Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Blogging in the 2000s

After reading Rebecca Blood’s interview with blogger Megan Reardon, I feel like I got a glimpse into the past of what blogging was like when it was growing recognition. Reardon, who has a BFA in Dramaturgy from Purchase College, started blogging on her own craft site in 2001 as for what she described as "a place for me to keep things I am interested in." Among her blogging recognition, she has also had some of her knitting patterns published in various books.

As I read through the interview I began to notice how some of the things Reardon mentions now have their own platforms. Most specifically when Reardon responds to why she started blogging, to which she replies, “I started Not Martha as a way to keep track of links and ideas I was interested in or knew I'd want to reference later.” Being that her blog is a crafting/DIY style, I felt like had Pinterest been around in the early 2000’s, Reardon would have been a prime pinner. The process of saving links and collecting ideas is one of the foundational purposes of Pinterest – a site Reardon hopefully has since discovered.

One element of blogging that Reardon mentions that I feel is still around today is the hassle with comments. Reardon explains that she removed the ability to comment on her blog post due to the commenters getting a little too combative. Still to this day, social media sites and basically any site that allows feedback gets the occasional five year old that feels the need to stir up some trouble. Sites like Reddit feed off this trolling nature to which some find amusing but others – like Reardon – who don’t have any time to deal with it.

My main takeaway from this interview was how much the blogging world has changed since this interview took place. I'm interested to see what the next ten years have in store for bloggers around the world.

Overall the interview was a really good read. I was able to see how Reardon approached blogging, her creative process and how her blog has evolved over time.

For those of you interested in reading the original interview feel free to check it out here.

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