A lot of bloggers in the past couple weeks have expressed some fatigue with this whole business. They’ve either stopped reading the political blogs or felt that they had nothing new to say themselves. A few bloggers have been fighting amongst themselves jealous of the attention that others are getting from the media. A few bloggers have dropped off the radar all together.
Maybe I’ve been paying more attention to those posts, because my own energies have flagged lately. I’ve been more involved in the kids and arranging flagstones in the backyard rather than sitting in front of the laptop. The sun was out today, and the earth was warm and wet.
Bloggers, at least the political ones, need triumphs to keep up their momentum. There’s no money or glory in blogging, so bloggers must be fueled by something else. Like the gotcha moments when they snag major media in errors or bias.
Some have hypothesized that in the future blogging will be eaten up by big media, interest groups, or politicians. Professionals will take the place of the amateur.
I’m starting to see another fate for the blogosphere. It’s one where the personal blogs triumph. Those that write witty and small things about their cats and yoga classes and kids.
The political bloggers will tire of waiting around for an avalanche of hits and the perfect moment of finding the rare snafu. The personal bloggers always have new fodder for their blogs and have to invest less leg work in their posts. Also, I think blog readers will tire of reading the same opinion pieces over and over. If blog posts don’t differ much from stuff their can find on the op-ed page of New York Times or in commentary by the Fox news, then why bother? Readers who turn to the blogs during their lunch hour at work might be looking for a laugh or entertainment instead of redundant thought.
I’ll probably keep the political and personal balance here, but at the moment, I’m definitely tilting one way.
Apt. 11d 
Blogging: Is it Passe Yet?
Laura at 11D has a great post where she asks if blogging has jumped the shark, and that it might be the beginning of the end. I’m starting to see another fate for the blogosphere. It’s one where the personal…
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I have to agree. Much of it is no longer as exciting. The academic bloggers who insist on writing long posts (I’m thinking of Crooked Timber and others) just drive me away as well. There are a lot of thoughtful print writers who spent more than a few minutes writing their pieces, and I would rather seek them out.
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I don’t read political blogs. Maybe it’s living and DC and working in politics/policy, but it just makes me tired. Every once and awhile, if there is an issue that piques my interest, I’ll search out some commentary. But I’m much more intrigued by the personal experiences of other people. Sometimes their posts give me confidence; other times they make me laugh. They almost always make me reflect on my own life.
I can’t remember who mentioned it lately (was it you, Laura?) but I think that personal blogging is really about self-actualization. The top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Writing is one way to meet those needs; reading and reflecting is another.
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This is a very unscientific thought. But perhaps it’s just spring.
Maybe other people aren’t like me, but in the spring, I get moody and apathetic. Everything drags, including blogging. I wonder if when fall comes around, the political bloggers won’t pep up a bit and their readers flock back with fresh minds. I’m really convinced weather and season drastically affects our reasoning capabilities.
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I agree with Jeannette that the seasons play a role in blogging. Spring doesn’t make me apathetic, but it does make me tire of being inside, tire of talking/writing, when I could be soaking up the sun. And so, the computer goes off, and out into the wet warm world I go.
As for longer-term trends–well, I’m one of those lengthy post-writing academics Frolic talks about, and I know it wears me out sometimes too. Those of us who never learned, or were unable to learn, the art of the succinct, quick post I think may inevitably end up turning more into personal essayists than anything else. While some fast political bloggers will probably always be able to come up with short little unique riffs on events, it seems likely that those of us afflicted by excess verbosity will probably have to turn inward, because when you get into the real details of ideas the transience and repetitiveness of most of what you might have to say looms large. So you look into your own struggles with related phenomena in order to get some original perspective. Or at least, again, that’s what I feel impelled to do. (Whether I do it well or not is debatable. I think the personal who does it best is Timothy Burke–he’ll write about African culture or American politics, yet use his own perspectives as a prism for refracting it into something that seems very personal, intimate, and important.)
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I dunno — for me, it’s just been the whirl of end of quarter, conference, interviews/last minute job apps, new quarter with new prep, and some personal garbage that’s come along with that. I just haven’t had time and have been shifting priorities temporarily.
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maybe it is the spring — and I’ve been outside all I can?
and I notice that commenting is way down, so maybe others are outside, too.
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I can’t read more than a few sentences of most political blogs recently. I agree that this seemingly interminable winter has made me able to think of nothing other than Spring, warmth, a trip out of the house. Whether this is an effect of the weather or is some form of “left melancholia” is hard to say, but I must admit that I feel helpless amidst the present political landscape, and so alienated from it that reading a politcal blog just makes me cringe.
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I started out by reading only political blogs, and after the dust settled down after the election, frankly, I was sick of it all. What is important to many of us on a daily basis is the personal. It’s not all yoga classes and what’s for dinner, but personal growth, raising children, and ethics in day to day life. I feel out of balance when I get caught up in politics, and especially in the spring time, I need to get my hands into the dirt, my feet out on the beach and my mind just needs airing out!
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I think it’s cyclical. I take a break from reading political stuff during the warm months. I need a break. Because the political stuff is depressing. I use the summer to re-energize — and in the fall, I’ll be ready to read political stuff and engage with those issues again.
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I think length of posts has something to do with how often I read certain blogs. There’s one (personal) blog I do love, but the posts are soooo long, they go on for pages. Sometimes I just want a snack, y’know? Not an 8 course meal, tasty though it may be.
On the other hand, there are a some political bloggers that write so well that I manage pay a attention through a whole post. Unless it’s a topic I’m not interested in, which case I just skim to get to the point.
I find I do that a lot with political/current affairs bloggers — just skim for the stuff I’m interested in. F’rinstance, Dan Drezner on Buffy/Angel. It’s rare, but it does happen.
My point is? Don’t know if I have one. But yeah, it’s spring. I’m off to buy flower seeds.
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I never liked blogs that are purely political. I like opinion and insight on political issues, but they are most interesting when they come from a real person, with a real life, and real life problems. That is what lacking in MSM (among other things, of course): there are plenty of wonderful writers there, many with opinions I find very valuable. But I don’t really know who they are, so to speak.
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I SUGGEST STRONGER THERAPY: EGG SOME CATS
Laura of Apartment 11D predicts the future of blogs:
Bloggers, at least the political ones, need triumphs to keep up their momentum. There’s no money or glory in blogging, so bloggers must be fueled by something else. Like the gotcha moments whe…
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Random shots
Greg Hlatky on Ace’s retirement: Proof, if more proof was needed, that prolific blogging is the enemy of the good. I’ve been proving this for years. Meanwhile in 11D, Laura…
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Taking their ball and going home
Oh good grief, people are such babies. Waaah, it’s no longer fun or “interesting” (translation: “CNN never called to interview me! I never got picked to be on American Whore Idol! Where’s all that hugeass blog cash? I told my…
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I was never very into the political blogs, even during the elections. I much prefer to hang out on the arts, culture, and theology blogs. Those are the ones that generally give me food for thought.
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I’ve loved political blogs…til recently.
Heck, I’m just…tired of politics. Which is bad, because I’m a polisci major with no real other options for my major.
Domestic politics in particular have been a turnoff for the last…Oh, I’d say since 2000.
Meanwhile, international relations/foreign affairs is getting into the same rut as domestic politics.
Gahhhh.
And yet, with most personal blogs, I can’t connect. What kind of a freak am I?:-(
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