set yours up?

I find it really sad that it isn't a big thing anymore, although I understand why - its much more convenient having everything on Insta, and vlogging can be both more engaging and less engaging if you prefer to just have it in the background. But blogs are just so much more creative and personal, I miss them

That's what I was thinking, has it all be gone the way of the influencer, and sharing your whole lives through video or photo? I don't want my whole life on social media, but I was wondering if my writing may be of help to others. As well as myself. Though I know there are lots of writers/podcasts/etc in the area I'm interested in.

 

[MyLittlePony25]

I no longer blog. I haven’t done for a couple of years. Instead I use my Instagram as a shortened version as I was finding it harder to write a decent blog. I love writing, I’ve even taken to writing a poem about my day to take a different spin on it which I find quite fun but I only share them occasionally.
if you feel like writing a blog, do it. Do it for yourself and then anyone that reads is a bonus. That’s the way I see it

 

[PollyPerks]

Wow, that's amazing! How long have you had your blog? Still, it's nice that you have got some readers
Who through, did you set yours up?

Thanks! Yes, I'm really grateful for my readers, few though they may be
I started my blog in December 2017 so just over three years now. The opportunities with the TV doc and the book started happening in late 2019 when I'd been blogging for two years. My views were going up as well at the time, so I decided to take a plunge and booked myself three months unpaid leave from my job to focus completely on blogging. That leave was due to start in April 2020. Unfortunately, my blog's focus is live music, and so just as I was going to take time off work to go to lots of gigs and review them, all the gigs stopped! So I cancelled my career break but I still may take it at some point in the future when gigs come back - I'm one of the lucky ones who has been able to save money during lockdown so it'll actually be easier to take time off work now than it would have been last year.

I use wordpress.com. There are a number of options - you can have a free account which has ads (revenue going to wordpress) and 'wordpress' in your URL. A personal account is £3 a month which removes the wordpress ads and allows you to use your own domain name (you have to pay for this separately though!) For the last year or so I've paid for a premium plan (£7 a month) which allows you to monetize your blog with ads. So far I've earned $1.83 from ads so not made back my investment yet!

 

[TeaNoSugar]

I still blog as I find it far more personal and interesting (to me at least).

Used to Insta or Facebook but not so much now. Am not that needy or desperate for approval. But have kept my own blog going for about 4 years on and off. Am not bothered by how many people read my rubbish. It's just there for me to look back on.

I always believe in "Keep it simple, stupid!" hence why I prefer my own exclusive blog rather than letting the whole world know via Insta & Fb

 

[1001 others]

I did have a blog a couple of years ago (under a pseudonym); it was about all the changes I went through (emotional, eating, just in general) once I was diagnosed with coeliac.

It had a few followers and commenters at first (my recipes in particular were very popular, with a lot of pingbacks), but they drifted off towards the end and a lot of spam comments would come through. I shut it down in the end because I got really busy with work and I felt like I was pretty much repeating the content at that point.

Edited to add: When I first got started, I mentioned my blog to a few people and there was one commenter in particular who used to give "feedback" which came off as being rather patronising. She was in the US and I'm not, so she'd often pull me up on my spelling and suggest other grammatical "enhancements." I don't know what happened to her - I never actually replied to any of her comments so maybe she didn't get the reaction she was hoping for? There are a lot of strange people out there ...

 

[Camelia]

Thanks! Yes, I'm really grateful for my readers, few though they may be
I started my blog in December 2017 so just over three years now. The opportunities with the TV doc and the book started happening in late 2019 when I'd been blogging for two years. My views were going up as well at the time, so I decided to take a plunge and booked myself three months unpaid leave from my job to focus completely on blogging. That leave was due to start in April 2020. Unfortunately, my blog's focus is live music, and so just as I was going to take time off work to go to lots of gigs and review them, all the gigs stopped! So I cancelled my career break but I still may take it at some point in the future when gigs come back - I'm one of the lucky ones who has been able to save money during lockdown so it'll actually be easier to take time off work now than it would have been last year.

I use wordpress.com. There are a number of options - you can have a free account which has ads (revenue going to wordpress) and 'wordpress' in your URL. A personal account is £3 a month which removes the wordpress ads and allows you to use your own domain name (you have to pay for this separately though!) For the last year or so I've paid for a premium plan (£7 a month) which allows you to monetize your blog with ads. So far I've earned $1.83 from ads so not made back my investment yet!

Why don't you use on .org instead of .com for hosting?
Same functionalities (monetization etc) and its free leaving you with only with the domain cost.

 

[PollyPerks]

Why don't you use on .org instead of .com for hosting?
Same functionalities (monetization etc) and its free leaving you with only with the domain cost.

At the moment it's just easier to stick with what I've always been doing but I have been looking into making the switch. Haven't quite got my head around how to go about it it yet but it's definitely on my radar!