Every day, it seems another person on Instagram is proclaiming they are going silent, posting less, focusing on real human time. I had a My Space page, then a facebook page, and most recently Instagram. But, I can't say I have ever endlessly checked my feed. In its early days, Instagram was a breath of fresh air from the re-iterations of social media pages. People posted photos in real-time, as they happened, in two seconds, without much thought, filters, or explanation. It was nice to get a snapshot into someone's real life, without the curation, and the perfection.
THAT REALNESS, AND CONNECTION, WAS ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I ALWAYS APPRECIATED BLOGS.
It seems we're in a cycle of burnout lately. Not just with Instagram. But, as bloggers as well. If you were a devoted delicious user like me, you may have noticed the site was purchased a few years ago and goes in and out of accessibility with not a whole lot of certainty as to whether the site will be back fully. Or, if one day you will go to access the site and all of your bookmarks will just be gone. So, I've taken a few minutes here and there to scan over the bookmarks I have saved on delicious to see if there are any gems I can't live without. I hadn't realized what a fun process this would be! The majority of the bookmarks I have saved are from 2009-2012 when craft markets, blogs, and the endeavor to start a small business was really taking off. It's been fun to remember some of the projects I had planned to make and the crafters I idolized. What has been sad in the process as well, however, are all of the links I click on that go to a domain parking page or to a blog/site that has been refreshed and all prior posts have been deleted. Time and memories don't need to be put in a box, but for many sites it is sad that all of that work and creativity and history is just gone. I know many bloggers quit when Instagram really took off since it was much easier to use Instagram as almost a "blog" writing lengthier captions that satisfied their readers, with much less investment. But, I wonder with more and more people leaving Instagram, or posting and viewing less, whether they will regret walking away from what they had built. While I can say I truly appreciate blogs, I have not been a regular poster myself. So, I can't say that I know how it feels.
One of the crafters I idolized, and the blog I was most sad to see had disappeared, was Cathy from California. In the mid-2000's, I had a love of thrifting and my favorite goodies to find were vintage craft books and supplies from the 60's and 70's. Cathy shared that interest, posting photos from books as well as re-imagining popular techniques and projects from that time in a new way. I read an interview with Cathy Callahan on the blog While She Naps titled "Why a Long-Time Blogger Calls It Quits," which gave me a little perspective into the reasoning of those making this type of decision.
What do you think? Do you still enjoy reading blogs? Or, do you feel like Instagram is a blog in itself? Do you have any favorite bloggers that have stopped blogging in recent years? Or, favorite blogs that have completely disappeared?
