Why Blogging Can’t Be in Micro-Blog Format

In trends this year (and for a majority of last year), micro-blogs and the act of micro-blogging became more important to how we communicate online. For one, Twitter and similar tools began allowing us to communicate much more rapidly, while still being able to enjoy what we loved (and still love) – blogging. What separated these tools from others in the past and anything that may be released in the future is how they have helped to change the way we think about what we are doing online.

Twitter as a Service

Note: I am not trying to attack Twitter as the main service, but the overall notion that micro-blogging will not be replacing traditional blogging methods anytime soon.

It took well over a year before Twitter became critical to how a lot of people “chat” online. I say this loosely, because some people have become so addicted to the service that they rely on it simply to function. However, it is merely a tool, and not something that should be relied on. It has become popular due to the fact that it combines several aspects of “common” online communication methods:

• Blogging
• Chat
• Email
• Calling (in some way or another)

We are trying to leave more of an impact on one another than ever before. Think about social media this way – these tools help you focus on one thing, rather than the individual or wide-reaching effects that other methods (once) had. With Twitter and any other similar tool, you are trying to give that “a picture is worth a thousand words” phrase without posting a picture – you are doing it through a sentence or two.

Applied to blogging, services like this will never work, due to the fact that you are limited so much by what you can do. You can’t present your feelings about what is happening in your life and your thoughts in a “paraphrased” manner. It simply isn’t possible unless you give hundreds of updates daily.

What Twitter does effectively is allows you to communicate effectively with others without having to create a whole new email, a new chat session, etc. You are given the ability to reply to and post updates, generally in public. Previous methods, including email and chat were often private, so this is where the social networking aspect comes in. 

We have seen plenty of instances where Twitter has overtaken these other methods in popularity from the standpoint that it is more effective to promote a service, new post, and give updates through this – your Follower are similar to subscribers, who want to be informed on every action that you take.

Core Problems

As I mentioned briefly above, several of the main flaws in Twitter have not yet been solved by other solutions, although there is sure to be another service created down the road to solve them. They are where communication and advertising blend together – and that fine line is broken often.

• Advertising - At some point or another, people discovered that the 54.2 million US visitors that happen upon Twitter each month could pose as an attractive audience to advertise their products to. Unlike blogs, it will always be more difficult to determine whether the people on there are actually trying to promote a product or simply give a recommendation for it. You are given ~140 characters to work with along with a “shortened” URL. Therefore, much of the fundamentals behind ethical advertising are not there.
• Lack of Control - When more people were using Blogger (the difference between WordPress and Blogger is much less today), they were complaining and commenting to the staff that they needed more features, more power, to get their message across. They got some of it, and for the rest of them, they switched to other systems such as WordPress. Now that Twitter has become popular, some have been asking for more power/features – aren’t we going around in the circle once again?
• Communication - Thinking about communication and interactivity, you don’t really get much with Twitter. There are other more complex sites, such as Facebook, that allow you to do much of the same tasks as Twitter, but more effectively.
• No Flexibility - With a blog, you are free to publish nearly anything you want – from pictures to movies, to full-length stories. You can’t do that with micro-blogging services, unless you are talking about one that clams to be one, but is actually a full-blown blog service.
• Ownership - Like Blogger, including other services, according to terms, you might not have “full” ownership of your content. This could be a problem, especially if people try to “overtake” your account – you probably won’t be able to get it back.

Main Advantages

Despite the numerous disadvantages, micro-blogging services do offer several advantages, which should also be mentioned.

1. You can literally setup an account in ten seconds, then publish updates in a few minutes each day, without having to manage categories, tags, pages, and other aspects, although Twitter works most effectively if you have already established a site.
2. You can more effectively determine who is the “Most Popular,” as everyone’s pages are nearly identical, other than the background, frequency of updates, promotion method(s), and popularity prior to joining.
3. You don’t have to create or manage your own site. Now, this might appear as a disadvantage if you need full control, but it is a good solution for many.
4. There have been hundreds of clients and services released to help you make Twitter (and others) available from nearly anywhere, including your desktop, phone, and others.

Conclusion

Dissecting the word “micro-blogging”, what remains is blogging. While we won’t transform all of our blogs into Twitter-like pages, I believe that the trend is more towards mobile communication, rather than short, brief updates. Because, by the end of the day, content still rules. Years down the road, we won’t be able to take or even make much of Twitter messages. However, the blogs will remain, and the content will still be accessible through search engines. Twitter is simply bridging the gap between blogging and chatting, and everything in-between.