Just like human conception, gestation, birth, infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, adolesence, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond – blogs have life cycles. Most blogs, however, tend to evaporate sometime between toddlerhood and childhood. Maybe a blog's legs never fully develop and it can only crawl around, bonking its head on the furniture. Or maybe it matured too quickly – running out of new ideas and becoming relegated to senility and bonking its head on the furniture.
I'm humble about my blog. If anything, it still hasn't learned to walk some days, and then on others it's stuck in assisted living waiting for someone to feed it some mashed potatoes. At best, it's a sure sign of an immature blog when it turns to talking about blogging itself. Well, at least I think so. But like I said, I'm humble.
Here's a typical blog life cycle:
1. Conception.
The eventual author somehow is introduced to the Blogging World and has the bright idea to launch his or her own site.
2. Gestation.
This includes posts about things "my two readers would enjoy."
3. Infant.
Suckling at the breast of invention, there are new worlds and new ideas explored that make it an interesting blog. Just watch out for the poopy diapers!
4. Toddlerhood.
Now this blog is learning to walk on its own, yet the author is now entrenched in other blogs. Expect links to other sites, and references to "big league bloggers." Name-dropping and exploring other bloggers' ideas on their own sites abound.
5. Childhood.
There is an emerging conformity here – immitation being the sincerest form of flattery – and a pattern develops. This is when toys get thrown and fingers may get stepped on, though, if the blogger doesn't know how to play nice.
6. Puberty.
Expect pimples, deepening voices and swelling breasts as the blogger tries "to find him/herself." Often a blog's template will change, as will colors, etc. It's a time of experimentation and renewed discovery.
7. 20s.
Wild and carefree, there are lots of posts about late-night drinking and sexcapades. The equivalent of the 10-year college plan. This is the point at which some people have been wrongly fired from their jobs for blogging (although this can happen at any point before or after this item).
8. 30s.
Older but not old, the blog may settle down a little bit during the week, but goes out and parties hard on the weekends.
9. 40s.
The blog can't bend down as far as it used to. There may be more mature posts about retirement plans and minivans here.
10. 50s.
Not quite ready to retire, but definitely running out of steam, the blog sees less-frequent posts and more dead air in between them. There's also talk about taking a cruise and moving to a smaller house now that the kids are gone.
11. 60s.
If a blog has lived this long – measured not in time but by its road to full maturity – it is bound to have slowed down. Posts may have become frequent again, but they are shorter and more to the point. Besides, the blogger has a tee time at noon and can't be bothered with trivial matters anymore.
12. Geriatric Park.
Alive so long it can't remember its past too clearly, a blog will start unwittingly dredging up old issues and themes that it previously dissected thoroughly. The blog may not remember what it had for lunch yesterday, but somehow can rehash an argument it had with someone else years ago. Ripe old age or ripe for a mercy killing, the blog has lost its luster but not its self-importance.
Of course, this list doesn't apply to all blogs. Some established blogs are as vibrant as a freshly scrubbed newborn, while some new ones are but a few posts away from a hole in the ground. Remember, a blog's life cycle is not measured in time but by how far it has come. There are so many young blogs simply floating on a sea of inactivity (thanks to free services such as Blogspot). In fact, that reminds me – I probably need to put the old blog out of its misery.
i was stuck somewhere between the infant and toddlerhood stage. so where would that place me if i ever went back? would i resume where i left off? or would it be a gestation thing in the middle of the infant and toddlerhood stage? hmmmmm...too much to think about on lunch break. prolly why i quit blogging in the first place!
Your lists slay me. I try to drop by each day to see what you're up to. And I love it when it's a list.
My Blogaversary is coming up in May, and I'm still enjoying it. Looks like you are too. How long have you been at this?
Interesting post. Now I gotta figure out what stage I'm at. I think you may be onto something.
OMG. This is so true! Excellent post. I'm thinking I'm in the terrible twos....
@
So how old are you? I think I'm stuck in toddlerhood.
I wonder if my perception of my blog's age and reader perceptions would be the same?
You know you're in trouble when you have angst and guilt over a lag in posting something "newsworthy". Will your readers ( all my established two!) quit coming? Will they forsake you for a new affaire of the blog heart?
And like any other kind of writer, the "block" sets in and you teeter on leaving the blog community altogether. Sometimes, I can't help but feel I am wasting time. Oh well, too late. Addiction has set in! I guess when it stops being fun, I will go onto another project for self-fulfillment!