Shaun Groves
Make something free and easy and everyone will beat a path to your door. When I announced I’d start playing shows for free in exchange for the chance to speak about Compassion International, for example, I was suddenly the busiest man in Christian music – we’re booked through 2007.
The downside to this kind of popularity of course is that it’s quantity at the cost of quality. We now deal with more promoters than ever before who don’t know how to promote a show, discover how much commitment of time and energy is needed to do it well, and give up somewhere in the process, cancel the show or just apologize once we get to their venue for the small crowd we’ll be playing to that night. This is the downside to free and easy.
Same thing happened when the creation of a blog no longer required an investment of time and cash upfront.
Blogger, Xanga, Live Journal, TypePad and WordPress all provide the masses with a free and simple blog. Zero dollars and five minutes of your time and get you a blog. Fast. Easy. The result? In 2006 Technorati said it was tracking 57 million blogs…and counting.
But here’s that downside again.
One source estimates that 66% of blogs have not ben updated in the last two months. And almost all of those will never be updated again. That’s more than 37 million blogs abandoned.
Blogging, like so much else, is so easy to enter into that there is little reservation about doing so. Blogging, like so much else, costs the tire-kicker so little that she loses nothing by being non-committal.
But, hey, 57 million looks like an impressive number doesn’t it?
Cali Amy says:
So how many people actually update their blogs on a regular basis? And what would a regular basis be?
Todd says:
Yeah…I’m still sorry about that…
Shaun Groves says:
CaliAmy: Not many I’m guessing. I don’t know what the expert would call “regular” but I drop blogs from my blogroll if I discover they aren’t updated at least weekly. Is that fair?
Todd: That was Wichita’s fault. Not yours. Btw, Wichita is now on the short list of places we think we should never play again because A)We’ve tried at least three times and had no growth in crowd size or B)We hate the place. Wichita is on the list for A and not B of course.
Waco is on this list for both A and B and the entire state of South Dakota makes the list for B. I could go on listing cities but I can only take so much hate mail in one week. ; )
Grovesfan says:
Lucky for you you said SOUTH Dakota and not NORTH Dakota, which is of course, superior! No big lakes near Grand Forks (I’m still scratching my head over your post after your last visit), but a great place still the same.
Beth
Mark says:
*Makes mental note to self to be sure to update weekly.*
I have one cyber friend who has created I don’t know how many blogs. At least six. And, after one or two posts, she never posts there again. I just kinda shake my head.
I don’t know that I always have anything interesting to say. Sometimes I think my blog is just a diary I’m letting anyone who wants to look at. But I enjoy going through the archieves every so often, so I figure that alone makes it worth something. And I am rather proud of the fact that I’ve been doing it for five years now.
jason77 says:
I have gone thru some blogs in the day on free hosts but find myself more dedicated to the blogging experience now that I run my own domain and pay to keep it going, makes me want to get my moneys worth out of it, if that makes sense.
Offtopic side note: Just moved into Nashville and loving it thus far..
keith says:
This lack of commitment, or, as I see it, low priority for me, is why I haven’t started a blog. When/If I do, I want to update it regularly for a long time.
Cheryl says:
I’m new to this blog. Found the “Bonus Room” commentary and now, I might be hooked…
However, I find it interesting that Blogging seems to be like religion for some of you. It’s like sacred. Bloggers who don’t keep up their blog site. HORRORS!
So what?
And…about Wichita? Yeah. Lived here for too many years and it’s DEFINATELY a “B”. South Dakota, however….a lovely place. Grew up there and would definately retire there.
Shaun Groves says:
I was hoping someone would make the connection between religion and blogging eventually.
Cheryl says:
So Shaun, are you thinking “religion” in the sense of something someone does regularly and with ritual, or “religion” like faith/spirituality, etc?
Cuz…I don’t know. I’m a bit worried that my kiddo (aged 23) has made it her faith. I understand the “connectivity” part of blogging, but…wow. I’m having some fear about it too. FaceBook totally scares me. NOT that I’m comparing your wonderful ponderings to Face Book.
Cali Amy says:
I see what you’re saying Shaun. Like, if we don’t actually have to die to live to be “Christians” than it’s too easy and only done halfheartedly. Fabulous point. sorry I was stuck on the shallow end of your post at first.
Steve says:
Two months? How about six?! (sigh) Lots of reasons, but none of them very good. When I got up this morning, I sensed it was time to take the blog out of mothballs. Then I read this. Thanks for the extra kick, and for all your good words shared here.
Melinda says:
When you came to the Twin Cities I was saddened by the lack of promotion that was done by Club 3 Degrees. At the same time I am grateful that you did play, and that it was free, and only if about 20 people showed up, because at that show was the first time I had heard about Compassion International and it was then that my husband and I became sponsers.
The problem I have found with some Christians who like free, because they are getting something. But then there comes the work and it is no longer free because whether it is blogging or sponsering, it requires time. And just as hard as it is for some Christians to give up their $5.00 daily lattes for the benefit of a child, their t.v. time is just a cherished. And why would we give either of them up we DESERVE them! Right?