365.30 - death of the knitblog?

Working on a blog entry that I've been trying to write all weekend, in little bits here and there.

The living room is not complete without someone's shoes in the middle of the floor.

Oooh, I love these!
Are they candle holders?

Thanks! Yes, they are candleholders. In the middle of the sun is a mirror, so when the candles are lit it's reflected. We got them at Pier 1 Imports years ago.

365.30 - death of the knitblog? by earthchick.

There's been buzz about this here and there for awhile; most recently Cara's been talking about it . Did Ravelry kill the knitblog?

My blog has certainly suffered. But in a way, Ravelry was really only an intermediary. Ravelry got me more involved in Flickr, and Flickr is where my online craft-related fun time seems to go these days. It's like a mini-blog, and I really like how communal it is. I think the craft community on Flickr is as vibrant as it ever was in the blog community. Flickr is self-contained - it's easy to respond to comments and for commenters to see that you've responded, without having to resort to a private message. Ravelry is self-contained too, but Flickr can encompass more than just knit/crochet. Ravelry contains the in-depth info I'm sometimes looking for, but for that quick crafty hit I used to get from surfing blogs, I come here instead.

Still, I want to maintain my blog (though I'm currently doing a terrible job of doing so). There are people in my real life who sort of keep up with me through it, and they will never be on Ravelry or on Flickr. And there are other reasons, too, though I find them hard to articulate. What role does the blog play, in the world of Ravelry and Flickr?

Furthermore, what is the protocol now that we are posting our fiber news in multiple venues? If Knitter X posts pics of her projects in Flickr, on Ravelry, and on her blog, do I comment on all three places? And if not, then how do I decide which one to leave a comment on? Which of the three has more "weight" at this point?

The online craft community continues to morph, and that's fine by me. I've loved every place it has taken me, and I'm game for whatever comes next.

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Comments

Elinor Brown says:

I love ravelry and flickr but i still read blogs. i'm more interested in the blog post, actually. except if people post to say, "details on ravelry/flickr". i think ravelry and flickr are where you go for quick specs on a project but the real discussion of the knitting is in the blog.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

mintyfreshflavor says:

flickr killed blogging for me. ravelry is hardly a blip to me. i still love my blog though! and i end up commenting on flickr and blogs, but don't bother with rav. i try to find something different to comment on in each place--and if i am unable to, i may just comment in one spot.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

SassyLeo says:

it's funny you post this, because just today i was thinking of closing down the blog. ravelry came close, but flickr has killed my blog. i don't mind because i only post to the blog when I have an FO, which i then post on flickr and ravelry. if my blog was more than just a gallery, it would be a different story.

i'm also not losing any connections by shutting down the blog because most of my readers are ravelry and flickr folk anyway. i've grown many more relationships through flickr than i ever did through the blog.

and your thoughts on the protocol for multiple venues? perfect! (although i don't have an answer - i tend to comment on all three and fear sounding repetitive!)
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

MiniLaura says:

My blog was dying a slow death when Ravelry came along (and I was in the 2nd group of knitters allowed in--so it's death was a long time coming). However, Raverly did pound the final nail in my blog's coffin because one of the last remaining reasons why I hung on to it was that I wanted a record of what I was knitting. Raverly took over that job.

But, like Minty, my blog time (both reading and writing) has been taken over almost exclusively by Flickr, not Ravelry. I find the Ravelry community to be overwhelming with too much muck to wade through. I use it for "research"--i.e. looking at patterns and yarn, but I'm not active in the community. Flickr is easy, accessible, and fun. Plus, I'm able to meet lots of different kinds of people--not just knitters.

As for responding to people on multiple venues? I don't I pick one and use that. But which one I comment on depends on the person, and I end up commenting on all three venues from time to time.

My feeling is that blogging in general is becoming a thing of the past and it has nothing to do with Ravelry. There are 50 gazillion blogs out there and most of them hardly get any attention. I think those 49.99 gazillion people who weren't getting attention have been getting tired of writing for themselves.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

novamade says:

i am more involved with flickr, ravelry less so. i don't post to my blog as often; but, that is because i am just lazy. I do still read blogs though. i am with e, i like reading the bits and bobs on projects and the goings on of friends online--which you get from the blogs, but not so much from ravelry.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

FlimmerGlimmer says:

Yes, it's the same for me. I wasn't so much involved in ravelry (I felt it would be a jungel, so i was carfeful), but flickr now occupies my blog ressources. That's a bit sad, as all the german knitters are mostly in contact over their blogs and not in flickr. So I won't shut down my blog, but it's a pitty that it's so calm there at the moment.
But you are right, flickr is much more communicative.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

splityarn says:

Yep, it's flickr that did it for me. Often I didn't have quite enough to pull together into an interesting post, but I usually had a photo that would do the trick. It has become my mini-blogging platform. I'll update the blog when I have bigger stuff like an FO or a new project, but the details are all flickr related. I use Rav more to keep track of stuff for myself.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

gimmesanity says:

I still blog. Then again, I'm one of those people who is always slow on the uptake when something new comes around. I have noticed a serious decrease in blog posts on my bloglines, and that makes me kind of sad.

I find drive-by posting, like the stuff on flickr, not as interesting as a 'real' blog post. I'm nosey, so I like getting into all your business about a project. ;) I'm not so involved in ravelry - just research, and I put up my FOs when I get a chance. The community boards there tend to get a little too dramatic for me, which is exactly why I stepped away from other boards like knittinghelp.com.

I really hope blogs don't go away. Mine is another outlet for me to express myself. I have journals that I keep and I write in them regularly, but a blog allows me add pictures and express myself in a different way.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

floofle says:

I still blog. A lot of it is that, like you, I have people who keep up with me there who aren't on Ravelry, and some who are on flickr but don't necessarily click through to *everything* I upload. But some of it is that I still see the necessity of a blog, to catalog project details in a little more depth. I leave some notes on flickr and the Rav, but I'm a hell of a lot more chatty than that - haha.

I had the same experience as you - Ravelry didn't kill the knitblog, as far as I'm concerned, but flickr sure did put a pretty big bullet hole in it. I spend far more time on flickr than Ravelry. Rav is wonderful and serves a very definite purpose for me (and I love it!), but flickr has all my non-fibery interests too, you know?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

LollyKnit says:

yeah, i read cara's post, and found myself referring to your comment a few times when talking about flickr. So far, i have found a relatively happy medium between the blog, flickr, and ravelry. i maintain presence in all of those places. interesting though, while i know that some of my flickr friends have blogs, i prefer to keep up with them via flickr... nothing against their blog, but flickr just seems more up-to-date...

very interesting comments from other flickrites here too...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

earthchick says:

So interesting to read everyone's thoughts on this! I'm glad I'm not alone. I really do want to do better at maintaining my blog - maybe once I resolve my computer issues.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

lauren*o says:

First of all, you do a really fantastic job of bringing up discussion in our little group and I really appreciate it!

Secondly, I guess I'm having the same experience as most of these other folks - flickr is slowly killing my blog! I still post to it, but I spend so little time reading other people's blogs nowadays. And there's no way to say this without sounding horribly insensitive, but I guess I'm not as interested in what other people have to say on their blogs as I once was. I am interested in human beings, but it's hard to feel like there's an actual relationship between me and some person's blog persona, and if I'm not personally invested it's really hard to be interested. If there's some useful tutorial or tip or cute pattern I'll bookmark it, but I think I'm having a harder time connecting and actually caring about people's lives as they appear on blogs now that I'm getting more involved in flickr. Part of this is probably my increasingly short attention span. :)

This year in particular I've been struggling about how much of myself I'd like to reveal on my blog, what language to use, and how to actually put myself into it without alienating everyone, but keeping it from being bland. I guess it's a tough balance to maintain, and with flickr it seems like that takes less effort, especially since you can limit things to just friends/family/whatever. But you know, writing this down is weirdly kind of renewing my interest in my blog. Maybe I just need to start talking about other things besides knitting?

I'm not as big into ravelry. I love to post my stuff on there and look at patterns and what other people have knit, but personally I never touch the whole boards/groups thing.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

CurlyBrunette says:

I blog for me and no one else so I could care less if anyone reads my blog. Are people that self absorbed that it makes a difference? Get over yourself and your blogs. Geesh! I am not directing this statement to everyone here but for certain people it seems that its a big deal if higher numbers of people read their blog. My blog didnt originally start out as a knit blog but as a story of my journey through cancer so for me its not a big deal, thats what I mean.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

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