A frank assessment of the current state of blogging

I was recently on a super fun broadcast with my friend Joel Hughes of Glass Mountains Design and we discussed the current state of blogging.

This was particularly energizing for me since it has been so very long since I’ve talked about blogging, my content drug of choice! Here are a few observations about the role of blogging in the current business environment.

Is blogging still relevant?

Blogging’s status in the content eco-system has certainly diminished as streaming video, podcasts, and short-form content on Instagram and TikTok have grabbed the spotlight.

But this is more a matter of timing than fundamental changes in consumer needs. Allow me to explain.

The first opportunity to create content in the early days of the web was blogging because it was easy — it’s a written word.

Back then, making video content was still complicated. You needed equipment, editing skills, and software. Then there was the problem of slow internet connections which made uploads almost impossible. With the arrival of smartphones, creating video content became accessible to anyone. This development created an explosion in video that met a severely under-served consumer need.