Back in 2011, I wrote a piece about why I blogged. It was titled ‘Why I Blog‘. That particular article got the biggest ever response, in terms of comments.

Now almost three years on, the piece becomes a bit relevant again as does the question ‘why do I blog’?

This week Iain King announced that the ever dependable website TwoHundredPercent was currently down and when it would be back, it would take up a new era in its existence concentrating on things beyond football. Michael Cox also announced that the wonderful Zonal Marking blog would take a hiatus and when it returned it too would be running on a different model looking more at tactical trends rather than in-depth match tactics. We were then told on Twitter that The Score website were dropping its soccer features section, meaning we would be deprived great talents such as Richard Whittall, a writer I really admire.

I think with all these incidents happening at once people are now asking what is happening to the blogging world?

Well I can’t speak for everyone but I have no plans to stop.

I took my own break last summer and didn’t return until January this year. I sort of burnt out. The whole process was long, the criticisms seemed to overshadow the praise and I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere with it.

During the time I spent away from blogging I moved into a new flat, met a girl and was busy at work. Did I miss the blog? Not really, I had too much stuff going on.

Then by November time I started to get that itch but decided to ignore it. My girlfriend would often ask about it and why I had given it up and I would say ‘it was very time consuming’ and that maybe one day I’d go back to it. It was really Diane that pushed me back into it. She could sense I wanted to get my opinions back out there.

Before I made the choice to go back, I decided to only do it on my own terms. Hits were not an issue anymore. I would be more open to doing paid work (i.e. sponsored posts), I would look at doing more videos again (I still have that plan), I also wanted to do more bespoke product reviews (thats coming very soon). I would write about what I wanted and to hell with the rest of them.

I came back and haven’t looked back. I have received more money from the venture than ever before, hits are actually up and I get the odd bit of free stuff sent to me. But most of all I am enjoying the writing process again. I am first to admit it, I’m not the greatest writer. But I do know what I am talking about and I have some great, original content that seems to get picked up elsewhere. I am no longer paranoid about these ideas/articles ending up in papers or other websites, as I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe they’ve had the same idea. If they have taken it from me, then I must be doing something right.

Will blogging continue? 

Of course it will.

As I’ve already said I’m not going anywhere. In Bed with Maradona is still the best footballing website going and its not going anywhere (to the best of my knowledge). Yes, some sites are changing and reinventing themselves but that’s what those owners want to do, and its their blogs, so the blogs will be better for the changes.

Back when I started, certain journalists were very suspicious of bloggers and the format as a whole. Yet now most media sites have their own blogs and have hired a great amount of bloggers. The likes of Michael Cox, Jack Lang, Adam Digby, Andrew Gibney and much more all did blogging at one time or another and these men are all now fully respected football writers.

For me, the blog format was/is a fantastic way for women to get into the football writing industry. On this site alone I’ve had many a contribution from fantastic female writers such as Natasha Henry, Amy Eustace, Mina Rzouki and Sian Ranscombe. These ladies all work in the media industry now and rightfully so, as their input has been superb.

Now most keen, up-to-date journalists are more respectful of blogs and how they work. I noticed last week during the Commonwealth Games that a British journo was using an iPad as a recording tool to film some gold medalists. That was a trick I first used back in 2011 and was asked about by various journalists at the time.

The infighting between bloggers has also fallen by the wayside as the format keeps evolving. The Socrates meet-ups in London are a great example of the harmony we now find ourselves in, with writers and bloggers coming together and having a chat.

Doing a blog is a great way for writers to hone their craft, gets the better writer noticed, helps get over their points of view without censorship and an easy way to engage with the audience. For those reasons alone blogging will continue.

Of course some blogs will come and go. Some will change and reinvent themselves. But the format is here to stay and I’m thankful for that.

Oh by the way, Diane has now become my fiancee and kind of complains I blog too much!

 

Posted on July 30th, 2014 by scott
Filed under: Article