Why have I decided to show a scene of death crafted by the Great Elmore? Because I am ruminating on the subject of demise today, fellow gamers.
The demise of who, you ask? Not who, but "what." That "what" is blogging. Is blogging an endangered activity? Or rather, let's be more specific, shall we? Is the RPG blogosphere dying?
Is Google letting Blogger die in favor of Google+, folks? Are more and more RPG bloggers migrating over to Google+?
Why do I ask? Because I look at my blogroll and I see that many long-standing blogs have not been updated for some time now. Familiar names such as Beyond the Black Gate, Dreams of Mythic Fantasy, Jeff's Gameblog, and others have been dormant. Even Grognardia has not seen a new post in weeks.
Now I know that some of these blogs have owners who have been working on OSR products, and therefore have less time to post. But I wonder: am I missing a party that's raging on Google+? I've been loathe to delve into the use of Google+, because I'm quite comfortable with blogging, thank you very much. But is my stubborn clinging to Blogger keeping me from something awesome?
And of course I know that the whims of adult life can pull us away from the hobby. But there's always the fear that we will lose members of the community, you know. I am saddened by the thought of the older blogs, those that introduced me to the OSR, disappearing. But such is the circle of life, eh?
I don't see it as either/or Blogger can be set to cross post on G+ automagically. I've chosen not to, but may reconsider that decision in the future. While James's Grognardia blog and Jeff's blog were part of my regular reading, the community seems to still be going strong, look at Tenkar's Tavern whose link led me here, or Dreams in the Lich House. Reality does intrude on blogging, I went most of the week without having time to write a post worth publishing.
ReplyDeleteI avoided forums except in extreme cases when I felt something I simply had to say. Blogs provided a better outlet/forum for what I wanted to say and do. The few ventures I have made into G+ have left me thinking we are coming full circle back into the forum method of communication. I do not see G+ as an improvement nor a tool I am interested in using really. No doubt as you have pointed out, the new thing is indeed netting converts and they are abandoning the blogosphere. That's fine, I don;t think one will kill the other as blogs did not kill forums, so G+ will not kill blogs.
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly an overlap and some may have moved from one to the other, but that's no the case with some of those you mentioned:
ReplyDeleteJames from Dreams of Mythic Fantasy hadn't posted on G+ from the end of November until his return yesterday (he may have commented on posts of others, but certainly not active). The man's personalt life has been fairly busy in recent months.
I suspect James Mal is grinding away on Dwimmerount at the moment.
Not sure about Jeff's Gameblog.
I've recently joined G+ at the behest of some friends. I don't enjoy the format as much as a do Blogs and can't see myself forsaking Blogs for G+.
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I hope Blogs are "here to stay."