Greetings from a dying technology.
OK I better explain that one. But first, let’s talk about the eight-track tape.
People like me – a man of a certain age is a polite way to put it – will no doubt remember that before there was the MP3 there was the compact disc. Before that was the cassette tape. Albums were in there somewhere as well.
And way, way back – in the time when people with long hair were called Hippies and they said things like “groovy” and “with it” – there was the eight-track tape. Roughly the size of a Rottweiler puppy, the eight-track tape was a big plastic cartridge that you slammed into a player to hear what then passed for clear sound. This was a semi-portable solution that threatened the well-being of the transistor radio (if you don’t know, don’t ask).
Now gone from the memory of just about everyone but kitsch collectors, the eight-track was a great example of a technology that was going to change everything, but didn’t. It burned bright, it enjoyed white-hot popularity, industries sprang up to support it … and then something better came along.
With that history in mind, welcome to the blog. Don’t get too attached.
While I’ve been blogging loosely for years, I’ve been stepping up the output lately. Better late to the social media party than not attending at all, right?
Then I see a press release. I really should stop reading those.
According to a new study conducted by the University of Massachusetts, blogging by Inc. 500 companies has had a huge drop over the past years. Basically, companies are moving away from blogging, with only 37% of the 170 Inc. 500 companies interviewed now hosting a corporate blog. In 2010, that number was twice as high.
“The use of blogging may have peaked as a primary social media tool in the U.S. business world,” said UMass study director Nora Barnes.
Of course, this isn’t a huge surprise. The blog certainly served a short-term purpose, building a nice bridge between corporate communications and the online world, helping organizations cross a chasm that lead directly to shorter, faster, more immediate communications. Also on the decline are solutions like bulletin boards (down to 15% of surveyed companies), online video (24%) and podcasting (6%).
Interesting isn’t it? For now I intend to keep blogging, as I can’t even write Happy Birthday in under 140 characters. But it’s fascinating how technology comes, makes an impact, sparks wave, then goes. That’s not failure, of course … its progress. Just like the eight-track spawned the more portable cassette, blogging led to faster and better forms of instant communications.
The study showed that too. Companies aren’t abandoning blogging entirely just yet, but they are stepping up usage of other social media tools more, such as Facebook (used by 74% of surveyed companies) and Twitter (64%).
But it’s too early to say goodbye to the blog just yet … there’s a lot of music left to play in this medium and a lot of knowledge to share.
If you’re still reading this, I have to assume you haven’t abandoned blogs as a source of information either. Stay with me as we ride this horse into the ground. I can’t tell you yet what’s going to replace this metaphoric eight-track, but I know this: Whatever it is, it’ll be far out, man.
