Is Facebook killing off the blogger?

Traditional blogs are fading as young people switch to social networking sites, says The New York Times. Are blogs really dying, or just evolving?

Teenage bloggers dropped by half from 2006 to 2009, with many of them choosing to share thoughts and feelings on Facebook instead.
(Image credit: Corbis)

The blogging craze that dominated the internet just a few short years ago appears to be fading, as young people post their musings and photos on social networking sites where others are more likely to see them, reports The New York Times. "I don't use my blog anymore," says aspiring filmmaker Michael McDonald. "All the people I'm trying to reach are on Facebook." Blogging among kids ages 12 to 17 was cut in half from 2006 to 2009, according to the Internet and American Life Project at the Pew Research Center. Does Facebook spell doom for blogging?

Nonsense. Blogs are growing: "I'm all for the '_____ is dead' articles," says MG Siegler at Paris Lemon, but this one makes no sense. First of all, as the Times notes, even though early blogging site Blogger is "fading" in the U.S., it's "actually growing quite quickly globally." And it's just wrong to say blogging is dying because people are ditching older formats for Facebook and Tumblr. The important thing is that "people are expressing themselves more online overall."

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