A week or so ago I attended the BlogHer conference in New York City. This was my fifth year attending the conference. Women (and men) attend this conference for a variety of reasons —everything from social networking to attempting to get a book deal. Thousands of people arrive in and around the hotel and create a buzz of social media that takes over computer screens for a few days each summer.
The first BlogHer I attended was in 2006 in San Jose. I’m not sure of the exact number of attendees, but it was less than 500 and a vastly different experience to the now infamous conference it has morphed into.
That summer in California we felt a real sense of community: by the end of that weekend we had all met each other either briefly or forged lifelong friendships. The seminars were great and welcoming and created an environment of generosity of spirit. There were only a few vendors, the swag bag was full of useful items and it was exciting to get free stuff.
Sponsored blogging and advertising on personal websites either didn’t exist or was at it’s very humble beginnings. The BlogHer ad network had only one small group and was opening up for the first time to a few more hand picked personal sites.
Five years later at the Hilton New York I felt lost in a sea of new faces and people swarming to get to PR People, Expo Halls and private sponsored parties. I can count on two hands the faces that I have seen at all five conferences (well maybe two feet too).
There were two groups at the conference: those there to work on their personal brand and those there to see friends, have fun and learn a thing or two. The first group — the people there to promote (or exploit) their personal brand — had nearly taken over the conference. Women on a mission to make money on making themselves heard. To write as many product reviews as possible, get on all the best PR lists and invited to the best parties with the best swag.
Personally, I say do what makes you happy. Do what you need to do to create an income in these trying economic times, to bring money in whatever form into your home. But I can’t help but feel like some of the passion — or dare I say the “art” — of blogging has been lost.
The charm of blogging for me is to find that site that has intensely good writing, speaks to you — makes you feel less alone. With the proliferation of money (or product) in exchange for words on personal web sites the real gems often get overlooked unless they have a longstanding loyal audience.
Less and less women get into social media to connect and tell their stories. As a result the so called blogosphere gets clogged up with hundreds of new sites daily, and wading through becomes too exhausting to even attempt. Instead, we keep reading the same blogs we have always read and those little gems are getting lost in the shuffle.
Photo Credits
Photos of BlogHer Conference by alexdecarvalho @ Flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.
Lorne Daniel says
Interesting observations, Jess. Perhaps it’s inevitable that popularity (of an activity, product or trend) leads to commercialization. It seems like a loss to those who were trailblazers.
jess says
I think you hit the nail on the head with that one Lorne.
Form builder says
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained!
– Andre
Nathan says
I think these are some important issues to discuss. When money takes over what people are doing online, everyone really looses. It’s fine in my view to try and make something from your writing – especially when it’s part of or most of your income. And I think there are ways to work with funding larger, group writing sites that don’t destroy the integrity of the writing or discussion being done.
However, I do think there are efforts out there by large corporations to control and manipulate what’s being put out, either by bribing writers or phasing in charges for sites where grassroots activity is occurring. Ning could be an example of this. They went from having free sites with other revenue sources attached, to paid sites. And as a result, some of the networks that were developed on Ning disappeared or were forced to move, causing major disruptions.
These issues aren’t going to go away – they could easily get much worse in fact. I hope people continue to keep discussing them, and thinking more critically about how to bring money into the writing they are doing online.
jess says
I totally agree that it is okay to make an income from your writing, sometimes the methods are what i find distasteful.
Thanks for all your thoughts – had me thinking!