Bird at Hanauma Bay.
One of the blogs I used to follow mentioned in passing that “blogging is on the way out.” I have forgotten the context of that remark, but it has haunted me ever since. Can that be? Is blogging becoming passé? If so, what will take its place? Looking back on my internet usage, I realize that new things keep cropping up only to decline in popularity about ten years later.
I remember starting my online friendships in 1997 when I joined a chat room. It was then that my nickname, gigi-hawaii, was born. I have been gigi-hawaii ever since. In 1998, my husband and I won a free trip to Las Vegas. When I mentioned it, a number of chat room friends said they wanted to meet me there. Can you believe it? So, it was in Las Vegas that a friend from San Francisco, a friend from New Jersey, and two friends residing in Vegas met David and me for dinner (dutch treat) one night and for Black Jack the next day. We had a blast in Vegas!
Two years later, I quit the chat room and lost track of those friends. Easy come, easy go. That chat room no longer exists. As a matter of fact, are there any chat rooms in existence now? Anyone know?
In 2006, I started my blog, gigi-hawaii. I had learned about blogging from a newsletter I subscribed to, and when Blogspot and WordPress were listed as two sites that were free, I chose WordPress and have had no regrets.
Because of my blog, I have reached out to friends who comment on my posts and have invited them to lunch or dinner. The first friends I invited to my home were Kay and her husband, Art, in 2008. Since then, there have been other bloggers whom I have met in person. The most recent meeting occurred in New Delhi, India, when David and I dined with Kavita and Ruprekha. Awesome!
It is inevitable that blogging will be replaced with something new and better. But does this mean I will lose touch with my blog friends the way I lost touch with my chat room friends? Time will tell.
January 9, 2013 at 10:20 am |
I hope you keep in touch with all your friends online Gigi, even if blogging will eventually be on the way out. I value mine a lot and will always try to keep in touch somehow. It will be interesting to see how all this evolves.
January 9, 2013 at 10:54 am |
I tend to keep in touch with people as long as it’s possible! Maybe we can evolve with it all!
January 9, 2013 at 12:41 pm |
I don’t think so, but you never know. I don’t use Twitter and am bored with Facebook, but blogging? I still love it!
January 9, 2013 at 1:47 pm |
Probably, but some of us who really want to communicate in more than short sound bites will keep it or a new form alive. As people of our generation age, we will want this form of communication as a substitute for physical travel and contact.
January 9, 2013 at 4:23 pm |
I first learned about blogs over 10 years ago when they were exclusively online journals. Some were poignant and deep, some were just a “dear diary”, some were explicit. Today, blogs have been so much more than a “dear diary.” People have connect to share recipes, to look for support, to do out reach… unless it is the one liner of twitter that will take over, I don’t know yet what’s the new in.
January 9, 2013 at 4:34 pm |
Don’t give up Gigi! I’ve never had Facebook, and don’t care to Twitter. I think Blogs will hang around. My grown son says Facebook is on it’s way out. Seems like Facebook is too easy of a method to ruin any career, with folks misinterpreting photos and information.
Aloha, DrumMajor
January 9, 2013 at 9:25 pm |
I’ve heard that Facebook is now becoming passe too. Perhaps blogging is on its way out, but I still love it.
January 10, 2013 at 3:21 am |
I hope not Gigi! Friends will always find a way around obstacles to stay connected – only friends.
January 10, 2013 at 3:24 am |
By the way, where is your post for today – Jan 10th?!
January 10, 2013 at 4:06 am |
Hmm ! I have not heard of any such thing. I hope to continue blogging for another 25 years or so
January 10, 2013 at 4:53 am |
I think blogging has changed a lot and it seems like people come and go, but I hope it is not becoming passe. I have stayed in touch with a couple of people that I met through their blogs who are no longer blogging.
January 10, 2013 at 9:31 am |
Responding to blogs works for me. The blogger–like Gigi-Hawaii–comes up with an idea and then that gives me something to bounce off of. So far I haven’t started my own blog. Would it be like giving a party and nobody comes? I do use Facebook, however, and like the way I can post ideas of my own plus songs I like. I don’t have a problem with Facebook, though many people do.
January 10, 2013 at 11:04 am |
Blogging will be around as long as bloggers are around and with 60,000 (I made that number out of air) baby boomers retiring per day, what will they do.
I never got into Facebook big time, and I used to like chat rooms. I still belong to a few of the latter, but participation in them waxes and wanes…although we all have common interests (a particular kind of parrot, gardening, etc.)
I am not blogging every day now, but I do make an effort to get on and read what others write. I always check here because I know you will be around. Thank you Gigi
January 13, 2013 at 7:46 am |
I began blogging in 2006 and over the years visitors to my blog have grown, waned and grown again. Some of those bloggers have moved to the platforms of twitter and facebook, and new people take their places in my comment box. With Ireland being a small country, I am fortunate to have met about 300 bloggers. The Irish Blog Awards, gives us a wonderful opportunity of putting faces to the blogs. I also met fellow bloggers from places as far apart as India and Utah.