Over in the question widget on my sidebar I was asked to comment on the future of blogging and where I see it heading.
In this video post I explore 5 trends that have been emerging (and that I think we’ll see continue to grow) including:
- Multiple Author Blogs
- Multi-Topic Blogs
- Blogs Converging with Other Types of Sites
- Portal-Like Design
- Indirect Monetization
I should say though that I’m NOT saying that a blog can’t work when a blog doesn’t have these things. Blogs of all shapes and sizes will continue to have success.
You can watch a full size version of this video here.
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I personally feel blogs converging to other types of sites or Portals is the larger overriding theme.
Blogs started as one person writing about something he / she likes. Slowly, blogs started focusing on more professional topics. Then, they started offering other extras, like Discussion Forums.
People also have blogs that cover multiple topics, or have a group of blogs that collectively cover multiple topics. How is this different from a portal having different “channels”?
Blogs are slowly moving towards being portals…. But the big difference that would make them stand apart would be their personal touch – the way blogs are written (read: Interesting) and the experience they give (read: Involving) would always remain different from regular web portals.
Cool post. I have to admit, I like the written posts better, but for a nice quick rap this is absolutely fine. As a new blogger I learned a ton from this media production. Thanks Darren.
Great info Darren. Thanks! Don’ you ever get any sleep? How about “blogging ’round the clock” for a latest trend. :-)
Thanks for sharing your view Darren. It’s nice to know a thing or two about what’s going on and what will be going on in the blogosphere
Great post, Darren. I have certainly noticed the increase in multiple authors across all sorts of blogs, including professional and personal.
One trend that I’ve noticed is the increasing academic presence in blogging. Not only do I seem to see more blogs run by sociologists, economists, philosophers, etc, there also seems to be a movement within the academic community to recognize blogging as a valuable tool to connect researchers. There’s even some talk about incorporating blogging into what “counts” for promotion within academia.
“Magazine themed” or magazine looking sites are popping up like weeds, i love it!
blogs have transformed into portals, magazines and content management systems. further strengthening the platform!
as if the blog platform wasnt strong enough with its core functionality. add multiple authors to the mix and its explosive
i cant wait to see what comes out next. even the credibility of simple comments is being addressed but CoComment, SezWho, Disqus and others
I cant believe you didnt mention seesmic bringing video blog commenting to wordpress:
Seesmic Wiki: http://wiki.seesmic.com/Wp-plugin
Maybe we’ll see a follow-up extended blog post tomorrow. lol
http://twitter.com/sigepjedi
I like to be able to blog about multiple topics, thank goodness I play and live in a world that has so many topics, and all so fun, how could you pick just one ;)
I like to be silly, flirtatious, intellectual, spiritual= myself, and now that some of my friends and magical earthlings who are on this journey with me are going to be blogging with me as well, I have a place to play with them while I play just the same, I think it is going to make very interesting comments and conversations! It’s been a great start so far since we combines our website with a wordpress blog!
hip hip for wordpress (although we are peaking at drupal to see what it can do for us)
My blog is a playground, where I like to hang out a lot, I think it’s really important to surround yourself with what inspires you, after that, the possibilities are endless.
darren-I love how you never try to put blogging in a box, and overly define it, it makes it possible for other people like me to try out and play with new things, and feel very confident that I am going in the right direction, and that direction is to simply follow my bliss!
Great post. This got me thinking about a lot of things that I’ve known, but hadn’t really thought about consciously. I look forward to more great insights.
Great post! (as always)
The trend toward multiple author blogs is definately noticible, and has influenced myself a few others to discuss doing just that.
While individually it’s not always possible to maintain a quality blog with a decent quantity of content – corporately several authors can produce significantly more content and each be free to focus on it’s quality.
Interesting note on the ‘indirect monitization’ as well, guess I’ll have to get to work writing that riveting SEO suspense novel I’ve always been meaning to start.
– Jayson
Darren – Spot on as always.
Frankly, the trend that I don’t like is the increased number of blogvertisements that I read. I read a blog for an honest perspective. While I understand there are many grey areas in these types of blog posts bloggers need to consider the risks. While compensation is a strong motivator sometimes the risk outweigh the rewards. I recently abandoned a blog I really liked for a long time because of the increasing frequency of these types of soft sell or self-promoting posts.
We all need to be aware of the pitfalls of these types of posts.
Thanks for the overview, Darren. As a newcomer to blogging, it seems the trends move incredibly fast, as in what you cover here to the impact of social media, etc. Is there a bedrock foundation to blogging that will never change, besides the obvious ones of good content, good design, and rapport with the readers?
Interesting post, Darren. I’ve also noticed the portal/magazine-feel trend – seems like that is what blogs become when they grow up. I’m wondering how this style is in terms of usability. Do readers like it? Or are they overwhelmed by having so much information/content presented at once?
One of the trend we’ve observed is the evolution of the blog content structure. Until a year ago, most of the blogs were using what I could call a “freestyle approach”. Today, bloggers are trying to give to their readers a more conventional and well organized content structure. We see more and more shorter, well structured and focused taxonomies for categories (thanks to the evolution of “tags” than can still give this freestyle feel to the blogs…)
It’s easier to write a blog mission statement when the content is well organized. And with the proliferation of blogs, readers what to know what are the topics covered by a blog, and they want to know that in the first 3 seconds after they found you.
Like you said, blogging about everything and anything is a bygone era.
I’m glad to hear that multi-topic blogs are more common these days. I ostensibly write about “getting organized”, but for me it’s completely intertwined with parenting, work life, mental health issues, etc. etc. The topic just isn’t multi-dimensional.
I’m interested in turning my blog into a multi-author blog but I’m also concerned about doing so… My major concern rests on the fact that I’m pretty particular about who I might like to join.
I suppose a starting step would be to lay out what my goals and expectations my be (hehe…I think I found a solution for myself in writing this comment. I think I’ll pat myself on the back now).
But really, does anyone else have any recommendations?
Hey i want a nerd t-shirt too :D
I am happy to see that the Portal style (Magazine Style) blogs are becoming a trend. In my view, traditional blogs have alienated a lot of average users, due to their look and feel. Many blogs look overly complex (too much text, spread all over the page) and can easily confuse the average user.
When I created webspear.com, I chose a template that is clean and easy to navigate. You’ll understand what I mean, if you check out my site.
Good list, Darren. I’d add three more:
-live blogging (esp. with video)
-business blogging.
-more women than men blogging
Another great post. I have to agree with the multi-author blogs. I just started one myself and now it seems like they are everywhere! Next topic, how to get along with your co-bloggers. :)
THX for screen grabbing my site for this post. :)
I totally agree with you. In fact, now that I have laid a strong foundation for direct monetization with Sparkplugging, my next move is going to be all about the indirect method. I already knew this was coming, but after seeing Brian Clark’s presentation at SOBCon, it really solidified it for me as to what’s the next step.
Blogging has become much more professional and people are looking at it more as a business rather than just journaling…More and more bloggers (including myself) would love to get their full time income from blogging (inspiration drawn from you Darren).
Darren,
Thanks for the insider tips :D
Multi author blogs – that’s intrigue me. I always wonder on how you share revenue and limelight between the writers.
Cheers!
Posting less frequently and providing more quality content? A new trend?
# Blogs Converging with Other Types of Sites
# Portal-Like Design
I always propose to my clients to have a blog/news sections for their website. It keeps their client come over and over again to their site…
The portal design and convergence of multiple niche/topics are clearly a trend. Sometimes, it is information overload, and portal type blogs lose readers that were originally loyal to a given niche. Also, this trends seems to make the blog seem impersonal losing some of its social value.
Hi, I thought I should point this out. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you said in your youtube video that all the blogs in Technorati’s top 100 are written by multiple bloggers. PaulStamatiou.com, #94 on the Top 100 list, is written by only one person, Paul Stamatiou (the man who came up with the idea of Skribit). So, I thought I should point that out, no biggie.
Yes, I myself see much of the sites I come across using many of the trends, I myself do so too. These are things that will only help make the blogging experience better on both ends – the blogger and the reader.
Web 2.0 based sites too have starting to crawl up recently and I kinda like those kind of blogs. In the end what trends doesn’t matter, it’s the content that counts. Heh
Interesting topic… It seems like similar trends are happening in other areas as well… merging info together in one spot instead of visiting multiple (rss, social, micro-blogging etc). I guess this is a natural progression of information overload. Now I wonder if it’s wise for a blogger to be an aggregator (multiple topics by multiple people)? Counterproductive it would seem since usually one get niche coverage form specific sources, then aggregate. If this now gets more general, more is added? This is of course true for the more professional blogs, personal should stay personal and be unrestrictive… As for adding streams of your conversations elsewhere – like Twitter, video… that I just think add to the experience, as do any design and usability enhancements… And making some additional cash from spinoffs is just great. Goes to show how powerful conversation is…
The portal design and convergence of multiple niche/topics are clearly a trend. Sometimes, it is information overload, and portal type blogs lose readers that were originally loyal to a given niche. Also, this trends seems to make the blog seem impersonal losing some of its social value.
I have heard about and aware of all the recent trends like
Multi-Topic Blogs, Blogs Converging with Other Types of Sites
Portal-Like Design etc. But what about Inditect Monetization. That is actually a new stuff for me.
Is it some thing concerned with Monetization of blog rss feeds?
http://www.simplewayoflife.net
I have seen a lot more blogs using video and audio for posts. This is more of a podcast type format, but as the internet is faster and more readily available I think this will continue to grow as a more widely accepted format. For now it is difficult to watch a video post or even listen to an audio posts on my cell phone, but as the technology gets better and better these outlets are going to be more and more utilized. This could mean blog that do not have the extra media on them will look more plain and boring, but I am sure this will not kill the blog as we know it. Blogs are like books, they are another form of expression that will not go away.
I would like to get some multiple authors on my blog. If anyone would like to contribute to my blog they are more than welcomed. Just contact at [email protected]. Great post!
I’m a fairly new blogger with about 100-150 visitors daily. The average visitor spends about 2 minutes visiting and 40% go and read various categories not just the daily post.
I recently added educational video which gets a lot more traffic than my blog posts.
My guess is that the future of blogging will require top notch content plus video. Every day competition for readers will raise the bar of quality. Like pro blogger
Great 5 points Darren. Another trend that I notice is about the mobile and mini blogging – right now it’s restricted to twitter, SMS etc. But could take a big turn soon…
Ajith
I’m more interested in the idea of multi-topic blogging. For years I’ve tried to stay on-topic, so to speak and find it difficult to keep up with so many blogs with a variety of topics that really have no relation to another what-so-ever.
What I would love to do is combine all my blogs into one. This way, no particular blog suffers from lack of content simply because I got bored for a while. I could always have something to write about and be interested in what I’m doing at the same time.
My concern is in search engine position and how it could affect any single blog standing in the results. It could possibly be better but then again, it could have an adverse effect on all my blogs content.
I am about ready to ‘take the leap’ and combine everything but really am having a bit of trouble figuring out how to do that effectively without totally screwing up things.
I return to you time after time for help and insight. I appreciate your hard work and willingness to share so freely all your wisdom. Thank you for that.
Hello Darren, I see one of the trends is a creative blogging that is developing on different sites like Squidoo.com and others that is directly connected to one of the more traditional blogs. What do you think about it?
I have been thinking about making my blog a central place for different subjects.
Maybe 4 or 5 blogs would have their headlines displayed with one full post.
Live From Las Vegas
The Masked Millionaire
I am really a big fan of the ‘Multi Author Blogs’. I think sometimes many people who attempt to write in a blog consistently need help from many people to really put together a powerful blog.
I’ve been blogging for a couple of moons now. I took a internet marketing course by so called gurus and learnt all about niches. I tried that even with success but the maintenance was juszt too much for me. Only talking about 1 niche.
I’m enjoying blogging now with my 2 partners and we blog about every thing that comes to mind. It’s more fun for me and I think you have to have fun in life.
I absolutely agree with the portal like design, it is strange to me that it seems like all of a sudden in the past 6 months or so EVERYONE has been redesigning their blog. The redesigns though don’t look like typical blogs but almost look more like portals.
Good stuff as always. Still digging the video format.
I have noticed the change in blogging as well. The blogging community is steadily evolving as more and more people enter the space and carve out their own niche`.
I can remember the early days of websites where portals were everywhere, but eventually broke off to specific points of interest. Today, it appears the blogging community is going old school on us.
The return of the portal style format is a natural response to the ever increasing appetite of today’s readers.
Hi Darren,
very interesting video post, I found quite interesting the point “portal style” it looks more profesional, I will think about it for my spanish blog, but maybe when I have more readers.
Multi-author blogs are definitely emerging. Apart from the standard company blogs, which often have multiple employees creating content, I think we’ll see more single-topic blogs from multiple companies – and, in turn, multi-authors.
Our small consulting team at Tactic Group run a simple multi-author blog, simply due to time and range of knowledge. However, we’re about to launch a winter sports blog in New Zealand which will amalgamate content from a variety of contributing companies and sources (see: http://www.amphitheatre.co.nz)
It’s a business model we’ve been working on for some time now and this will be it’s first trial. The site’s not live yet, but soft-launch date is June 1st.
Yes, the multiple author blogs are becoming much more popular I’ve been noticing myself. Fortunately, I’ve just found another great blogger and respected person to agree and author on my blog. I’m quite excited about this. I totally feel it will improve the overall readership of the blog. Thanx, for the always great posts Darren.
Cheers and take care,
Davin
I am a new blogger but I also believe I should consider adopting multiple author strategy, I believe it could improve my blogging
I have to agree with you on the point of multi-topic blog. There are emerging fast and establishing themselves very well. One particular blog I came across was http://www.althafahmed.com. It sounds like his personal name, but he has branched out pretty well.
Very good thoughts Darren.
I can say with 100% certainty that multi-topic blogs do poorly in natural search results!
Popular Wealth is a multi topic blog and I have owned several very successful non blog sites for years that are each one topic only. Popular Wealth is newer, my first shot at pure blog and multi-topic, but the natural search stats are just nowhere near as impressive as ANY of my one topic sites.
Google (no offense other search engines, google is biggest) is better suited to information rich wiki type sites.
A tip: if you go multi-topic – start linking to relevant articles within your posts and consider removing your categories from the sidebar, google no likey sitewide mixed content.
Well blogging is developing every day.You can see something new everyday.I am making my blog a multi topic blog.In future it might turn to be a multi author blog.