Is the Blog a Dying Art Form?

Is anyone blogging anymore?  As the days go by, it seems like more and more of my favorite blogs are disappearing.  As I clicked on one tonight, the all too familiar "Closed for Business" wallpaper was up.  I was a bit late arriving at the blog party, so I am not quite tapped out yet.  I have definitely slipped this past year in my blog diligence, but I blame that on having to work day shift for the better part of the year.  A day person, I am not.

In the larger sense though, the medium feels like it is shifting from simple rants and raves of the common man or woman to a more evolved media form.  Newspapers and magazines are being replaced by sites such as The Huffington Post or online versions of print media like NYTimes.com or SFgate.com.  Online newspaper articles now feature comment sections as blogs do and people seem to have endless amounts of time where they engage in petty bickering back and forth with faceless people.  When there is no accountability for your speech or actions, suddenly the exchanges become more heated and personal.  It is not like anyone at the grocery store is likely to call you out and say, "Aren't you Gail36SF?"  Yeah, not too likely.  The other palpable shift seems to be from having your own blog or website to the social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace.  When people see a few paragraphs of text these days, they usually say, "Ugh, I do not have time to read all that text." and then head to Facebook where they will spend hours poking each other or sending each other imaginary gifts.  I am on Facebook and yes, it is fun.  It is also incredibly voyeuristic and a bit of a strange experience.  Since being on there for a month or two, people from my high school in New Hampshire who rarely spoke to me much less had a conversation with me suddenly are messaging me and wanting me to be their "friend".  Uhhhhhhh ok.  If you did not want to talk to me fifteen years ago, then what is the big attraction now?  It is bizarre to look at some of their pages.  Most of my classmates have married, have kids, and are living in the same general area of New England that I ran away from as fast as I could.  I suppose one could compare the experience to turning on the TV and watching a Facts of Life reunion.  Yes, I vaguely remember Mrs. Garrett, Blair, Tootie, Jo, and Natalie.  But do I have a strong desire to see what has happened to them over the past fifteen years or so?  Not really to be honest.

I am hopeful my friends and family that blog will continue to do so.  It takes time and effort (which is the biggest complaint of many) to sit down and put something readable together.  On the flip side though, it keeps your writing skills up, forces you think, and to put something creative out there for the world.  Keep up the good fight people!  I appreciate your efforts.

Hope you all have your Christmas soundtracks on full blast on your iPods.  Cuidate.