The Golden Age of Blogging
Josh Ginter writing for his personal blog, The Newsprint
I started The Newsprint in what felt like a golden era of blogging — I had friends who quit their jobs to blog on the hopes their blog could make it as their future career.
And:
I don’t know if the field is as ripe for that type of blog today. I could be wrong, but in the world of video and social media, it feels like these small blogs are a long-shot from ever earning the kind of money necessary to feed your family.
And:
I’m going to write and post things that interest me. Things I like. Things I’m trying my hand at.
Josh is a good guy, and I completely sympathize with his feeling that the era of the “personal blog as career” is largely past us, at least in the tech space. There are exceptions, of course, but if your goal is to quit your day job, I don't think blogging is giving yourself the best chance.
On the plus side, since bloggers (like me too!) don't need to build a BRAAAND as aggressively as before, we can talk more like real people than just stay laser focused on one topic that we're known for.
On the one hand, the golden age of blogging is past us, but if you're looking for ways to follow more well-rounded writing from people, maybe we're entering a new, smaller, more personal golden age.
Here’s a few of the sites I follow from people who I think do a great job of keeping the personal blogging community alive. Most of these are tech-focused, and I’ll be the first to admit that the male:female ratio is not as good as I wish it was, so please let me know on Twitter with who you think I should be following that you don’t see here.