I don't think long form blogging every day is coming to an end in general. But it might be for some people. The conversation around moving discussion to Twitter, FriendFeed and other micro-blogging sites is definitely there, but there will always be a need for long-form blogging, as it can get a full story out there in a better way than 140 characters or linking.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
right, i meant for me. not for the world. sorry about that confusion
vruz
· 1 year ago
well it's not every day that important thoughts, or important events come our way. it's damn too difficult to consistently write substantious articles on a regular basis, even more difficult --nearly impossible-- to do it daily. some writers I know have a backlog of articles they revise and reshape when they don't have any current events to cover, and that keeps them trained in other aspects of their metier. they take advantage of those rare seasons of inspiration storms, just like farmers save water for the dryer seasons.
some others are always after today's new new thing, and they get a neverending stream of exciting events that propose them new topics to discuss. but it takes excellence as a writer to do this, and an infinitely curious mind, the only way not to spread the butter too thin.
perhaps the better approach is to find the right mix that suits one's schedules and writing habits.
a mix of tumblr, twitter and periodic traditional blogging seems to be starting to work for me. now you mention it, I haven't blogged anything of substance in weeks, time to get back to work :-)
joshua schachter
· 1 year ago
I wish I was smart enough to have something worth saying every day.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
:)
you do, but you also are your own toughest critic of what is "smart"
patwoodward
· 1 year ago
This observation is another indication that the ability to *produce* seamless streams of information is more welcomed than the once a day nugget.
How do readers, listeners, and viewers cope with so many seamless streams?
simondodson
· 1 year ago
dont blame ya Fred, your blogging energy has always amazed me, even to the pont its definitely made me feel lazy with my own efforts. its certainly kept me on my toes thats for sure..
tim
· 1 year ago
Twitter puts an end to "long form blogging." To bad twitter can't keep their systems up 5 minutes. As an infrastracture guy if my systems are down 5 minutes I'm fired.
Time for a short form blogging standard that lessons reliance on one firms incompetence?
simondodson
· 1 year ago
i dont think its that drastic, but a 'Blog' is a big commitment to the author, an imo i think most ppl just think its too hard to get into these days , build readership, an publish appropriate output, takes years, its an established medium, an to John Doe i just think blogging has slightly became intimidating, that's why tumblr makes sense .. with out the frills, expectations are relaxed , an a whole heap of of my friends are doing it , yet they would never blog
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
i didn't say twitter put an end to long form blogging, i said that services like twitter and tumblr that offer alternatives are likely to put an end to my long form blogging every day.
and twitter can keep the systems up for five minutes. that said, they know they have to do better and are working very hard on a bunch of things to do that. check the twitter status blog for the latest. http://status.twitter.com/
mattmaroon
· 1 year ago
Too bad. I follow you both here and on Twitter, and I think on average one post here is worth at least 20 on Twitter.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
do you follow my tumblog at fredwilson.vc, there's always some good stuff there too
mattmaroon
· 1 year ago
I donât, but not for any particular reason. I'll check it out.
Cheyne
· 1 year ago
How much time do you think you spend on this blog per day?
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
one hour in the morning and a bunch of activity throughout the day in the comments
Antman
· 1 year ago
Fred ya a pro! Bloggin' every day, from my perspective, is extremely difficult. What I find to be the most difficult is the filter. Being able to filter or massage the data coming in, into a daily blog post is the hard part. It takes a keen eye, and a sharp perspective, one few people have.
Each of us could have the EXACT same experience in a day, and have the discipline to write a post, but everyone actually seeing a post in the information from that day, well that is an entirely different matter.
One User a Day
· 1 year ago
Fred, how about when you don't have something to say, pick a company and tell us what you think about their business model, technology, market trends, what you would do different, etc.? It doesn't have to be a startup. It can just be any company that you think have some interesting aspects.
This will give us readers a chance to pick your brain and will surely give you something to blog about everyday :)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
i've thought about this but then it puts me in the position of criticizing someone else's company. i have a lot of thoughts about friendfeeed, for example, and i've posted them a few times. but i don't want to be seen as being overly critical of them. i think they are doing a terrific job in many ways.
LukeG
· 1 year ago
heh, "long form blogging." Pretty interesting how this comes up along with/parallel to (?) Nick Carr's piece on loss of focus as it's finally making the main stream.
I have a suspicion that the ways in which these new media and information consumption tools affect our collective behavior will be much, much deeper than the current "lfb" vs. twitter vs. FF discussion.
You can communicate things with an essay that you cannot with a tweet, and, really, not vice versa.
So, write what you have to write; "communicate" what you have to communicate, and your audience will find you. Just because most right answers are simple, it doesn't mean that most simple answers are right. I, for one, value your insight; less thought and care will directly erode its value to me.
Are you having trouble finding hard, important, and interesting things to look into? I also tend to distrust issues, thoughts, arguments, opinions, etc. that can be decently addressed in 160 characters or less.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
i am not saying that i will start blogging in 140 characters or that tumblr style blogging is good enough. but, take for example, my tweet last night that the top two blog posts at that time on techmeme were, in fact, comments on arrington's Yahoo post that the bloggers (me and tim o'reilly) decided to turn into posts. that's an interesting development. if techmeme could just link to the comment, we wouldn't have even had to write the posts. that's a blog post actualy, but i got the idea out there in abbreviated form in 140 characters. maybe i'll develop it today into a full blown blog post. maybe i won't. that's what i was saying really. i have three forms of blogging now. long form, short form and micro. and i use them all.
zackmansfield
· 1 year ago
Long form blogging on the way out? It's an interesting thought. To be completely fair, there are only a small number of full time long form bloggers out there (speaking merely qualitatively as one who has started and stopped a handful of long form blogs). Your ability to pump out content on such a regular basis which is relevant and original is quite a unique trait. I too sense that the form of messaging will evolve into more distinctly short patterned and truncated forms as more and more people embrace your vision of "telling their story" on the web. Is it via Twitter? No idea. But it will be something. There will always be people like yourself who enjoy creating long form posts for the value the provide, both to you and the readers. I, for one, hope that the medium is just beginning.
Prakash Sreewastav
· 1 year ago
Fred, I have written to you earlier - I wait for your blog post everyday. And I read everything diligently. I love the way you write and think.
Some of the things that you say and convey cannot be done in a short post. If not everyday, you've got to write great stuff once in two or three days.
I get the feeling that you will not be able to keep yourself away for long. :-)
simondodson
· 1 year ago
avc is the first thing i check when i get online , i dont even know why .. but like clockwork, sure enough , everytime...
gregorylent
· 1 year ago
the same situation arises in putting out a daily paper, or a weekly magazine ... and may go a long way in understanding why those mediums seems so stale and formulaic , not worth reading
Geoff
· 1 year ago
I agree with the other commentors. Your output is truly amazing especially for such a person guy with a family and company to run. Not only that you have never swamped your readers with sudden deluges etc
I always think one of the beauties of reading through RSS is that I don't have to visit your site every day (to maybe now find you haven't posted), as soon as you post I will get it.
slyder1z
· 1 year ago
Figures, I just found you yesterday, signed up and this was my first message. LOL
madpotter
· 1 year ago
You may part of a population that is so linked that this is possible for you. I am still finding my way in the wilderness and so still using multiple channels, albeit long posting far from daily. :-) Short posting daily, no problemo. thx for your musings!
Aruni
· 1 year ago
I've always been impressed that you have the time and interest to post something everyday. I always enjoy reading your posts...of course some more than others. It will be interesting to see how posting less than once a day will affect the length of time you end up spending on each post and the traffic to your blog.
Steven Kane
· 1 year ago
amazed its taken this long for fatigue to hit
your run has been really incredible - quantity and quality
maybe you need to go to a business week schedule - try to post mon-fri and give yourself the weekend off
Lee Greenhouse
· 1 year ago
I've marveled at your ability to say something interesting everyday for so many years. Does your declaration make you the Lou Gehrig of bloggers?
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
I haven't missed a day yet, but it's going to happen
It would have happened if I hadn't written this post
(the game of Gotcha sure is fun, or annoying, eh?)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
Aha
That was one hell of a day
Thanks for reminding me Ken!
kid mercury
· 1 year ago
more like cal ripken jr, IMO
slowblogger
· 1 year ago
Long vs. short is one axis. Fast vs. slow is another. Yet another could be initiating vs. commenting.
Welcome to slow blogging! My blog address is... www.slowblogger.com, and recently I was happily surprised to find other people who praise slow blogging. Google 'slow blogging.'
dgulbran
· 1 year ago
Long form blogging doesn't have to be daily to be effective. Most of the blogs that I read--really read--with longer posts are once a week or sometimes even less. Post long form when the topic warrants, not out of a need to get something out each day...
Brian
· 1 year ago
I am not an everyday reader of your blog, but I find it very valuable. Maybe go to the college model... posts on Mon, Wed and Friday... or longer more in depth posts on Tues and Thurs. I think there is still plenty that you can add, share and disseminate via this medium.
Much like the first blog I found so useful, Russell Beattie's notebook, I would be saddened by the loss of your blog.
I can only urge you to continue to share your thoughts. I know as a research analyst that constant commenting on news or a company or an idea is difficult to do and without turning it into a business (GigaOm and Alleyinsider) has been probably the best part of this blog. Its still true to the idea of sharing ideas and not *completely* focusing on how can I post ideas from the beach and get paid for it.
I can only hope you continue the blog with less regularity. The quality of a blog is totally dependent on its source, and you are a great source.
All Comments
it's damn too difficult to consistently write substantious articles on a regular basis, even more difficult --nearly impossible-- to do it daily.
some writers I know have a backlog of articles they revise and reshape when they don't have any current events to cover, and that keeps them trained in other aspects of their metier.
they take advantage of those rare seasons of inspiration storms, just like farmers save water for the dryer seasons.
some others are always after today's new new thing, and they get a neverending stream of exciting events that propose them new topics to discuss. but it takes excellence as a writer to do this, and an infinitely curious mind, the only way not to spread the butter too thin.
perhaps the better approach is to find the right mix that suits one's schedules and writing habits.
a mix of tumblr, twitter and periodic traditional blogging seems to be starting to work for me.
now you mention it, I haven't blogged anything of substance in weeks, time to get back to work :-)
you do, but you also are your own toughest critic of what is "smart"
How do readers, listeners, and viewers cope with so many seamless streams?
Time for a short form blogging standard that lessons reliance on one firms incompetence?
and twitter can keep the systems up for five minutes. that said, they know they have to do better and are working very hard on a bunch of things to do that. check the twitter status blog for the latest. http://status.twitter.com/
Each of us could have the EXACT same experience in a day, and have the discipline to write a post, but everyone actually seeing a post in the information from that day, well that is an entirely different matter.
This will give us readers a chance to pick your brain and will surely give you something to blog about everyday :)
I have a suspicion that the ways in which these new media and information consumption tools affect our collective behavior will be much, much deeper than the current "lfb" vs. twitter vs. FF discussion.
You can communicate things with an essay that you cannot with a tweet, and, really, not vice versa.
So, write what you have to write; "communicate" what you have to communicate, and your audience will find you. Just because most right answers are simple, it doesn't mean that most simple answers are right. I, for one, value your insight; less thought and care will directly erode its value to me.
Are you having trouble finding hard, important, and interesting things to look into? I also tend to distrust issues, thoughts, arguments, opinions, etc. that can be decently addressed in 160 characters or less.
Some of the things that you say and convey cannot be done in a short post. If not everyday, you've got to write great stuff once in two or three days.
I get the feeling that you will not be able to keep yourself away for long. :-)
I always think one of the beauties of reading through RSS is that I don't have to visit your site every day (to maybe now find you haven't posted), as soon as you post I will get it.
your run has been really incredible - quantity and quality
maybe you need to go to a business week schedule - try to post mon-fri and give yourself the weekend off
It would have happened if I hadn't written this post
(the game of Gotcha sure is fun, or annoying, eh?)
That was one hell of a day
Thanks for reminding me Ken!
Welcome to slow blogging! My blog address is... www.slowblogger.com, and recently I was happily surprised to find other people who praise slow blogging. Google 'slow blogging.'
Much like the first blog I found so useful, Russell Beattie's notebook, I would be saddened by the loss of your blog.
I can only urge you to continue to share your thoughts. I know as a research analyst that constant commenting on news or a company or an idea is difficult to do and without turning it into a business (GigaOm and Alleyinsider) has been probably the best part of this blog. Its still true to the idea of sharing ideas and not *completely* focusing on how can I post ideas from the beach and get paid for it.
I can only hope you continue the blog with less regularity. The quality of a blog is totally dependent on its source, and you are a great source.