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Death of the Web log
Weblogs discussing the Web have run their course
June 5, 2001
Talking about the Internet is so last year.
Wonder why so many weblogs are closing up shop? Because the excitement has died down. There are scant few new dotcom business models to assess, web sites to explore, theorems to dissect, concepts to discuss.
Look around at the name-brand sites. Metafilter has gone from uncovering intrigue to discussing the day's news. Salon has run so low on technology stories that it lapsed its tech coverage into its business section with ease. Goodexperience has posted just four usability links in the past three weeks. Stating the Obvious has turned into a cliquey BBS.
It's over, "it" being commentary and discussion about a burgeoning new medium. A site like Packet could never exist in 2001. The news now is about layoffs and struggles for survival, how to cut one's losses and steady the ship. Progress no longer exists. Retrenchment and profitability are the name of the game.
There just isn't that much to talk about anymore--nothing fun, at least. Take a look at the links above. Remember when the Industry Standard had a 340-page print issue last summer? The current issue is 88 pages, including advertising.
Mind you, the web isn't dying. But the heyday of Internet discourse is disappearing as the economic downturn forces negative change upon the New Economy.
The result of all this is a dearth of content as it pertains to our usual topics. And the fallout is mighty. Great sites have closed so their owners can do other things. Great talents have found themselves unemployed. And, most importantly, the excitement has abated. So the navel-gazing is coming to a close, and with it, so is the "traditional" Net-centric "blog."
We are at the end of an era. A few months from now the weblog community may look radically different as the players change and the playing field takes on a different form. And we could all be talking about much different things.
It was fun, though, wasn't it?
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