15.5 Million Active Blogs; Decline and Fall of the Print Media

Well, I have to say that I'm not very good at updating this blog. So, I'll give it another go. Today, I read some amazing stats on the advertising industry, the growth of blogs and the decline of newspapers. According to Technorati, there are 15.5 active blogs. That means that their owners have updated them once in the last 90 days. That doesn't seem very active to me. I have to say that I'm on the 10-month plan now, but I'd like to update this more frequently. While the numbers of blogs are amazing. It does come at a cost.

During my web searches today, I also came across some distressing news about the decline of newspapers. Print advertising is declining substantially while web advertising is growing. Also, more newspapers are announcing layoffs. The list is amazing. Not surprising, but it is distressing to the industry. I have to admit that there seems to be a rise at amateur journalists at the expense of print journalists. The web was an awakening, but it did come at great cost.

Coming of age in the 1970s when Geraldo Rivera was doing real investigative work - breaking the Willowbrook Hospital scandal, not his tabloid days - and All the Presidents Men made Woodward and Bernstein pop culture icons, I decided to ditch a career in the sciences in favor of journalism. Well, that plan didn't quite work out. But, I did find technology on the way.

But, it is just an adjustment ... a change in journalism forms. Blogs are just another way for all of us to express ourselves. Just like journaling was in the past, it just is electronic. And, it makes it easier to share. Now, I just have to remember to share.

Not all blogs will be influential. What blogs will live on beyond the 21st century? Time will only tell. Now, let's see the stats on abandoned blogs ...

See ya' soon ...