An article on WebProNews quotes an article on Wired that it's time to stop blogging -- that somehow blogging has run its course, it's too impersonal and other tools have made it unnecessary.
They contend that using Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, makes blogging unnecessary. I don't agree.
I believe your blog is the hub and foundation of your business communication. It's where you drive people from your social networking sites so they can go deeper and more intimately with you.
Once people arrive on your blog, you have the opportunity to deepen your relationship, beyond the 140 characters available on Twitter. The blog is where you educate, entertain, engage and enrich your reader.
From there, your reader begins to know, like and trust you and barriers are dropped. Readers are more likely to subscribe to your newsletter list, register for your teleseminars, buy your products.
Out of curiousity, I put this question out to my Twitter followers and got a few vehement responses:
What do you think?
Is it time to stop blogging? Can the hot, trendy social networking tools take the place of blogging?
Use the comment link to let us know what you think about this issue!
No, it definitely isn't time to stop blogging!! Yes, I have noticed fewer posts arriving in my Google Reader over the last couple of months, as Twitter has grown in popularity. But, 140 characters cannot take the place of a well crafted blog post.
I love Twitter for letting me know what's new and what other people are talking about, and then I read blog posts when I want more information about a particular subject. And I agree with you that the blog is where you develop a deeper relationship.
Posted by: Louise BJ | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Well since I just recently started a blog for my business, I'm hoping the article is all wrong - I've found it to be very fulfilling so far, and I think we are living in a time similar to just after Gutenberg's first Bible. New/open media is just getting started.
Posted by: Matt Fifer | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:08 PM
I don't think it's time to stop blogging. Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter don't allow me to express as much as I would like to. I've read some interesting stories on blog and have written some myself that I can't imagine trying to share in the social networks because of the limited space.
Posted by: Lisa @ Serah's | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:10 PM
The Wired authors are correct about the emergence of more professional, corporate blogs but I don't see this as a threat nor is it a reason to stop blogging. These corporate properties serve a specific audience that the small business, organization or individual does not.
If you are a boutique retailer, your audience is not the same as that of Macy's; their needs and wants are different. Just focus on your audience and you will always have one.
John Easton
http://www.customerflypaper.com
Posted by: John Easton | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 06:18 PM
I like your perspective and believe you are correct that blogging is the hub.
Blogging can be enjoyable, but can also be a leash and sometimes addictive!
Posted by: Annabelle | Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 06:40 AM
Stop blogging? I just got started, for crying out loud! A blog, like any form of communication, can be as impersonal or personal as the author makes it.
I may not want to read a particular blog cuz it's stagnant and boring but I've had the same experience at live networking events - and you can't get more personal than that.
Power to the BLOG with personality!
Posted by: Lisa Almeida | Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 07:18 AM
The postings on most Social Network Sites read like messages pinned to the local college community bulletin board. They might contain useful but ephemoral information, but it is rarely worth saving, and it ain't literature!
A well crafted blog runs circles around any Social Network site alone, and also works beautifully in combination with it. But stop blogging? Why?!
You could pick up your news along with the morning radio traffic report, or you could gain more depth with the New York Times, even online.
When You eat, it is better to select something that is nutitionally balanced and appetizing. Why should reading be any different?
William Reed
http://www.EntrepreneursCreativeEdge.com
Posted by: William Reed | Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 10:02 AM
I completely agree that a well-thought out and well-crafted blog is extremely valuable compared to the more succinct messages we get from some of the newer sources.
As someone that is new to online marketing and social networking, I am happy to see where blogging and twittering, etc. fits in to the online marketing funnel.
Thanks for the great post!
Posted by: Cindy Petersiel | Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 11:31 AM
I copmetely agree, how can you possibly communitcate everything you want to in 140 characters?
Posted by: Josh | Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 12:07 PM
I guess Blog won't be stopped in 5 years.
Posted by: seo | Friday, October 31, 2008 at 12:13 AM