Excessive Sociality

Pardon me while I wipe the dust off my blog. In this age of 140 characters, likes, and instagram there seemingly isn't much room for expansive thought and paragraphs.  I'm not alone as a quick perusal of most blogs that I usually follow reveals that mine isn't the only one resembling an unkept corner on the web.

Why?

Do we no longer have the attention span or fortitude to actually see our thoughts through.  Perhaps.  The new portals of social media seem to be a kudzu strangling the life from the once verdant blog landscape.  Alas, the 'Dude' is one of those now on life support.

This is what it has to cope with.

1. Twitter- It is so much easier to write in 140 characters instead of going through the effort to develop a thought.
2. Facebook- Tough to compete with that ecosystem.  I remember joining that thing early on when it was nothing more then a playground of a few thousand college kids.  No, carried on the backs of a billion house wives, it is the 800 pound gorilla that has become the de facto clearing house for anything online.
3. Linked In- Yes, even this business networking tool takes time away from the beloved blog.  The groups function provide relevant forums that typically hone in on special interests better then the looser network of the blogosphere.
4. Vine- Pictures now?
5. Instagram- Now that we are literally carrying a couple cameras with us at all times it only makes sense that we have a convenient way to post everything.
6. Pinterest- Not much experience here either but a force to be reckoned with.
7. Yelp- We can't even eat without feeling compelled to tell the world about it.

So we see that all of these and others have been slowly chipping away at whatever free time we have to devote to the grandfather of social media, the blog.  And just like our grandparents they will be relegated to only occasional visits  a sporadic fits of nostalgia.