The Blog Spot
When it comes to blogging, there’s one site that always comes to mind: Blogger. My earliest blogs were hosted there with a blogspot address. Believe it or not, Blogger is still around, but it seems to have languished under Google’s passive watch. In fact, I’m surprised it has not already ended up in the Google graveyard, outliving even Google+. So what’s up with Blogger?
Spotty Blogging
Recently, I tried to follow the Blogger account on Twitter, @Blogger. I wanted to be in touch with the platform that I once enjoyed. But for some reason, I can’t follow Blogger’s Twitter account. I was told my “follow” was pending. I’m pretty sure the tweets were public before, but now the account is private. So why the change?
No Blogger Buzz
When you look at the updates on the Official Blogger Blog, what you find is saddening. The last update was over a year ago, in 2019. Then you’ll see there was only one update in 2018, and one in 2017.
In the last three years, there have been only three official updates for Blogger. That is very little activity; not a good sign.
The last hopeful news for Blogger was in May 2018. It promised “exciting updates coming soon…” We are now nearing the two year mark, and I can’t tell what those updates are or were. The only official announcement since that 2018 promise was about a feature deprecation (no more Google+ stuff). I hardly think that sparse update is exciting.
The single update in 2017 was about new themes! Now that is exciting, but that sort of change seems like it should be normal as part of staying fresh and moving the platform ever forward. Nonetheless, it was a sign of life. I can’t say I see any signs of life at Blogger in 2020.
The most encouraging blog post had to be the one in November 2016. It started out with hyping the popularity of Blogger as a publishing platform. But over three years later, it seems neglected or vacant now. How do you explain that? The post was hopeful, stating its overall purpose was:
“to bring you a faster, easier to use and more beautiful Blogger.”
Not Blogger Bashing
I’m not hating on Blogger. I’m asking these questions because I care. As a blogger with fond memories of the platform, and with a continued interest and appreciation for the simplicity of the Blogger interface and it being a Google product, I’m sad to see Blogger appear destined to follow Google+ to the Trash Folder.
Google is full of resources and experience, tools and talent. Surely it can make Blogger thrive, if it wanted to. That’s what bothers me about this. Blogger could be so much better. Imagine if it became more integrated into the Google ecosystem. For example, I love to use Google Keep for notes, and one of its best features is how integrated it is within other Google web-apps like Calendar, Gmail, and Docs.
Blogger is a writing and publishing platform. What if Google weaved it into Docs and Keep, two other places where you write within the Google ecosystem. There could be ways to write drafts within Docs and from there auto-publish to Blogger, similar to the WordPress Add-On I use!
And what if Blogger was tied into Google Calendar. I would love to see something like my scheduled posts on Blogger appear on my Calendar as a Reminder or Event.
A Few More Bits
I did end up finding a bit of new info about the ongoing support of Blogger. A story on 9to5Google in October 2019 reported that something new happened with Blogger (which was curiously not blogged about on the Official Blogger Blog). The Android app for Blogger got updated for the first time in 3 years! Well, that’s something.
This news also includes some updated info about the Blogger web app. A good place to check for Blogger updates outside the Official Blogger Blog is the Community Help Forum. So these updates are a few rays of hope that Blogger has not become abandon-ware.
Bleak Blogger Future
I know not to get my hopes up though. Blogger overall looks defunct, neglected. And Google has a history of killing great things despite being used by many: Google+, Google Reader, and Inbox to name a few. Although many bloggers are likely concerned over the state of Blogger. Another interesting article detailed a few reasons why Google is not (yet) shutting down Blogger.
Here’s my theory as to what is going on. Two major things have caused Google to ignore Blogger and let it flounder. First, Google+. The company was all-in on their major social network, weaving it into every other Google product. The resources expended on it left little room for much else. Then it slowly declined into oblivion. Meanwhile, Blogger was tossed around in that maelstrom.
The other thing is that while social media took over the internet, publishing and media as we knew it fundamentally changed. The paradigm shift left blogging upended, thus Blogger became less important.
Somehow, after all this, Blogger still exists. It has survived; I’d love to see it thrive. But at this point, even if it dies, I just want to know one way or the other. What’s up with Blogger these days, does it have a future or not?
Wonder what’s up with Blogger? Have you ever used it before? Comment below, or write to me here! Thanks for reading!
Blogger goes to the junk ward of Google. Like many others: RSS, Google+, etc.
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I hear ya!
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Hey Jason – I think Evan Williams (Blogger co-founder) went on to found Medium which as taken over from sites such as Blogger (disappointedly). I also understand Google has a stake in Medium so perhaps tells its own story as to the future of Blogger itself.
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Thanks for that info. Sounds plausible to me.
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I too had a blogspot many moons ago. Also, I love the simple, clean look it has. I even considered syndicating my posts there from my WP blog – sort of trying to get into the SEO of Google more. It would be sad to see it go. I think some updates may have been just for it to “talk” to new OS more effectively. I don’t know.
With the new push for newsletters and blogs as of late I would at least love to see Google try something with it…
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Yeah, I’ve pretty much had the same thoughts. I love Blogger’s clean simple look/feel. And I’m sure Google could make it great again. Like Flickr…Tumblr…well, maybe?
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And Tumblr was bought by Automatic (WP). It’ll be interesting to see what they do with it.
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🙂 My first blog was on Blogger and like you, Blogger has a special place in my heart.
I also agree that Google could have done more technologically with Blogger.
In spite of all of that, there is still a large number of people that use Blogger.
As a matter of fact, a lot of YouTube vloggers have blogs on Blogger.
I do not think that Google would be shutting down Blogger anytime soon.
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I learned that Blogger is HUGE in India and Brazil and that Google has no plans to kill it. It seems to do well enough without much cost to Google…
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🙂 One of the things that I liked most about Blogger was having the ability to upload third-party themes of my choice (Which in my opinion was way better than using its default dated-looking themes).
And, if you are the tech-savvy type, you could alter the look of the theme via HTML or CSS codes.
Blogger is still more flexible than a lot of the other free blogging platforms on the world wide web.
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Good points. WordPress charges for custom CSS. I never tried 3rd party Blogger themes, I might check into it. My nostalgia plus these features of Blogger has me wondering if I may wanna switch back. My annual WordPress renewal happens to be later this month.
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🙂 Oh, go right ahead and renew your domain.
WordPress is more SEO friendly.
Besides, it takes more work on Blogger in order for people to come across your work.
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Oh, plus Blogger is free yet I think you can employ Google AdSense to make a few bucks. 🤔
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🙂 Google AdSense is standard with all blogs on Blogger.
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Renard, how is WordPress more SEO friendly?
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🙂 For starters, WordPress allows the user the ability to create an attractive permalink and the metadata can be managed easily.
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I wonder, however, if it’s worth to syndicate or just link snippets of blog posts from WP to Blogger? Using the Blogger network of people much like a sort of social media platform…
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🙂 I would go with linking snippets of blog posts from WordPress to Blogger.
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Yeah, definitely snippets. But I wonder if it would do anything significant regarding traffic.
Have you heard of Micro.blog?
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🙂 Honestly, I am not entirely sure if that method would get you lots of traffic.
Yes, I do know what a microblog is (Tumblr is a microblogging site).
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Ha! Not microblog micro.blog – micro(dot)blog.
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🙂 Whoops, my bad!
No, I am not familiar with that domain.
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Hi Jason!
I created my first blogger account yesterday for my future anime reviews and was so excited because it reminded me of the old times when I had a xanga. It definitely has a simple yet older interface compared to WordPress or wix. However, the main reason why I chose blogger is because they don’t require any sort of subscriptions to upgrade for a better blogging experience. I do have plans to continue on my blogger. It won’t be on a daily basis but as much as I can if my schedule lets me. The future for this website do seem a bit bleak though because I want to build a community on it but like you have mentioned, people on blogger (at least the categories I’m interested in) have not been posting for a while. I do hope for the better but if not, I’m hoping that I am able to improve my writing skills and get my thoughts out.
Thank you for your post!
😌
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Oh! Almost forgot! If you happen to be interested in anime or reviews in general, come through.
Here is my blog for it!
Ohmytaro.blogspot.com
Have a good day!
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I checked out your blog. I like the classic blogger look to it. I’ve never been into anime, but I was never into Pokemon until last year, so who knows?!
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Congrats on your first Blogger account!
Xanga…I remember that. Never had one myself I think, but knew friends who did.
Blogger is definitely super simple compared to WordPress!
Good point on Blogger being open/free without the need for an upgrade. I think you can pretty much customize it totally, HTML, CSS, etc. the moment you start a free account.
Yes, the underwhelming community presence on blogger is a downside, but maybe it can still work in that regard. I wonder…
I like your goal to simply improve your writing skills. Practice! I’m still trying to improve too.
Thanks for leaving me a note; I wish you the best!
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Haha. If you are willing to watch a classic childhood anime like Pokémon, then I’m sure you can someday explore the incredible options of a list of anime that may even top Pokémon. And yes, I do like the layout customizing a lot but there are templates too. Thank you Jason!
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My blogs were begun years ago on Blogger and now it seems the little pencil edit button does not respond for me to edit. True. I had neglected posting for a long stretch, but it was because I was blogging completed projects that were in holding patterns of disarray. (Sigh). Anyway, are you able to edit any of your Blogspot posts from the past?
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I have not visited blogger in a while, but last I checked, everything seemed to be working.
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