Australian blogging at a crossroads?
This week I read three blog posts – from two pretty prominent Australian blogger and one American blogger all saying how blogging has lost something for them.
Jodie from Mummy Mayhem put a (permanent) pause on her blog this week saying she felt life had taken over but also expressing her disappointment with the blogging world and the occasional snarkiness.
Kristin from Wanderlust wrote a post this week expressing her feelings of frustration when working with brands and asking her readers if blogging had lost something for them.
Finally there is Holly from Good Golly Miss Holly who writes honestly about feeling increasingly competitive with other bloggers and expressing how blogging has lost the sparkle for her of late.
And it got me thinking. Is Australian blogging at a crossroads? Is this the sign of an ‘industry’ ‘maturing’?
I first started blogging in late 2008. Then there was a sense of excitement about creating and growing a new medium. There was a little sense of exploring unchartered territory and wondering where it would take us. In 2008 in Australia blogging was not mainstream and big brands weren’t thinking about bloggers ( never mind thinking of actual paying them). Bloggers didn’t rate on the radar. But times have changed and with it perhaps blogging.
Blogging in Australia has becoming ‘serious’ business. Serious in that in the Australian blogging community there is a feeling in the air that a real living can possibly be made out of this blogging business. When I say ‘real living’ I don’t mean payment for the odd sponsored post, I mean payment that means you may one day…soon say sayonara to your day job and become a fully fledge ProBlogger (to rival the original ProBlogger, Darren Rowse).
You see Ive got a theory. Maybe this current developing ‘vibe’( for want of a better word) is peculiar only to personal bloggers.
It makes sense. Personal bloggers open their heart,mind and often family and life to strangers on their blog to comment about. Then to witness other personal bloggers achieving perceived greater recognition ( be it growing blog traffic, invites to speak at conferences, payment or sponsors) can make a blogger potentially feel like their writing/life is not engaging enough. And let’s face it. It takes a special kind of writer / blogger deep down to not care – at all – what others think of their writing /storytelling ability.
Bloggers who don’t share about their life or family, who blog mostly about non personal topics like how to blog, or write etc (maybe with the occasional family pic thrown in) are just not as…exposed.Maybe.
What do you think?
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Welcome! My name is Ann Nolan and I work in all things online helping brands and NGO's make sense of the online world.
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I think you’ve hit on it there, Ann. I’ve often said that personal blogging is perhaps THE hardest niche to blog in – let alone be deemed ‘successful’ at, insofar as how others look at it from the outside. It’s hard not to take things personally when we spend so long looking inwards and trying to write as best as we can; though, at the same time, in the flip side, and this is how I look at it, criticism, although not pleasant, can often teach us something too.
I’m sad to hear other bloggers feel sad/frustrated/despondent
I’ve been reading these posts with interest too. I’m a newbie and have learned so much from the bloggers you mentioned and many more this year. I think it’s easier when you’re a niche blogger than if you’re a personal blogger to not let other’s success get to you – only just though
With a niche, you’re providing information to help people eg. make money, blog better, cook, or like me, deal with food allergies in your family. So you’ve always got that as your core reason to be blogging.
With a personal blog, it’s your heart and soul, so no wonder people feel slighted or jealous sometimes. I know I could never write a personal blog for this reason. But that’s also why I love personal blogs so much. I admire these writers above all others online.
Interesting – I’ve had conversations with 3-4 others in the last week about how things are changing – at least in some parts of the Aussie blogosphere. Not sure I can completely put a finger on it but there are a number of factors at play:
- the last 12 months has seen a lot more self organization of the Aussie blogosphere – particularly in the parenting/personal space but extending beyond that. We’ve seen forums and communities pop up as well as conferences. I guess people are meeting one another, telling their stories, collaborating etc. These are good things but when any group begins to form there are also some other consequences – people feeling left out, jostling for position/power (politics of sorts) etc.
- brands are suddenly realising that there’s gold in them blogging hills and are starting to invest into the space. This has a number of consequences too I guess. Including:
a. more and more bloggers with the dream and chance of making a living from blogging.
b. this can result in a bloggers motivations for blogging changing – this isn’t bad but it certainly changes the way you blog and can impact how satisfied you feel with it – whereas previously it was more about self expression, building relationships etc it can suddenly feel more like a job.
c. usually when this happens there can be different camps with different stances on making money from blogging spring up. I saw this years ago in the US and wonder if the same pattern is repeating here. On one end of the spectrum years ago there was a ‘you shouldn’t make money blogging because it compromises a pure medium’ camp. Then there were camps that said ‘only make money in certain ways’ – for example the pro and against ‘sponsored post camps.
d. Then there’s obviously the competition between bloggers that can emerge – there only so much to go around and bloggers obviously want their ‘cut’ and blogging can become a little more ruthless and less co-operative.
e. different brands are taking different approaches. Some are paying bloggers amazing amounts (I’m amazed how much some bloggers are earning in Aus for relatively small traffic), other brands don’t pay but give schwaag (hard to pay your mortgage with that), others are stuck in the old PR mentality of just expecting an impersonal press release will work. All the different approaches mean some bloggers are able to make a living, others are hooked on schwaag, others are frustrated….
It’s going to be interesting to see how things play out. As I said this has happened within different niches and international spaces previously – it never destroyed the blogosphere but it certainly can be unsettling and things end up being different.
I guess my main advice to bloggers is to understand their own goals. Don’t get sucked into doing/being something you’re not comfy with. If blogging for self expression is what you’re on about – stick to it. If you want to earn a living, don’t get into the schwaag grab etc
I don’t think there’s any wrong/right answer or wrong/right way to blog. The other advice then is to do your best to not judge others. I see some bizarre, dubious and strange things going on in my own niches – but ultimately I try not to judge but spend my energy building something positive and constructive of my own.
Sorry – lots of muddled thoughts there (its pre-coffee, Saturday morning, kids going hyper in the background time of day)!
Hope something in it is sensible and useful!
Thanks Darren.
There is a distinct whiff of change in the air. And I suppose as you say when a industry (for want of a better word) starts to mature its only natural niches and subcultures start to develop and with that people feeling left out or perhaps behind. I think also those is wise words your share. “Don’t get sucked into doing/being something you’re not comfy with”.
Guess its life all things in life.
If in doubt dont.
Thanks for sharing your not so muddled thoughts!
You may have something there!
I guess it depends on why you blog. I blog because I enjoy the writing process. I find it helpful to express what I’m thinking in written word. I really don’t care if 200 or 2 people read a post, and I don’t check traffic or stats. I just write for me. If others like it, that’s great, but if no-one comments or asks me to review a product that’s going to be just fine too.
For those who chase the kudos, the numbers and the awards, more power to them. If that is their purpose, why not. It doesn’t mean I have to buy into the race.
Hi Ann – very interesting post, and I think you’re on to something here.
I think Darren also makes some great points here to.
I guess the whole PR thing took me by surprise. I had always intended to share products I liked anyway (I wrote about my love of Pandora in the very beginning!), but I think I allowed the products to shape my blog in to something else entirely, and in the end, my blog felt like work. I was offered to write sponsored posts, but never wanted to do it because it didn’t feel right for me. Have no problem with bloggers taking that route, but not my thing. But by the time I realised that I should probably just drop accepting products, I was over blogging in general. I definitely cared about stats in the beginning, but hadn’t for a long time. I realised at the conference (ABC) in April this year that I wasn’t really in to my ‘brand’. I probably should have done something about it all then, but I just plodded on.
I have a very small food blog, and for me, accepting products there is different because it will always relate to food, and I’d love to review cookbooks or be provided with recipes etc. Fun! But I’d never take on the kind of stuff I did whilst at MM again, I don’t think. Doing my product reviews there took way too much of my time!
Each to their own, I always say, and if bloggers want to get involved with products etc, then I say don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Do your own thing and set your limitations and rules and go for it!
I think what you did Jodie – walk away to refresh and / or refocus – takes an incredible amount of self knowledge – about yourself, your goals and what writing and blogging ultimately mean to you. Good on you. Judging from the comments on your post there are a lot of people out there who will look forward to your return to blogging…though perhaps not as Mummy Mayhem??…
Enjoy the reprieve and thanks for sharing your experience.
Yeah, I think you’ve hit it with this post. I think it IS changing, and fast, and becoming more professionalised, but this is uncomfortable and difficult for those who write primarily personal, inherently amateur blogs (I’m not using amateur as a slur here. I would absolutely characterise my blog as both personal and amateur).
What I find hard is reconciling my real desire for connection and feedback – which is one of the reasons I blog rather than write an offline journal – with my strong disinterest in professionalising my blog and attempting to earn money from it. It seems that there are less opportunities for non-monetizing-oriented socialising among bloggers than there were even 3 years ago – every time a few people start talking about a morning tea, some brand or other jumps in with sponsorship offers and instantly the whole thing changes. I am not saying this is bad, just – as I said above – more businesslike, less amateur-hobby-social, than it was.
It’s an interesting point. I am a personal blogger and have felt very uneasy in the blogosphere in the last few months. From the sense of excitement I felt back in March, I descended into disillusionment and frustration, only to come back up to acceptance.
I know what is right for me. I need to blog, because otherwise I will go crazy. I want to have more fun with it, I want to enjoy it. If I can’t make money from it, then that’s too bad. It is the dream, but getting caught up in the politics of it all, having it feel like work, is not for me.
I think with great change comes chaos. That is the nature of change.
Everyone is trying to work out their place in the whole blogosphere and how it can work to their goals and lifestyle.
Some want to make a living from it, others don’t.
the key is to forget what others are doing and to work on your goals and plans and what satisfies you the most.
Blogging is difficult because you do put yourself out there as you mentioned. This leaves you with a certain amount of vulnerability. If you are brave enough to put yourself out there then you have to be brave enough to accept the pitfalls that come with that as well as the good things. I think that instead of getting upset or feeling inferior with the apparent more successful results others are having, you need to see what it is they are doing and learn from that- if that is what you want.
Gary Vaynerchuck talks a lot about the hustle and having success with blogging is going to mean you have to hustle to a certain extent- or self-promote. This does not mean at all that you have to sell yourself out or stomp all over others.
I’ve noticed a lot of talk on this subject lately too which is why I wrote a blog post about it today and have a podcast coming out about this week
http://www.ytravelblog.com/to-all-new-travel-bloggers/
Thanks Caz – I actually read your post yesterday and was about to leave a comment (which I typed) but got distracted by the hustle and bustle of family on a Sunday! But I am looking forward to hearing your podcast when it comes out.
Naomi _ know what you mean about commenting but maybe its because folk are less commenting on the blog but are instead commenting on the blog on Twitter and other microblogs?
It’s such an interesting time for blogging in Australia. There is an air of change, and I think some bloggers who have been around a while are perhaps more perplexed with the change then new bloggers. Change can be hard.
Most of the products I am offered don’t sit well with me, so I don’t blog about them, As Darren said, I don’t feel comfy writing about them, other things I jump at the chance to write about.
Personal blogging is just that – personal, so of course if people don’t read, comment etc we’re going to take it somewhat personally! But for me, as long as I remember blogging is something I do for the love of writing, I’m OK, whether that be a sponsored post, a post in exchange for a product, or a post just for me. Bloggers who make a living blogging are amazing at what they do – or else they wouldn’t keep getting the work.
I love the engagement found in blogging, and that is the thing I have seen go by the wayside a little over this year. Perhaps it’s a sign that there are more good blogs out there worth reading, meaning people are commenting on more blogs thus commenting on each blog less often ( I hope that makes sense?)
I agree with Darren. You have to understand why you’re blogging, and how much you’re comfortable with. And personal bloggers need to find that line between keeping a journal and keeping a professional blog, particularly if they want to play with Brands.