Latest Casualties of Facebook, Twitter: Blogs

Just a few years ago, blogging was hot enough to be Merriam-Webster’s word of the year—but as Facebook and Twitter have grown, blogging has declined, the New York Times reports. The trend is particularly notable among the young: between 2006 and 2009, a survey found, blogging’s popularity among 12- to 17-year-olds dropped by half, while between 2008 and 2010, it fell 2 percentage points among the 18- to 33-year-old set.

Some ex-bloggers say they weren’t getting enough readers and just don’t have time for long posts. Others aren’t interested in building blogs because sites like Facebook are all they need to socialize online. Perhaps blogging is just finding its own, smaller niche: “If you’re looking for substantive conversation, you turn to blogs,” says one blogging guru. “You aren’t going to find it on Facebook,” (More Facebook stories.)