Perhaps it’s the impending new year, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what blogging should look like and what I hope to get out of the internet, my side hustle, and my personal interests in the future. I certainly haven’t concentrated much effort or time here over the past year, instead choosing to focus on my work (like the work that pays the bills), the cottage, and my freelance writing. Some of those are part of the future that I see for myself — and I wonder how blogging plays a role.
Thoughts on What Should Blogging Look Like
I come from a school of thought that sees blogging as a high effort activity. I spend hours taking and curating photos, editing, writing, putting in links. These aren’t posts I can knock out in 30 minutes. Then I look around and I see that the bloggers that I enjoy most are those writing short or long form essays rather than highly produced posts. Those I imagine are making the most money spend at least half their time doing quick mood board collections designed to drive clicks and revenue. I focus a lot of time on SEO — and it drives traffic. But is it building an audience? Or are they people who pop in and out once they’ve consumed the content they came for?
Which is all to say, I’m wondering if the future of blogging here means more in-the-moment thoughts and intentional essays and a few less picture and production-laden posts. If I’m trying to create a lifestyle brand, it seems like sharing authentic glimpses into that is more meaningful. Sometimes I even wonder if the message gets lost amidst all the scrolling through photos.
All of this feels a little repetitive, like maybe I had these same thoughts last year? Perhaps that was part of my goal to blog more (which I didn’t succeed in). I know I’ll need to spend more time on my personal brand if I’m set on achieving the goals I have here — and I think this blog is a huge part of that. Plus, there’s more reason to keep coming back if there are more posts that are a peek into my life, right?
So that’s what I’m hoping you can expect in 2023. And I’ll definitely keep you posted on Instagram.
And this thoughtful post seemed like the right time to share these foggy photos I took at the river, right?
It’s comforting to know I’m not the only one questioning what blogging should look like as we head into in 2023 – it once felt like true community, but more and more it feels like a one-way editorial publication. I miss the quick snippets of real life and engagement with others.