Do you remember when you first heard the term ‘blogging’?

If you’re anything like me, you immediately launched your favourite search engine and looked up this new phenomenon.

It seemed to herald a shift in online communications, changing the way we interacted with businesses online, forever.

180 Million (plus) Blogs and Growing…

Since that time, the blogging phenomenon has grown in popularity, as ordinary people realised that all they needed to get their voice out and heard in the blogosphere was a PC and a little time to write.

There are now blogs available on every imaginable subject, and whatever your passion you will find someone out there who matches your enthusiasm and can further your knowledge.

As a small business owner, I love blogging for a number of reasons, and anyone who is a regular here will probably be able to reel them off right now without thinking too hard.

Will blogs be around…tomorrow?

However, I’ve been thinking about blogging and where my business is headed in the future, and I’ve been wondering whether blogging is a real, sustainable part of business development, or whether or not one day it will be superseded by other technologies which increase in popularity and eclipse the blog.

When you look at trends over time, something they all seem to have in common is an initial flair of interest, followed by a steady uptake.

From here, technology can go one of two ways…

It can either quietly evolve and develop to stay ahead of shifting trends in consumer needs, or it can die a slow death and be taken over by more new and interesting initiatives. Just as vinyl was eclipsed by the tape, and then the CD and now MP3s, so other things such as software gets taken over by new products which are sleeker, more convenient, or more effective. VHS tapes were decommissioned by DVDs, and now we can download our films at the flick of a mouse and it seems that DVDs will soon be a thing of the past.

Even in the blogosphere, just as our late adopters are beginning to blog, new technologies are taking over. People are leaning strongly towards video blogging, or vlogging, as a new way of expressing themselves and contacting their customers.

The Tweet is becoming ever more popular among every imaginable type of person from politicians to playwrights, and blogging technology itself has advanced beyond our wildest imaginings from when it was first launched.

Blogging  – a thing of the past?

So, is blogging one day going to be a thing of the past?

I don’t believe so.

Blogs are adaptable and flexible, and the platform can be modified to suit people who love to write, love to talk in front of a camera, or simply want to share links with other people who have similar interests. Because of this, I can imagine a future which has a whole new sphere of blogging capability in it, but not a future with no blogs at all.

I’m looking forward to seeing how my favourite technology develops over time, and learning and adapting to meet the needs of my customers as this trend evolves.

What’s your thoughts? Blogging here to stay? Please share your views in the comments below.