Explosive Growth

Was on a call regarding the upcoming AMA Hot Topic session in Chicago (gratuitous plug: you can still register here), and a startling point was made (paraphrased).

“The number of new bloggers is growing so rapidly that we’re seeing a net decrease in the typical individual’s understanding of blogging, since the number of newcomers is expanding so wildly.”

(I think it might have been Stowe who said this, but there were a bunch of folks on the call.)

Two questions:

  • Are other folks seeing this as well?
  • If this is correct, the implications are tectonic…we need tools, education, and support that are an order-of-magnitude better and EASIER than the ones we have now if the trend is to continue.

What’s everyone else seeing?

5 Replies to “Explosive Growth”

  1. Hi – can I just restate to make sure I understand? So, because everyone is getting their own blog there is no one left who simply knows what blogging is without having their own blog?

    Regarding your questions, what is the operating assumption? That the trend should/ought to continue until everyone has their own blog? What if the trend doesn’t continue? What effect will that have?

    Sorry if I misunderstood something that would be obvious if I had more background. N

  2. Hi, Nick- Sorry I wasn’t more clear in the post. The contradiction I’m wrestling with is this: since blogging has been around for a while, my assumption was that most of the issues/questions/etc. that would be raised in blogging-oriented conversations would be increasing in complexity: more around things like trackbacks, what are the implications/opportunities with RSS, etc.

    However, what I heard on the call was the opposite…the observation of blogging hitting the large mainstream, and therefore the questions being asked are actually becoming more basic: “what is a blog, what’s it good for, how do I set one up,” etc., since an increasing percentage of the people in the audiences are encountering the capabilities for the first time. Was wondering if other people are seeing this trend as well.

  3. Gotcha. From my perspective, I’m not seeing many people asking those questions yet – I’m still seeing people act like having a blog is like having a pet rock. I don’t have any numbers but I’m thinking it’s going to be increasingly important to start looking at the different impacts of blogs that are updated regularly to ones that are not. I think all of that gets lumped together in the current number-crunching. FWIW

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