The Whole Blog Thing

I read a report this morning saying that blogging was going to peak next year, with the majority of online users having tried it but less than half continue to use it after they've signed up. There's also mention of the infamous Technorati statistic stating that over 100,000 new blogs are created every day.

My blog is now approaching its 300th post, and I am certainly one of the converted. I have found it to be a wonderful design outlet, and a great way to keep my site fresh and frequently updated. I was hesitant in the beginning though, only really posting things of interest to me (which still continues as you can see below). I think it's a very underrated tool for designers, perhaps because its not really seen as having the same flexibility as just building the site yourself (which I also do of course). But in thinking about this I realized that it would make much more sense from a flexibility standpoint to even build my own portfolio as a blog (which is done but in dire need of updating for 2007 after my change in jobs earlier this year).

I've noticed that as I've become more of a blog user I've also become much more of a blog reader. Digg.com, Gawker.com, Curbed.com (for work not for pleasure), Gothamist.com, DesignObserver.com (who I applaud for finally becoming more blog based), even my friends' myspace blogs, are now all visited on a daily, if not hourly basis. I still wonder what makes a good blog though. For me, I think I started off just over 2 years ago thinking it would be a good way to showcase my inspiration. Now, as I write this from my wireless device on the train to New York, who knows. The technology has changed, and as a result so has what is deemed successful. I guess at the end of the day it's all about quality, personalized content, but I think to most bloggers, it's simply an indulgent way to air their opinions.

I still toy with the idea of Algorithm being entirely blog-based, and whilst converting the archives of all my projects here would be a big job, perhaps ultimately it would be a worthwhile project. Hmmmm... We'll see. Perhaps it will happen, perhaps not. I do like the idea of having a pre-fabricated search built into the site though, as such functionality is beyond my coding ability, and I love the new tagging / labelling thing in Blogger, although it seems to be taking forever to update all my posts to work with this. I guess it's worth it in the end, it feels like a great way to pass the time on this dull, wet and deary North Eastern morning.