There’s an interesting article online right now that poses the question “is Twitter killing blogging?” The deeper question is whether people are now blogging less than before because they are Twittering more. The answer seems so far to be that Twitter is not having any adverse affect on blogging and I’ve seen comments about the article around the web that Twitter is actually increasing blogging because bloggers are encouraged to post new items so that they can Twitter the link.
Twitter and blogging seem to go hand in hand. It’s certainly a tool that is used to promote blogs. We’ve seen other articles that suggest that Twitter even may make people better bloggers or writers. But it’s also true that there is only so much time in the day so is it possible that people Twitter when they could be writing better blog posts?
What I think might be happening is that people who are already only kind of half-involved in blogging might find Twitter to be a better platform for what they have to say. People who primarily do their blogging on existing social networking sites (through MySpace blogs or Facebook notes) may find that Twitter sufficiently meets their needs for getting their thoughts on there without developing a full-on blog.
However, full-time bloggers and bloggers who are really serious about their blogs will likely find that Twitter can only supplement what they’re doing and not replace the blog. The blog format allows for much more opportunity to express yourself, share ongoing thoughts and dialogue with others in a more organized fashion. As a blogger, I don’t commit a lot of time to Twitter but I do try to use it to support the time I’m putting in to my blogging.
Perhaps those efforts are paying off because I was recently honored by being included on a list of 39 Writers You Should Follow on Twitter. You can follow me here.
Will Twitter Replace Blogging? has 5 Comments
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April 17th, 2009 at 9:46 am
This is an interesting topic and one that I have been discussing with people lately. I agree that Twitter is an enhancement but not a replacement for a blog, since it does not provide adequate room to express yourself, as you stated. Also, twitter is much “busier,” and people are viewing your Tweets along with many others at the same time. I don’t think you stand out as much as through your own blog.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I also agree that Twitter is supplementary. Blogging serves a different purpose for a writer than others, as does Tweeting. I think that blogging is still needed and that those who really have something to say will continue to blog. Twitter makes it easy for people to post their comments and thoughts without feeling like they have to say “enough” about their topic.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I agree that Twitter makes a great adjunct to a blog, but can’t replace blogging. As a wordsmith, I sometimes need more than 140 characters to say what I want. However, tweeting is good discipline in terms of getting to the heart of a subject.
April 18th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Blogging is like the main course of the meal, twitter is simply the dessert!
When someone can sell there twitter account for $15 MILLION, like Sherman Hu did his banking blog to Bankrate. Then Twitter will be anywhere relevant monetarily to blogs. Right now it’s a fad, a powerful one at that. But unless you can monetize it and it creates real quantifable income. It should just be a “type” of blogging you do. Plus, I’m a freaking writer were long winded and opinionated as all hell. How could we ever just write 140 characters and be happy! ; D
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I’ve found that advertising a blog primarily on twitter is a horrible tactic, as most of the people are trying to hard to scream their own name that a majority of what gets said goes unnoticed, and if you do happen to sneak a link in their line of sight their attention span is so compromised that they’ll read half the post before they get another 40 twitters that need to be dealt with.
I realize that this isn’t the case with everyone on twitter, but people who follow >2000 people generally aren’t a good demographic to be advertising to as far as the effort to result ratio goes.
@Warren … This is an interesting issue. I’ve heard a lot of people say the same thing and I can see where it might be true. However, I’ve actually had a lot of people check out my blog work after finding me on Twitter. I think it’s just one more tool to have in the toolbox but it’s not necessarily as great as it’s hyped up to be.