With the swarm of Twittermania, some once speculated that blogs were a dying breed. However, it’s because of Twitter and other emerging social media that blogs are more alive and necessary than ever before!
Recently, TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld compared the future of Blogging and Microblogging. He references statistics that show Twitter’s flattening growth, while WordPress’ growth picks up. This is no surprise!
Twitter has certainly fed the success of blogs but will never replace them. Why? 140 characters is great for summarizing your latest epiphany or for sharing a link. However, if you want to expand on that epiphany or share your thoughts on that link (like I’m doing here), you’ll need your own “home base” web presence. A blog fits that bill perfectly!
Social media tools will never substitute the creation of solid content that is uniquely yours. You can chat on Twitter, submit articles to Digg and rub elbows on LinkedIn. And you should! But, at the end of the day, your expertise, insight, opinions and even rants will ultimately tell your story online. Limiting your online activity to quick snippets on the networks will create a limited buzz. However, creating a “hub” of deeper content will create an influential buzz that raises your credibility and clout. So, go ahead…mix it up in your social media circles! But, be ready for Social Media followers when they want to take a closer look!
