She was popular for her personal thoughts on various issues through the blog she maintained on the Worldwide Web. Later, she became famous for her personal photographs on Facebook. Her writing got limited to picture captions and one-liners. That was the death of the writer inside her. But as soon as Namrata Singh realised she could not put the words to her thoughts like she used to be able to, she surrendered her social networking site to concentrate on her writing.
Blogging is back. The platform that petered away with the emergence of social networking sites is regaining momentum. According to experts, who blog for a living and others who are passionate about writing, youngsters are making an attempt to get back to penning their thoughts through blogging.
Advertising professional Neetu Gour is one of the people making this switch. “I started blogging seven years ago to let my emotions out. I needed to express myself and blogs provided me with that space. But, with arrival of Facebook and Twitter, I was distracted. I stopped writing and everything took a back seat. When I realised the futility of all this, I switched back to blogging. Social networking is just a time-pass tool and meant for getting in touch with people. I am bored of doing all that and I want to be left alone with my words and space,” she shares.
Priyanka Mitra, a group account director, feels blogging ensures that the focus stays on her thoughts other than on her personal life. “When I started blogging in 2008, the best part of it was that one could easily write in a pseudonym. It was very easy for me to word my thoughts without revealing my identity. But social networking sites changed it all. The focus shifted to personal details. People stopped sharing their thoughts till I put the link to my Facebook or Twitter profile on my page. It was so annoying,” she says.
Priyanka also noticed a decline in her writing talent. “I see some serious bloggers, who would write patiently earlier, now just put a picture followed by a caption and that is the end of the story. Where are the thoughts?” questions Priyanka.
Another reason for the re-emergence of blogging is that people are bored of social networking. Namrata explains, “I feel social networking sites worked because they supposedly did not require much of time and they were an easy medium to reach your friends and expand your network. But, one day I realised that I was spending a bit too much time connecting with friends, admiring their pictures or reading their comments. Finally, I just woke up questioning where I was. My thoughts were getting limited to commenting on somebody else’s updates. I had lost my creativity. It was a reality check.”
While there are multiple views on the issue, Arnab Ray, better known as Greatbong, one of India’s most widely read bloggers who blogs at Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind, refuses to agree. “Personally, I don’t see any emphasis back on blogging and I really don’t see how one can even see that. I prefer blogging because one can actually “write” there. But I never gave up on micro-blogging. I just tweeted a few seconds ago,” he says.