Bookish Thoughts / General Books

Let’s Talk Bookish: The Evolution of Book Blogging

Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books  & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! You can check out these pages for March 2022 prompts & a full list of the past prompts!

Now without further ado… The topic asks us about:

THE EVOLUTION OF BOOK BLOGGING

(SUGGESTED BY RUKKY)
Prompts: How long have you been blogging, and how has the book blogging community changed since you started? Do you think it’s been a positive or negative change? What do you think the future of blogging will be? Would you want to keep blogging even if blogging becomes very “old school” and isn’t really done anymore?

how long have you been blogging and how has the book blogging community changed since you started?

I’ve been blogging for as long as I can remember with personal “open diary style blogs on LiveJournal, Xanga and eventually WordPress. But I made my first post on this blog on 19 February 2019 and I can hardly believe that I’ve been blogging for about 4 years now because I still very much feel like a newbie and the imposter syndrome is still very real on most days for me! 😂 While the engagement I have through this community is the highest I’ve ever had with blogging, I’m not sure that I can tell if anything has changed much since I’ve joined, especially in regards to having a blog in the “traditional” sense through WordPress etc.

Something I have noticed though is the emergence in popularity of Bookstagram and BookTok and the use of other channels such as Pinterest to more widely promote posts. Not long after I joined, I noticed a few bloggers engaging less on their blogs and they decided to shift their focus to creating content on IG and TikTok as they find that it’s easier to engage and more visually appealing, plus I heard others mention that it took less time to create something. I’ve also seen a few book bloggers start BookTube channels in addition to their blog, which I think is pretty awesome! Do those other platforms also count towards “book blogging”?

what do you think the future of blogging will be? will i keep blogging even if it becomes “old school” and isn’t really done anymore?

Honestly, I think blogging is going to be around for a while. With social media and the rise in popularity of bookstagram, now followed by BookTok, I believe there are already plenty of people who see blogging as “old school” and (to a point) “irrelevant” because it doesn’t have the same direct or measurable impact those other platforms have. Blogging is also text-heavy and definitely not as “fast and easy” to consume as media on those other platforms, which a lot of people find more convenient these days. I’ve also seen reoccuring discussions about how book bloggers get less credit or attention in comparison to bookstagrammers/booktokers, although I don’t know if that means more people will abandon their blogs for those platforms or not.

There are many moments I feel imposter syndrome wondering what I’m doing blogging but then I remember why I continue to blog now (which has actually changed from what it was at the start!) and ultimately, I’m blogging for myself and my love for talking about books with others who are passionate about the same stories and authors as I am. I noticed that a lot of bloggers start with blogs and them move onto Instagram and TikTok but it was the opposite for me as I started with bookstagram but found that it drained me *so quickly* and blogging was more my speed. All that being said, I think there’s a reason why people still blog after all these years and why there continue to be new book bloggers even when it’s seen as “lesser than” compared to the other reviewing platforms. I do believe bloggers are here to stay and hopefully, I’ll be one of them! 😊

What do you think of the evolution of blogging? Do you think blogs will last or do you think with the changing social media ‘landscape’ blogs will become “old school” and irrelevant Do you have bookstagram/booktok/booktube in addition to a blog?

21 thoughts on “Let’s Talk Bookish: The Evolution of Book Blogging”

  1. I started my Blog in June last year and run my Bookstagram account alongside it. I wasn’t sure if I was really qualified enough to talk about the progression of blogging!

    I started blogging just to see how easy it was to set up a website (I was advising my sister to set up a website for her art shop so wanted to see how easy it was 😂). My Bookstagram was originally just a record of my son’s library books. When the pandemic hit we didn’t go to the library so I took it over 😂🤣

    It was interesting to read your thoughts ☺️

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks for sharing my post in your wrap up, Emily! I admire everyone who can run a blog + bookstagram at the same time. I tried that for 3-4 months when I started blogging years ago and it was just overwhelming! 😂 I hope you continue to enjoy blogging and being part of the blog community here!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. Great post! Blogging is much more my speed, too, and I hope it never goes away. I appreciate the addition of the different platforms, but I don’t like that some view blogging as less than.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. I find it hard to believe that taking photos for IG, making videos for YouTube or any other platforms is easy. Maybe it’s different, but I wonder about people who call it easy. But, yeah, the shift from platform to platform is dizzying. I like this medium the best.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It’s definitely not easy but people make it seem like it is (or maybe that’s just my perception) but I used to spend *ages* getting things set up for bookstagram shots and then even longer editing the photo just how I like. It was very time consuming 😂 I still spend a lot of time writing blog posts but I find the pressure is much lower and it’s less stressful!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. I’ve been blogging for almost 11 years (eek), and I don’t see it dying at all! It’s definitely changed in that 1) there used to be a few BIG BLOGS that it seemed every other book blogger knew and followed, and that hasn’t seemed to be the case for several years and 2) publishers have definitely decided they don’t care about bloggers anymore.

    But my traffic has gone up, and the blogging community is still strong, so I think it will always exist. Especially because there ARE people who both prefer to write their opinions of books rather than film them and there are people who’d rather read about books than watch TikToks. So we don’t get ARCs or kudos from publishers as much, I guess, but the actual audience for blogs is still here.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • 11 years is AMAZING! I hope to be around that long with this book blog 😍 Talk about goals (hehe)! I think I noticed a few of those BIG BLOGS when I started a few years ago (I think that’s how I actually found Pages Unbound!) but I feel like smaller ones are becoming more common. It’s sad that publishers don’t care about bloggers anymore though especially with how much effort we put into it, but at least we’re all still supporting each other! I started this blog with the hope of catching publisher’s attention for ARCs and what not but I feel like that motive also very quickly changed and now I blog more for my own enjoyment and for other readers too. Thanks for stopping by and engaging on my post! 😃

      Like

      Reply

  6. Great discussion, Dini. I tried bookstagram and Pinterest, but I just don’t have the time. I think those platforms are more time consuming than blogging. Even if it’s “old school”, I prefer WordPress and to write my posts, I feel like I engage more with the bookish community through my blog.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks for sharing your experience, Marta! I agree with what you said. I think I ran my blog + IG together for 3-4 months but couldn’t handle it cos it was just too time consuming. The speed at which IG rolls was also way too fast for me so I ended up going the “old school” way and stuck to my blog. I feel like my engagements through blogging were more meaningful in comparison to those on IG as well!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. What a great discussion post! I’m with you – I blog for myself above all else, and I hope, and like to think, that I’ll be around a while. I believe in you and think you will be, too! ♥ Even if some people think we’re old school, like you said, there will always be people who still enjoy blogs and need this content.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I agree there is something with the written formant that you can go in depth with book reviews. Unlike other platforms.

    Like

    Reply

  12. I prefer old school for sure. 😂 I think blogging will be around for a long time. When BookTube started to go big, everyone kept saying book blogging was over. And yet… it’s still going. 😀
    I actually think Bookstagram is much more time-consuming for content creation and YouTube too. But some people are more visual than others, so it’s probably easier for them. IDK. I like to scroll through Instagram book posts and watch YouTube book-related videos, but I still prefer blog hopping. Unfortunately, I haven’t got much time for that lately. Hence I’m now binge consuming your posts here. 😂 ❤

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment