Blogs aren't forever. At least blogs aren't a permanent part of everyone's life plans. I know, many bloggers would find that fact hard to believe. It's true. Many bloggers end their blog's life, and move on to other things.
The former blogger might take the pledge and kick the blogging habit for good. The blogger might leave the old familiar site, and move to a new blog. At other times, the reformed blogger might backslide eventually, and start a new blog on an entirely different topic.
In any case, like many things, blogs don't always last for a lifetime.
Every day, we find blogs abandoned on the shoulders of the blogging highway. Like derelict vehicles, they once were full of hopes and dreams. Today, they are nothing but ubiquitous 404 messages, signifying their tombstones.
All is not bleak in the blog loss category, however, as many bloggers leave one blog to start another. Some blog writers take a short break and return with an even better blog than their previous internet incarnation. It's all part of the evolution of the internet as a whole, and the subset of the blogosphere in particular. Times change. So do blogs.
My friend Martin Neumann recently signed off his final post on his small business oriented Home Office Voice blog. In his farewell message, Martin stated the passion no longer burned for the blog:
Basically, I have simply lost the passion for blogging at HOV - and no … no blog depression or blog crackup, but facing the hard truth.
And when passion dies then it’s best to move on - why go on beating a dead horse!
What the …
Blogging in my niche has become totally unproductive. It’s eating up too much of my productivity and when you’re self-employed that, my friends, is just not good business.
Continue reading reading Martin's final post titled "I'm Moving On..."
Looking to the future in electronic publishing, and of course more blogging, Martin has entered the world of publishing at ePublishingDaily.com.
In the end, it's not the end of a blog, when someone leaves to start a new venture. The change may be in the blog address, or simply in the focus of the business toward less things blog related.
The closing of a blog is not necessarily a funeral of sorts. It may also represent a rebirth, and a new idea may rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the old. The new communications vehicle could take many forms from podcasting, to video blogging, to a static traditional website, to...well...another blog.
Time marches on. The evolution of the blogosphere continues unabated as well. We just don't always notice the changes, as they may be too small for us to detect. Instead, we often require a jolt, as in Martin's final post, to recognize the subtle adaptation taking place in the blogosphere. Change is healthy. Anyone or anything that refuses to accept and adapt to the altered circumstances of life, is doomed to failure.
Embrace the ever evolving internet and the constant renewal of the blogging community. After all, it was the introduction of the brand new blogosphere that began the blogging revolution in the first place.
