Blogging`s Future: Up, Up and Away?
(Page 1 of 3 )
Beyond a doubt, blogging has a bright future. It's tempting to get carried away by all the exuberance being generated.
Bill Gates says blogging "will fundamentally change how we document our lives". Technorati's CEO David Sifry says that there are 11 blog posts being made every second!
While this may well be true, we must resist the temptation to get carried away. Let's analyze blogging's prospects as a 'personal technology', or a technology that individuals use to improve their effectiveness or productivity, or simply to have fun.
All successful personal technologies that gain widespread use (be it the humble pen, the telephone or the iPod), bear certain hallmarks: they are easy to use, fulfil a basic need, and provide a new way to express an existing behavior or habit. Technologies that make the cut on these three respects tend to 'take-off', with their use surging steeply*.
Blogging certainly fulfils a basic need, the need for self-expression and social interaction. It is also more powerful in many respects than other technologies that meet similar needs - the telephone, email or online chatting - in that it is more 'permanent', and allows visibility to anyone who can access the Web. It also provides a new way to exercise our natural propensity to form groups with like-minded folks, by allowing us to form 'virtual communities' on the Web.
Next: It also allows... >>
More Blog Help Articles
More By Jase Dow
