Bowing out… for now

I was reading Dave Sifry’s latest state of the blogosphere report earlier, and something occurred to me.

It may be time to shut down this blog.

When I say shut down, I mean leave it online, but simply let it slide and move on to pastures new.

When I started blogging in 2002, the world was a far different place. I was the type of blogger who emailed dozens of other bloggers trying to get links, writing breaking news, motivated and excited about the power I had. And back then there were only a couple of hundred thousand blogs. It was before Technorati came along, back when everything was still quite innocent.

Part of me wants those days back, but I know they never will be. Blogging has exploded, and now there are 50 million voices publishing on every topic imaginable. And it was great to watch it happen, and great to be there from early on to see so many people put their thoughts and ideas online. It was crazy to watch the established media websites changing and morphing into a new world of dialogue with their readers. And I love that whenever something happens, there is always valuable insight and first hand reporting to be had from all over the world.

Where do I go from here?

My interest in blogging has not abated, but it has changed. I guess when you are blogging this long you become something of a self-taught expert in various technologies, be it search engine optimisation, blogging software, hosting, CSS, HTML, SQL and all the rest. And with that expertise comes a desire to use it, perhaps to evangelise the benefits of blogging to others, to teach people how to communicate well, or how to maximise their potential online. There’s a good bit to learn for new bloggers out there, and there’s alot to learn on the part of all the news organisations in Ireland, who have all failed to fully comprehend the shift that is occurring in how people digest news.

Of course the ideal situation would be to get paid to change the media dynamic in this country to make it more conversational than it currently is, mixing an interest in blogging and new media with a wish to change traditional media for the better. Both disciplines can learn from each other and it would be nice to be part of a process to make those changes.

But for now, I will be happy with tracking the development of blogging and how it may affect the media, specifically in Ireland. And I would also hope that with the increasing volume of blogs in Ireland, that the sense of community that has existed will still pervade, no matter how large the number of bloggers, or indeed their audience.

Blogging on a regular basis will cease on this address. But it does not mean I stop blogging, it will just be a change in direction.

I have a few ideas on how things can improve, and how things can change, and will be working in the background to bring these things about. Hopefully with time they will come to fruition.

I will be posting again, I’m just not sure when, or what about.

For now, it’s good night and good luck.

Update: Many thanks to Eamonn for his kind words, and even a poem!