Blogging

Technorati Confirms: Blogging Continues To Be Pitiless Work that Doesn’t Pay

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Confirming what the average blogger knows to be true, Technorati released some of its newer numbers in its annual “State of the Blogosphere” today, proving, in fact, that blogging continues to be a thankless, pitiless and lonely effort for the vast majority of bloggers, crossing both ethnic and international boundaries, and one that is hardly renumerative, in spite of what other reports might suggest.

It matters not if you live in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands or Japan, one thing is for sure: if you’re blogging, on average, you’re probably forsaking time you could have spent with your family, friends and other hobbies on a subject that most people will never read, nor ever care to read, making far less than the time you put into it. Probably, based on the median and not the mean, less than a dollar a day (on average if you put up ads, $200 per year).

This gap confirms what many blogging pundits already know; blogging isn’t for everyone, not everyone can do it, and to believe that everyone can be successful in blogging is utterly audacious in its mendacity. Even if you’re imaginative and “good”.

Unfortunately, many popular blogs seem to be in on this mini-conspiracy, trumpeting the low barriers to entry, and the low expectations many people have for the content on blogs. Its a bit unclear as to the purpose for wanting to continue perpetrating this delusion. One insider who has sworn herself to anonymity swears “its for the kicks … its like trying to watch a dog chase its tail. At first its hilarious. Then it gets sad. Then you want to put it out of its misery.”

The pure fantasy that many bloggers believe is the “ultimate job” will likely persist while bigger so-called “A-list” bloggers continue their silence on the reality of blogging, which, unfortunately has no secrets and involves, unfortunately, a lot of hard work.

Industry analysts believe that blogging will continue at rates a bit slower in the past, but still growing into positive territory, as some bloggers who would have burnt out blogging are now self-deluding themselves into believing that micro-blogging will bring them fame and riches.

Some pundits, however, caution that unless a new trend develops “post-Twitter”, blogging in all its forms might be at risk for a crash. Said another insider who was preparing for the crash and putting some feelers out on Sitepoint regarding the saleability of his own blog: “no one can delude themselves forever, and quite frankly, everyone senses that in this economy the reality is going to catch up with most bloggers sooner or later. With that mortgage crisis thing? Probably sooner. A lot sooner.”

© 2008 TekPopuli.