There has been a lot of finger-pointing going on in regard to the decline of the personal blog. Some blame Facebook, others point to the barrage of content from tutorial/list zines and everyone is quick to accuse Twitter.
I could easily blame my own post count on any of the suspects listed above. Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds produce an incessant fire hose of information that demands constant attention and interaction. The battle for my already deficient attention span is a tough one, but it’s entirely internal. When I think about writing a blog post, I start asking myself lots of questions. Who really cares? Does anybody actually read personal blogs anymore? Is there anything I can write that hasn’t already been said? Why should I invest my already-limited time into something so mundane as a public journal? For me, these are the cynical thoughts that have lowered my post count over the years.
Enter Project 52
The premise is simple. Starting in January, produce at least 1 new blog post per week for a year. Over 250 people have taken the challenge so far; probably for 250 different reasons. For me, it’s about not asking the questions above and writing for the sake of writing. I’ve always treated my personal site as more of a journal than an informational resource, but I get so caught up on the value of what I post that I often neglect posting altogether. So therein lies the challenge. While next year’s content may end up being only slightly more valuable than the stream of consciousness style of posts we all make to Twitter, I’m bound to come up with a few gems in 52 posts.
For more info, visit http://project52.info/ or follow @p52info on twitter.