The Commercialization of Blogging – The Newport Analogy
First there was the web site. Then there was web log. Then there was the blog. Blogging soon became a powerful force online, and bloggers found themselves receiving large quantities of traffic. The very nature of a blog, allowing unfettered online communication between milliions of people in the blogosphere, in concert with various other web applications, makes blogging a sure-fire traffic producer.
Blogging for profit, or using a blog to enhance an online business, became the “thing to do”. It was inevitable that this kind of explotation of the blogosphere would come to pass.
Immediately after blogging became commercialized, there was a big line drawn in the sand. Many bloggers from the old school of web-logging were disgusted to see their blogospheres being used for making money. They saw this as the ultimate in selling out, and many of the blogging purists still rage against blogging for money.
Other successful bloggers joined in happily, placing contextual ads and banners on their blogs for profit. Others began creating blogs just for the purpose of making money. They built blogs focusing on consumer products such as digital cameras, cars, clothing, etc. etc.
I’m one of those. I have blogs in the golf industry, the home improvement industry, the clothing industry, the aviation industry, the jewelry industry, as well as many many other markets. I think I’ve mentioned in other posts, that I fully appreciate how the non-profit bloggers feel seeing their passion become exploited by commerce, but I also see their complaints to be redundant. It reminds me of the day when Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival. I could understand the folk enthusiast’s chagrin when their hero switched from his folk rooted sound (acoustic) to his rock & roll sound (electric).
Maybe not a great analogy for when business blogging began, but it makes my point — that where there is traffic, business is not far behind. To be upset about the commercialization of blogging is to be upset about living in a capitalist and free society. Free enterprise must reign if we expect to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy in the free world. Some would say “get over it”, but I would not. I do think it’s a shame that anything pure that becomes popular, will eventually fall into the hands of the salesman and be exploited. I stand before you guilty.
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