Is Blogging Obsolete?

I've been posting on Blogger since 2005. I used to think that you could start a blog, write a few interesting articles, gain a following, and make a few dollars each month from the affiliate ad links. It's been 15 years and I have one follower (who may not be a real person) and I haven't made a dime after 290 posts. I used to hear about people starting blogs and in a fairly short period of time were able to gain followers and make some serious money. I should have known that these stories were a load of bull crap.

The average person is basically blogging to themselves. Creating an online diary so they can record what is happening in their life over time. Fantasies about making money from blogging and getting followers and supporters are not going to happen. It's not just Blogger, I blog on my own website in addition to Blogger. People just don't have time to read anymore. You have to be a photo or video blogger and be on one of the hip platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, or Twitter. Blogger is not on anyone's list anymore. You can post photos and videos on Blogger, but why bother when there are more popular platforms for that type of media. I use photos on my blog to augment the subject of the post. I do have some video editing skills, but lack the motivation, creativity, and the right tools to produce videos for the web.

When people discovered that search engines rank websites by how many outside links point to a site, blogs and message boards became the place to quickly add those links. If you have managed a blog or message board you know what I'm talking about. You will see a comment like "Great post, keep up the good work!" followed by a URL to some website. You know the only reason they left a comment was to leave their URL for the search engines to find. Posting videos can open you up to a storm of negative comments if you do something wrong. Video bloggers who have found success typically post a new video every day or several times each week. It's the only way to keep followers returning to view your content. The problem with posting every day is that you may run out of ideas for new videos. The ones who make it work usually stick to one topic and have a streamlined production formula.