Tom Wark recently asked me to chime in for an article he was considering for his blog, on the topic of whether or not interest in wine blogs was waning. I offered my views, some of which are quoted in his thoughtfully-considered piece.
As to whether or not I agree with Tom (my bad – see comments) those that might consider that wine blogging has “died without a funeral,” I think we first have to ask ourselves if wine blogging is inherently different from other niche blogging topics. If we accept that it isn’t (in the same way that, say, DVRs aren’t inherently different from one another – they all basically do the same thing at the core, which is record broadcast video media), then Tom is also asking if niche blogging is dead.
To which I would say, No, it’s not dead.
This is the kind of question that gets posed periodically (go ahead, search it) when we see dynamic informal institutions, like online communities, do what they do, which is change (wait, you really expected this stuff to stay static forever? duuuuuude…. wtf?!??).
We shouldn’t mistake community maturation and the movement of engagement discussions from blog comments to Facebook, Instagram, etc., as a lack of interest in the sharing amateur content about wine (which is what blogs inherently are about – sharing info and opinions). Just because one outlet (longer form blog posts) isn’t as popular as another (image-centric, short updates on larger social media platforms) doesn’t mean that people no longer care about the core thing: sharing wine online.
They do care. A lot. There is no lack of interest in sharing content about wine (to wit: see just about any recent stat from Vintank on online wine mentions). And where that content is being shared, influence and money (in terms of what people who read and participate in those updates and discussion will buy) will often follow (though, maddeningly, in ways that are difficult to track, but that’s not the fault of the platforms themselves).
Anyway, if wine blogging is actually dead, then someone forgot to send that memo to Grape Collective, you also recently quoted me in dear-gawd-TMI-bro! fashion when they interviewed me for their “SpeakEasy interview series with influential bloggers.”
“I’m not dead yet! I think I’ll go for a walk!”
Cheers!
Either it was Tom who said it, or I was sitting in the room with him when I heard it: “Good writing is good writing and there will always be people that seek it out.” Or something like that….
DC – in my case, it’s more “something like that…”
Yeah, blogging is dead….but not really. So they’re kind of undead. The undead are so very popular. Zombies are everywhere in recent years. There can be a long life in being undead. I think.
It didn’t take long for the zombie meme to appear! :) I’ve always wondered, why not use drones to slaughter the zombies? But that’d make for a short movie/mini-series, I guess.
George Orwell said, “Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.
Mark Twain said, “Reports of my death have greatly exaggerated.”
Both were obviously talking about wine bloggers …
Frank – ha!!!
Just a quick comment….I didn’t say wine blogging was dead. I asked, given certain observations, if it was dead. It’s in a different state for sure. The key I think is that the community of wine lovers who supported blogs have in part move on to other venues to discuss their passion. I do however think that SM is a more limited forum for substantive communing.
Thanks, Tom. Sorry if I was pinning a statement of the demise of wine blogging on you (I’ll edit that in the post); and I think it’s interesting and fun to raise the topic in general. As for SM being limited for substantive communing, we have disagreed on that for many a year. :)
Has it really been “years”….:::::::::::::sigh::::::::::::
I know, right? No country for old drinkers…
Hope you are having an awesome day!
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Have Nice Day
Nice to meet you…