iBlog 15 the Finale: Is Blogging Dead ?

iBlog 15 the Finale: Is Blogging Dead ?

Is blogging dead?

This is what we tried to answer at the recently concluded and the last of the 15 year run of the iBlog Summit.

Because of the advent of the influencer marketing and YouTube , it was said that the time of blogging in the Philippines has died. But,is blogging really dead? The iBlog15 finale has touched on a lot of important issues on monetization and competition in the digital world. Let’s talk more about it.

iBlog15 Finale talked about the end of an era and a beginning of new and exciting one for the internet world in the Philippines.  As I said in my Instagram post maybe the next summit would be iCreate , a more inclusive one not just for blogging but other forms of content creation online and offline.

Blogging is never dead and it will never die . As long as someone loves to write online and be passionate about it , it will never die.

They said blogging era has come to an end based on the diminishing number of attendees of the summit.  This is what we had recently:

iBlog 15 the finale

Compared to a few years back (7 and 5 years ago to be exact)

iBlog the Finale is blogging dead iBlog the Finale is blogging dead

Why did attendees diminish?

I guess because most people now have short attention span and most like to be spoon-fed than suffer reading through a long blog post.  We’ve seen this through the years with the quality of comments on a blog post that’s very detailed. People still manage to ask, where, when and how much when the blog post already mentioned the full details .  They don’t read well they skim.

People now also like to be entertained while being informed with more emphasis on being entertained. They want distraction from their normal life , issues and problems that they want something out of the ordinary.  That’s why loud, ridiculous, animated or weird personalities do big on YouTube.

I’ve said the magic word, YouTube.  More and more people even the 3 year olds now want to be a YouTuber.  It’s the fastest ticket to being a celebrity or artists.  YouTube encompasses the requirement of extremely good looks to be on TV and movies.  Age, beauty , height and social status does not matter in YouTube.  As long as you are entertaining , you can make it big in it.

Reading has always been seen as bland and boring .  It’s hard to keep people’s attention through reading,maybe unless you write something that triggers a lot of emotion or as engaging and thought provoking or even sparks imagination.

I would even bet a very few people will reach reading up to this point .  If you did reach to this point type I love reading in the comment section.

What happened at the iBlog15 the Finale?

The iBlog 15 had great discussion topics that it should have been held longer than a half day.   I think one of the reasons there were less attendees was because it was too early in the day.  iBlog 15 started at 8am up to 12noon only.  People nowadays are night owls.  Awake until 3am sleep through the day. And it was a Saturday, people want to sleep through a weekend.

What we’ve discussed ?

There were three set of topics of discussion.

1. How Blogging Has Changed the Philippine Internet Space (PANEL)

(Panelists: Ruben Licera, Tonyo Cruz, Jane Uymatiao)

Discussion on how blogging has changed the way Filipinos communicate, influence, and made a difference.

Watch the replay of the discussion here https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=432424747465705&id=581549758533425

IBlog15 is blogging dead?

2. Bloggers: Crossing Boundaries (PANEL)

(Panelists: Chad Ting Ramos, Joemar Belleza, Apple Allison, Carlo Ople)

From blogging as a means of personal expression, it has crossed to an activist, advocate, journalist, influencer, and commercial platform. Our panelist will share their experiences and how it has impacted their lives.

Watch the replay of the discussion here https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2387570171558227&id=581549758533425

IBlog15 is blogging dead?

3. Bloggers: Monetization & Competition (PANEL)

(Panelists: Earth Rullan, Anton Diaz, Vince Golangco, Fitz Villafuerte, Bert Azura Padilla)

Blogging became a popular means for individuals to monetize their online presence from ad placement, write-ups, endorsements, freelancer gigs, among others. Today, celebrities and personalities are active in this space too. The panel will discuss monetization, ethics, and opportunities.

Watch the replay of the discussion here https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=640774529789637&id=581549758533425

IBlog15 is blogging dead?

I’ve learned so much from the other panelist. I could listen to all of them all day and discuss some more.  Rod Magaru was a great host as he prepared some good questions to throw in the panel.

My take on everything was:

  1. Blogging is not for everyone because it is difficult.  It takes a lot of thought, consistency and passion to write. It also needs a lot of technical skills to keep a website running compared to just uploading a video on YouTube or livestreaming.
  2. Don’t resist change and learn to and reinvent yourself.   Don’t stick to just blogging branch out to other social media to augment / supplent your blogging. Do affiliates . Never ceases to learn.
  3. Your passion can and should make you money.  It’s not bad to want to make money out of your passion. People who are successful are those who invested in the things they really wanted to do.
  4. Do not let third parties define you and what you do.  If you asked for compensation for attending events and blogging about it, don’t feel guilty about it.  Would they invite you if they don’t see the value you can add to their event /product/ service ?   Make a point and stand your ground.
  5. Keep a rate card that is high , so when they ask for a discount it is easier to lower it down than be stuck with a low rate permanently.
  6. Know your worth and the value you can give your readers and advertisers. Because most advertisers are lured to numbers “influencers” have , create a package deal that’s too good to pass.

Blogging  will never die, it will just branch branch out into a more inclusive and wholeistic digital avenue for everyone , ergo content creation.

Finally, I would like to thank Janette Totally and Atty. JJ for organizing the iBlog summit and creating an avenue for bloggers to converge and share insights. The iBlog era may have ended but I am sure in the future there will be something else like iCreate!  iCreate would be a great avenue for all content creators to share experience and learn from each other the best practices of the digital industry.

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