Friday 31 January 2020

Blogging

I recently read a short article about trying to get more people to read your Blog. For full details see this link. While in the past I have also seen articles questioning if Blogging is dead.

I got into blogging by accident. I had intended to open a full website, but after a couple of abortive attempts (which my son helped me with) I found Blogger was so much easier to use. Ten years on and I find the systems and procedures of Blogger are now second nature to me. However I am aware that  there are many who do not like reading or following Blogs.

Sometime last year I was speaking to a well known wargamer who said that he NEVER used Blogs as he finds them too awkward to navigate!

As I have stated, I have been writing this blog for over ten years and think of it as an on-line diary more than a question and answer forum. I can confirm that views and followers have stayed much the same for most of its' life with regular readers and followers taking time to comment and even write to me on my personal Dampfpanzerwagon e-mail address. The blog has also meant that I have been able to sell three self-published guides or books (the last book Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 3 - Models for Wargamers is now running very low, with less than 10 copies available. Should you wish to order a copy please see the link to the right).

I do enjoy comments but this is NOT the main reason for writing my blog. They are great to receive but as I don't write questioning posts or posts that I feel need comments, the number of replies are not my reason for posting. I have been asked why I don't write on Facebook. I don't write on Facebook as I find the platform to 'clumpy' and not to my liking. I have a Facebook page but hardly ever use it to post and mainly use it to see what manufacturers are doing. My son and daughter are continuing to push for me to experiment with 'other' platforms like You Tube but so far I have resisted.

I am worried that if Blogger ever closed, there would be a lot of information and posts lost forever - similar to what happened when Yahoo Groups changed (I am no longer a member of Yahoo Groups and miss the interaction that happened in the earlier years of this platform as well as the huge amount of files that have been lost forever). My daughter has pointed out that there are ways to save Blogger posts, and maybe one day I will get around to doing something about this.

So why do I post on blogger?

Mainly to act as a personal diary and record of my modelling, painting and gaming hobby. When I receive comments I am very grateful and appreciative, but as stated, this is not my main  reason for blogging.

I'd be interested to read why others blog.....

Tony

5 comments:

daveb said...

Yes, the diary aspect is definitely a pull to the blogging. I feel like it's also helpful to 'keep you honest' about you hobby activity. "Oh my gosh it's been a while since the last post!" is a good inspiration to get my hobby act together.

The community I really appreciate too. Getting comments and discussion is a big boost to keep me going.

I feel like blog activity has dropped off a bit in the last few years. There was, for a while, a ton of info and it was easy to navigate via blogs feeds to other blogs to find new and interesting stuff. There's a lot of silent blogs these days....not sure if it's always been this way and I'm a bit more aware of it or if it's a true drop off.

Kaptain Kobold said...

My blog was started to replace a website I lost when I changed internet providers when we emigrated. I couldn't find a way of relicating the clunky old website that didn't cost more money than I was willing to spend, so set up a blog instead. At the time my wife and I were teaching computer basics to people, and we had a client who wanted some sessions on setting up a blog, so I set mine up in order toget some hands-on experience.

It's been going for eight years, and is really a diary of my games and brain-dump of ideas I have for them. I'd love more comments, but I'm terrible at commenting on other people's blogs, so I suspect I reap what I sow.

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Funnily enough for exactly the same reasons you do.. for me the two blogs (one wargaming and one sailing) are my online diaries.. I too have Facebook but it is too ephemeral to use as a recording tool... if blogger ever disappears, I will migrate to Wordpress and just carry on.. Speaking of which... Wordpress has a handy little gadget that allows you to import your Blogger content... I have a Wordpress account and every now and again do that, but don't publish it, that way if it all goes west one day, I still have the content..

Bluewillow said...

I had this discussion a few weeks ago, and was fearful with the rise of Facebook thought blogs would die. I also use my blog for my own record of my projects and armies, but I do appreciate comments as it spits me on. I would hate to see them disappear, I would pay to keep mine.

Cheers
Matt

irishserb said...

I started my blog for much the same reason, to create a sort of diary of my miniatures gaming hobby efforts. In time it became a log for my campaign games as well. I was actually quite surprised, when I discovered that people were actually giving it a look.