In the early days of the internet, blogging became a phenomenon. People everywhere were sharing stories of their lives, providing advice, or simply commenting on the world around them. It soon became a reliable way of making money, with advertising and sponsored posts among the methods of monetization.
However, new forms of sharing came along. YouTube popularized vlogging, before platforms like Instagram and TikTok made it possible for everyone to share their entire lives. Blogging was expected to die a quick death.
That never happened and now blogging is making a comeback. If you’re interested in starting a blog, make sure you have a good laptop and the right insurance. Your laptop warranty won’t cover theft. Insurance will get you back to blogging after a simple claims process.
In order to succeed as a blogger in 2024, it is necessary to know why blogging is making a comeback. This will give you an idea of what people are looking for in today’s blogs.
Advertising Overload
One of the main things that took people away from blogs was social media. Why follow a blog when you could see items of interest from multiple sources on your Facebook feed? This made sense, even if it was bad news for bloggers. But the drive to make more and more money off social media has sparked a backlash.
Today, you cannot scroll very far without seeing a number of advertisements. On social media platforms, these ads are masked as organic content. It is becoming more difficult to tell the difference between what constitutes real sharing and what exists for monetary purposes alone. As such, many people no longer trust what they see on social media.
Following a blog, on the other hand, gives you the chance to connect to a blogger and get to know the sort of content they post. If you want to succeed as a blogger, you therefore have to play by unwritten rules. No one will begrudge you taking the opportunity to make money. But if you post too many ads or sponsored articles, you will lose followers.
Sensory Overload
You may still be wondering why people would read a blog when there is so much short-form, easy-to-consume content out there. Aren’t we all supposed to be incapable of paying attention for more than thirty seconds?
The good news is that, while attention spans have gotten shorter, few people think that’s a good thing. There are so many TikTok and Instagram users out there who want to spend more time reading. There are apps and utilities now that can force you to stop viewing that kind of content after a certain amount of time.
That being said, someone who wants to spend less time watching short-form videos is unlikely to use their free time reading a novel. Blog posts are the perfect compromise. You get to read stories and learn new things over the course of a few minutes.
Getting To The Point
There’s another reason that blogging is so popular in 2024. It’s almost completely counter to the previous point. It applies specifically to bloggers providing information or guidelines.
Quite simply, no other media can impart information as efficiently as a blog post. Instead of having to watch a ten minute video about how to solve a problem with your phone, you can look at the subtitles on a blog to get the basics. All the information you need is right in front of you, and it is incredibly easy to skip all the rest.
Think about how frustrating it can be to find out an article is actually a video when you just want to skim the main points. While videos are very popular and there are some people who will almost always choose that kind of media, most people want the option to consume the information at their own pace.
Blogging is making a comeback. This is good news if you’re thinking of starting a blog. However, it is important to know why people want to read blogs. Don’t overload your content with advertising and be sure to write the sort of content people love.
