Nothing To Say?

There is word that blogging could be on the decline. A recent New York Times article suggests that blogging is just so very 2005, with young people drifting away from the blogging habit. Our youth has become too busy to write lengthy blog posts, the article says, and they apparently are annoyed that nobody reads their blogs. If you refer to a recent post of mine about some criticism of this little chronicle, you'll see that a lack of readership doesn't bother me in the least. That just may be a sign that I'm not terribly young (the article does go on to say that people in my age range still enjoy blogging).

Another reason, according to the article, that traditional blogging is becoming less prevalent among young people: the popularity of Facebook and Twitter.

That's right, those social networking culprits are at it again. Apparently, more of us now are posting cell phone pictures of what we had for lunch on Facebook, instead of on blogs (I know you've seen those pictures in your Facebook news feed). And a 140-word Twitter update seems to have become more attractive than lengthy written discourse. I have to admit that I can understand this phenomenon. A couple of years ago both Facebook and Twitter distracted me enough to leave this site unloved and ignored.

All of this said, there are some (specifically, a blog or two) who dispute the article's assertions and say blogging is as strong as ever. If young people are leading the way, however, and the blog truly is on the decline, what about the old fashioned diary? Will parents and younger siblings everywhere no longer be tempted to tamper with the fake locks protecting books filled with the juicy, hand-written nuggets of adolescent life?

Forget any potential blogging decline, that would be tragic.

If you don't have any diaries to read, I can recommend two of the blogs I like: The Bay Area Brit and Metropolis. Enjoy them before we all become dinosaurs.