I just finished recording a podcast with James Cogan of Dailypixel, and one thing that came up was blogging, and if it has “jumped the shark”. Basically, we both wonder if blogging is going to see a huge slow down in 2008 as many things align.

First, many bloggers are hitting their saturation point online with digital media. The new cool thing is to reduce the number of feeds you pour through every day, rather than bragging about the thousands of sites in your reader. The second thing that will happen is the continued success of microblogging platforms like Twitter, and social networking sites that allow users to post news posts like MySpace and Facebook.

Also, something I have noticed lately, in communities like Digg, and elsewhere is an anti-blog movement, where even the word “blog” has negative connotations. As though writing a blog isn’t worthwhile or prestigious. I don’t know where this shift has come from, but I have been noticing it more and more as I move around the Internet.

Put all this together, with the fact that the United States may be facing a recession, however minor, and you have a series of events that could pull back the reigns on the unfettered growth that the blogosphere has been experiencing over the last five or so years.

I, for one, am hoping that despite all of this, the blog networks and bloggers I have relationships will continue to do exceptionally well but it should definitely be an interesting year for all types of online publishing.

Originally posted on January 3, 2008 @ 6:06 pm