"According to the survey of bloggers, over half of them are not updating any more. And more than 25 percent of all new blogs are what the researchers call "one-day wonders." Meanwhile, the abandonment rate appears to be eating into well-established blogs: Over 132,000 blogs are abandoned after a year of constant updating"
The most obvious reason for abandonment is simple boredom. Writing is tiresome. Why anyone would do it voluntarily on a blog mystifies a lot of professional writers. This is compounded by a lack of feedback, positive or otherwise. Perseus thinks that most blogs have an audience of about 12 readers. Leaflets posted on the corkboard at Albertsons attract a larger readership than many blogs. Some people must feel the futility. ~John C. Dvorak~
Here is a excerpt from Jim Lynch's response
"As far as the issue of readers goes, there's a very fundamental thing that Dvorak and the Perseus people seem to have missed. People don't blog to have a hundred thousand readers. They blog because whatever it is they're blogging about interests them. They want to write about their passions in a medium that easily allows others to read what they write. And most blogs also offer readers the ability to post comments, do trackbacks, etc. It's not just a one way medium. Blog readers have the opportunity to directly shape the content of the blogs they are reading if the blog owner is willing to let them do so." ~Jim Lynch~
Which leads me to some of my own relatively insignificant thoughts on Why I Blog.
You know when you call an old friend or family member on the phone after not speaking to them for a while.
Old friend: "Rick, how ya doing? What have you been up too? Long time no speak."
Rick: " Not much, Same shit different day. You know how it is. What's new with you?"
Old friend: "Not much...."
Blogging gives my friends and family a window into my life. They can see what I see, know what I'm thinking/doing on a regular basis. And they can do this at there leisure, when they have the time not when "we" both have the time.
Keeping in touch is not a forced event when you blog about life. How many people do we loose touch with over the course of a lifetime because we just can't maintain a positive information flow between each other?
Blogging also makes me more aware of my personal goals. When I write them down for the world to see (even if the world's not looking) Blogging about goals seems to drive me to find the ending to the story.
Hence this story has come to an end.
My 2 cents worth on the subject.
