Thoughts on Blogging Part 3
I read a post over at Tobold’s Blog recently that got me thinking about blogging, popularity, and the ebb and flow of our passions. The reason being is that Tobold, like many other long-term bloggers, has seen a decline in his audience over recent years. He certainly wasn’t carping about it, just simply observing the correlation between reducing your written output, the decline in popularity of his original subject matter and the number of visitors coming to his site. He also made a keen observation that blogging is not necessarily “where it’s at” with regard to cultivating an audience. If you are producing content specifically to grow and maintain a following, then You Tube and Twitch are better platforms for that. Especially if your content is part of the wider gaming scene. For better or for worse, I now associate gaming commentary with visual mediums rather than blogging. Yes, there is still long from criticism being produced but it’s aimed at a niche gaming audience. One that I would guess is older.
I read a post over at Tobold’s Blog recently that got me thinking about blogging, popularity, and the ebb and flow of our passions. The reason being is that Tobold, like many other long-term bloggers, has seen a decline in his audience over recent years. He certainly wasn’t carping about it, just simply observing the correlation between reducing your written output, the decline in popularity of his original subject matter and the number of visitors coming to his site. He also made a keen observation that blogging is not necessarily “where it’s at” with regard to cultivating an audience. If you are producing content specifically to grow and maintain a following, then You Tube and Twitch are better platforms for that. Especially if your content is part of the wider gaming scene. For better or for worse, I now associate gaming commentary with visual mediums rather than blogging. Yes, there is still long from criticism being produced but it’s aimed at a niche gaming audience. One that I would guess is older.
Even when blogging was the medium of choice within the gaming community, it was far from a homogenous platform. There was (and remains to this day) a wide spectrum of output. Those pursuing an in-depth analysis of gaming did so and developed their audiences accordingly. Those who pursued a more “populist” approach to their content did so and likewise found success or failure. Like today with streaming, bloggers were free back in its heyday to either treat their work as a hobby done for its own pleasure or intellectual reward, or as a means to seek the fickle finger of internet fame and grow a readership as well as a line of revenue. Let us not forget that a decade ago adblockers were a merely a vague nightmare for marketing departments and that clicks, and advertising links were the key to financial success. However, whatever path you pursued as a gaming blogger during this time, it was quite an interconnected community. Events such as the Newbie Blogger Initiative of 2012 further reinforced this.
As for the fifteen minutes of fame that Tobold alludes to in his post, I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that Contains Moderate Peril achieved that. However, traffic increased to the point in 2014 where a conventional hosted WordPress package was not up to the job and I had to look for a more robust solution. Fortunately, I managed to secure sponsorship from Host1Plus which I consider to be an acknowledgment of the site’s internet “reach”. Certainly 2014-15 were good years and it was during that time that I started finding myself on various emailing lists from PR and marketing companies. Because the scope of the blog has never been exclusively about gaming, I also received invites for movies screening and other material. Certainly, having a podcast linked to the blogs activities helped find a wider audience. Posting regular content was another reason for the growth in readership.
A lot has happened in the world of blogging since I started in 2007. Alternative platforms have emerged that have a “different” barrier to entry. As ever, visual mediums are more accessible to wider audiences and thus You Tube and Twitch have become venues for the latest internet Gold Rush. As for Contains Moderate Peril, well a variety of factors have impacted upon the sites online presence. I had to relocate the blog due to technical reasons and then there were a series of issues that interrupted content creation. By mid-2016 the blog had lost 75% of its traffic. However, I returned to regular posting in 2017 and the site has seen a steady increase in visits each month since then. Gaming as a topic only constitutes about 45% of the material I write about at present and only certain subjects and games seem to gain traction. However, movie reviews and analysis seem to be attracting a lot of traffic and an audience who are happy to read lengthy articles.
I’m not a big fan of “what if” scenarios and “if I could do it all again” flights of fancy. I have in the past harboured ambitions to write professionally but the practical realities of life meant it made better economic sense to stick with the proverbial day job. I have now retired and have become a carer, but the odd thing is because of the very structured and routine nature of that task, I now have specific designated times to write which I didn’t in the past. Hence the regular content and the site growth. Ironically, I am now being offered and undertaking paid work. In a perfect world I would have liked to have done this years ago but c’est la vie. The wheel has also turned full circle for many of my writing peers are dusting off their blogs and sharing their thoughts once again online. Hence, I think game blogging will always have a place and will attract those that seek the potential depth and intimacy of written content. It may not present the same opportunities that some seek from Twitch and You Tube, but that’s also why it doesn’t share exactly the same failings.
Thoughts on Blogging Part 2
I usually write a post early on in the New Year in which I list the various goals I’m focusing on over the next twelve months. To date I have not done this because I am still trying to work out what I can and cannot accommodate within my current schedule. As a carer I’m kept very busy, but my weekly routine does offers windows of opportunity for writing. However, free time is a finite commodity, so I have to really cut my proverbial coat according to my cloth this year. Therefore, I’ve decided to pursue the following projects. I will continue to regularly post on Contains Moderate Peril as I enjoy having my own platform and certainly feel that I still have a lot to write about. Also, the audience is steadily growing, and I think it would be counter productive to fly in the face of such a development. I was also given the opportunity to write for MMOGames recently and have decided to accept this invitation. Writing to deadlines and deferring to editors, is an invaluable learning experience. Plus, it presents my writing to a wider audience which is great for brand awareness and other awful marketing terms.
I usually write a post early on in the New Year in which I list the various goals I’m focusing on over the next twelve months. To date I have not done this because I am still trying to work out what I can and cannot accommodate within my current schedule. As a carer I’m kept very busy, but my weekly routine does offers windows of opportunity for writing. However, free time is a finite commodity, so I have to really cut my proverbial coat according to my cloth this year. Therefore, I’ve decided to pursue the following projects. I will continue to regularly post on Contains Moderate Peril as I enjoy having my own platform and certainly feel that I still have a lot to write about. Also, the audience is steadily growing, and I think it would be counter productive to fly in the face of such a development. I was also given the opportunity to write for MMOGames recently and have decided to accept this invitation. Writing to deadlines and deferring to editors, is an invaluable learning experience. Plus, it presents my writing to a wider audience which is great for brand awareness and other awful marketing terms.
However, I have several other ideas and potential projects in development at the moment but it’s proving hard to determine which ones I should do. Some would be fun but are mainly driven by my personal preferences. Others are designed with an eye to reader involvement, which would potentially attract traffic. And as I ponder this matter, it has also dawned upon me how my bent for writing is slowly turning from a passion to a job. I’ve had to create a spreadsheet to track the various blog posts I have scheduled and I’m also setting constraints on the length of some posts, simply to ensure they can be turned around promptly. However, it is logical to put systems in place if you wish to manage a situation. For example, if I think it’s likely that I’m going to write about a film that I’m watching, I will always make notes about it. I also use of Pocket to save interesting articles and reviews that appear in my Feedly subscriptions. I also have a white board on the wall for ad-hoc ideas.
It’s a curious situation, trying to determine exactly when you go from being an enthusiastic blogger to a “writer”. In the past some would argue that you had to have something formally published in physical print before you could credibly claim such a title. Nowadays the criteria seem to be a lot different. Some known and established writers have stated that the title is something you just choose to label yourself and that is substantiated by your body of work. It certainly offers food for thought. I would add that getting paid for your work at some point helps. And while we’re on the subject of writing as a formal job, I’d like to point out I’m not a fan of the old adage “do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life”. I think it’s hogwash. If you wish to do anything to the best of your ability, it will require effort and dedication. It’s therefore going to be hard and if it doesn’t feel so, then I would suggest you’re doing it wrong. Work can be fun, but it is not play. Furthermore, I always hear this phrase bandied about by people of independent means, which pretty much negates their point. If you don’t have to do something just to get by, is it really a job?
Despite trying to set some time aside, I haven’t managed to sort out a podcast so far this year. I suspect I am going to have a rethink on that issue. Rather than produce my own show, I may have to see if I can find a slot on someone else’s, which is a big ask. I think this issue may be a separate post in itself. I also fear my aspiration to do a light-hearted stream while gaming, is going to have to be shelved. The movie club idea may still happen, as it could provide a regular article for Contains Moderate Peril. However, the main problem is picking a film to discuss, that is available on most video on demand platforms and therefore accessible. While I try to figure all these things out, I need to focus on my current writing, as that’s something I can manage at present if I stick to my schedule. It also occurs to me as I write this post, why so many people consciously decide to give up blogging or writing in general. It isn’t as easy or straight forward as some perceive it to be. Furthermore, we’re often our own worst enemy by being such hard taskmasters.
Thoughts on Blogging Part 1
There wasn’t a Newbie Blogger Initiative this year and I was saddened by that. I’ll make no bones about the fact that I liked this yearly event and the way for a few months after it, you’d see a lot of interesting new blogs spring up, filled with optimism and passion. But, what’s done is done, and life goes on. It’s up to others to pick up that particular torch and run with it, if they wish to see the event to return. I also miss a lot of my colleagues and peers’ blogs and the comradery that stemmed from the associated community. Again, this is a natural and inevitable attrition process, caused by that thing known as “life”. So, to combat my current melancholic malaise, I thought I’d collate a few of my thoughts about writing online and set them down in a semi-regular post, the same way as I do about podcasting.
There wasn’t a Newbie Blogger Initiative this year and I was saddened by that. I’ll make no bones about the fact that I liked this yearly event and the way for a few months after it, you’d see a lot of interesting new blogs spring up, filled with optimism and passion. But, what’s done is done, and life goes on. It’s up to others to pick up that particular torch and run with it, if they wish to see the event to return. I also miss a lot of my colleagues and peers’ blogs and the comradery that stemmed from the associated community. Again, this is a natural and inevitable attrition process, caused by that thing known as “life”. So, to combat my current melancholic malaise, I thought I’d collate a few of my thoughts about writing online and set them down in a semi-regular post, the same way as I do about podcasting.
So, to begin with, Sarah (AKA AlternativeChat) made a throwaway comment a while ago on Twitter about “getting something noticed”. I took this to be a reference to her prodigious written output. I tweeted back that “I've written several pieces that I'm proud of. However, they never got the traffic I hoped for. That's the nature of the beast, I guess”. I then pointed out the post that has garnered the most traffic during my seven years of blogging was a review of Top Cat: The Movie. That was posted on an older version of this website and ironically isn’t even available anymore. Then fellow blogger Wilhelm Arcturus added that “There is an inverse relationship between investment/effort and popularity. My most popular posts are ones I knocked out on a whim”. A sentiment that I concur with. Fellow blogger Gevlon expressed similar sentiments
All of this got me thinking about statistics and traffic. I’ve written in the past how it is important for the budding blogger not to become obsessed with these things. However, they can also be a very useful tool. Wilhelm himself, regular breaks down the traffic to his site and writes about it. Not in a self-aggrandising way but just as a means to gauge what topics are popular and to track how his writing patterns have changed over time. I used to blog regularly about the MMO LOTRO, as it was for several years the focal point of my gaming. It is not now and thus it doesn’t occur as often as a point of discussion. It is not unusual for the long-term blogger (or Tom Jones) to broaden their writing horizons over time, to accommodate the ebb and flow of their interests and passions. I have done it several times.
Writing a blog is a personal choice and peoples motivation varies. Most like myself, often site an enjoyment of writing as a primary factor. It could therefore be argued that for a purist blogger, who is not in any way driven by matters of ego, shouldn’t care if their blog remains unread. However, many of us write as a means to communicate our passion for something. Therefore, an audience, comments and feedback are important. Our writing is an invitation to friendly interaction and an exchange of ideas, although such concepts are becoming increasingly alien in the current binary climate. This last point paradoxically offers another reason to write. I use my blog as a means to marshal my thoughts and to try and understand what is happening in the world. Articulating your concerns can have a therapeutic value. Also, meeting those who are equally perplexed by the status quo can be rewarding.
A fellow blogger who wrote a very popular MMO fansite, once told me that they considered their writing as a public service in a way. I do not think the remark was born out of vanity. It simply reflected their enjoyment of participating in a wider community. However, they also remarked that once you embark down such a road, especially if you are receiving a high level of traffic, it can turn your passion in to a chore. They also told of how when they finally reached a point when they wanted to end their writing commitment, that they received from some quarters a lot of criticism and even aggression. It’s curious how some fans go from enjoying free content, to expecting it and treating it as if it were a product that they paid for. Mercifully, I’ve not encountered such problems. I would not claim to have such a large audience, nor do I see my writing as a public service. But I do at times struggle to maintain a regular posting schedule. It’s something that’s common to all bloggers, most of whom would like to write more than they do.
Finally, I discovered that blogger Isey has a page called “Writers Resting in Paradise” over at their website IHasPC. It lists many blogs that have ceased regular posting and have gone quiet. I believe the criteria to get on this list is to not post for six months or more. However, it should be noted that you do find from time to time, that hibernating blogs suddenly revive as the author gets bitten by the blogging bug again. Stropp recently started posting again over at Stroppsworld, which is nice to see. Being a fan of the written word, I always prefer to read someone’s thoughts than watch a live stream or a video. Visual mediums have their place and can be fun and compelling. Yet the written word provides scope from greater analysis and expression, due to the subtleties of the English language. Reading others use of words and how they choose to communicate their thoughts is fascinating and an invaluable insight into that person.