Blogging for the Long Haul

My buddy Kevin O’Keefe is raising a toast to America’s blogging lawyers and their “dedication to learn, exchange information, and market themselves in an upbeat and professional way.” But there’s another part of Kevin’s post that caught my eye – the line where he adds that “Blogging lawyers, age 35, are going to be blogging for the next 25 years.”

I started my blog when I was 38 and I’m fast approaching the five year blogging mark. While I can’t imagine abandoning blogging, I also can’t fathom the thought of blogging twenty more years, churning out content two or three times a week. Would I find enough new inspiration to keep my writing fresh? Or turn into some kind of blogging-egomaniac, forever citing my own self-created body of work, or harking back to the “good old days” when bloggers had to walk ten miles through knee deep snow to post…(oops, that’s the speech I give my daughters when they balk about the three block walk home from the bus stop). And worst of all, will changes in technology render my old posts inaccessible?

Right now, the blogging phenomenon lives so vibrantly in the present that it’s hard to contemplate the future. And like everything else with the Internet, some next big thing will come along in another ten years that will displace blogging entirely. The challenge that I see for lawyers isn’t so much committing to blogging for the long haul, but having the ability to embrace blogging for now, while keeping our eyes and mind open for the next big thing on the horizon.

Where do you think blogging is going? And will you be blogging 25 years from now? Post your thoughts below or at your blog.

6 Comments

  1. Kevin on November 17, 2007 at 9:37 am

    I thought a lot about the concept of ‘blogging for the next 25 years’ when writing that post. But no matter how the medium changes, the concepts of self expression, interaction, and collaboration are ulikely to change. Those looking to grow personally and professional will still be using the net for this in some fashion – even 25 years from now.



  2. Diane Levin on November 17, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    Carolyn, what a great question to pose.
    I started blogging when I was 46 and will be celebrating three years of blogging in early January. I hope that in 25 years I’ll still be as engaged with the world of ideas as I am right now, whether it’s through blogging or some other medium so astonishing we cannot possibly conceive of it today. As a lawyer who mediates, blogging and the web provide the connection and collaboration that is the essence of my work. I’m looking forward to the possibilities that the next 25 years hold for us all.
    I imagine a web that functions more like a limitless virtual world that we can send our virtual selves to explore and experience. Instead of the asynchronous communication of blogs, we’ll have virtual coffeehouses, 18th century style, filled with the sound of synchronous discussions, where we can meet and mingle. We can nail our virtual broadsheets to the wall and debate them together.
    O brave new world!



  3. Peter Olson on November 20, 2007 at 9:49 am

    Sure, “Solo In Chicago” will be the goto resource for all midwest business people beyond just lawyers…



  4. Eugene Lee on November 24, 2007 at 12:34 pm

    Carolyn, a very thought-provoking post as usual. And alarming! I just got into the blogging bandwagon days ago! Well, I’ll just be content with nailing down the blogging thing just as it gets obsoleted by the Next Big Thing.
    Gene Lee
    http://www.CaLaborLaw.com



  5. Kim Kralowec on November 24, 2007 at 5:52 pm

    Carolyn, the benefits of blogging have been so great that I can’t imagine ever abandoning my blog unless some new and better technology comes along to displace the format. I created my blog at age 36 and have just reached my 4-year anniversary. I will be doing it for the foreseeable future.



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