My system that I use to find the posts, monitors the RSS feed of each blog and it pops up the title of the post when there is a new post. It also highlights when a blog ceases to exist.
Looking at a selection of blogs to boost the post last week I noticed that whilst a lot of the blogs are still live. Most of them didn't have any new posts for a number of years.
It almost seems like a lot of them stopped posting after 2015, it was as if someone out a notice that declared the end of Filofax blog posts on the last day of 2015.... Clearly I didn't get that Office Memo!
I will obviously continue to gather together the posts each week. If we have a bit of a sparse week I will dip in to the archives of some of the now 'dormant' blogs.
[Update: Things are looking better this week. Plus I've had a couple of new sources sent to me to monitor, so we will have more than enough posts this week and in coming weeks.]
Perhaps many have started to use another medium such as vlogs, Instagram, or pinterest?
ReplyDeleteI miss the proliferation of personal blogs that we had a few years ago. I prefer them to vlogs etc most of the time. I wonder, have content creators switched to other formats because they themselves prefer them, or is it because audiences have changed their habits and would rather watch a video? Specifically, would it be worth launching a blog nowadays or would a you tube channel be a better bet?
ReplyDeleteVideos might be easier to watch and easier to get your message across. But the production of them does take a lot more effort and expense if you are going to do them well.
DeleteWhile vlogs, Instagram and TikTok may have lured many content creators, many of these platforms are much harder to search for keywords. YouTube is searchable via a search engine if the creator includes the appropriate keywords in their descriptions. Instagram and TikTok are not searchable if someone is looking for specific content.
DeleteAs a creator, the time and effort involved in making anything for the web, especially something like a review, I want the content to be accessible both the day its published and for weeks or months that follow.
For something as word-based as a Filofax, I think sticking to some sort of written content makes the most sense. Even if video is added via one of the other platforms, tying the content to a blog allows readers to return to the content at a future time and for you to pepper the video with links, and follow up information.
Didn't mean to soapbox about this but I will cling to the written content for as long as I can.
Hi Ana
DeleteI know you do your 'Link Love' posts each week. I'm not sure how you gather those, but I wonder if you have noticed a similar down-turn in blog posts in the last 5 years or so?
One thought I had this morning on my daily walk was that a lot of these new platforms are much easier to post to from just a smart phone, were as a blog can be quite difficult to post to from a mobile phone.
Has there been a reduction in the number of people that own a desktop/laptop PC and they depend much more these days on just a mobile phone for most of their internet access requirements.
I agree with Wendy. Blogging was a trend from a few years ago, largely replaced now by other media. Even Philofaxy is duplicated by exactly the same daily posts on Facebook, diluting the strength of this blog, as many more people comment on FB than on here. But even Facebook is losing its momentum as Instagram and TikTok have been gaining popularity.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I know pink and pastel binders, decoration, trinkets, washi tape and cats are all still popular, they are not my interest. I can quickly skim read 95% of the diminished number of blogs and vlogs each week!
The Philofaxy posts on Facebook are only a link to each post not the full post. We post them there to encourage people to visit the blog.
DeleteIs there a way to search (the rss feed) by post topic rather than blog topic (or maybe you already do)? I was so happy to be featured here, and I didn't know about the site at the time. Now I read it each week. But I don't only write about fiolfax/planners -- I just had one post on the topic.
ReplyDeleteAs for the content type, I will always prefer writing to video. Maybe the reduction in blog content will reduce competition and render the medium "vintage"? I don't know if that's how it works in the Internet world, though. :)
Yes the posts go through a filter before they get included in Web Finds, so if a blog has more than just planning/Filofax content then the filter takes care of that.
DeleteI also do similar posts each week for Travellers Notebook Times. Some blogs have a mixture of ring bound (Filofax) and bound planner content so they get sifted in to the most appropriate post as well.
Back in the peak there might be anything from 50 or more posts included! So much less competition these days.
This is LaDonna.
ReplyDeleteBlogs - I think it would be hard to think of new things to write about a practical ringed planner. That's why I am so impressed with the fact that philofaxy is still going and that there are daily posts.
Pink planners & deco - I think that the pink, pastel, stickers, and planner deco focus might be a result of the decline of scrapbooking. With the advent of cell phones as most people's primary camera, fewer photos are printed. Therefore there is less demand for scrapbooking supplies - albums, pretty paper, stickers, washi tape, markers, and all the deco that went with it. The company that makes The Happy Planner used to be primarily a scrapbooking supply company. They are aimed at the same customer base - mom's who want to document their families' lives in a fun way.
Comments on philofaxy - Personally, I have had issues with getting my comments to post on philofaxy. I have had to switch to using the "anonymous" setting to get anything to go through. I just decided to start adding my name to posts.
Hi
DeleteTaking your last point first. This is down to browsers and blocking cross-site tracking. Not an issue if you go for Anonymous comments.
I changed the system a few months ago to allow Anonymous comments, but all comments are still moderated because we get a lot of SPAM comments.
There have been a lot of changes across the planner community in the last 10 years or so, different trends etc.
Yes agreed, if you are sticking with just one topic e.g. Filofax then yes it's not easy to post new things every day etc. But a lot of blogs we continue to follow were not dedicated to just Filofax. Ones that are still active rarely post about planners these days, but we still monitor them 'just in case'
Thanks for your continued support.
Thank you Steve! I have found a lot of great stuff and great information following the links you post here on philofaxy 🙂
DeleteThank you for bringing the Saturday blogs . I enjoy them, it's part ofmye Saturday routine to have a look at what at the blogs. Although I know I would never be able to do a blog, my dyslexia is one barrier. I think I enjoy Janet's blog 'the bugs life' the most but understand you cannot just feature her blog all the time. Please continue I also enjoy the Travellers notebook times, which is not filofax.
ReplyDeleteI still enjoy Philofaxy. It’s still THE source for all things Filofax (and Van der Spek).
ReplyDeleteBlogs are nice, but I think the newer set of ring-binder users prefer the instant gratification of Instagram and YouTube.
Tiny stickers are big on Etsy. I think the pink binders crowd find them less messy than the scrapbook things. “Minimal” and “neutral” are popular. People seem to love showing off their white Pocket pages with little beige stickers. And getting “Likes.”
Hello! Zsuzsanna here, from Costa Rica (the one that always gets on the call along with her breakfast). I think the filofax content waves from one social network to another, flowing from blogs to videos to Instagram to... wherever children go these days. A lot of people used to blog because that was the "in thing" and it could make you rich and famous and something. But maybe we can make a bit of an effort and bring The Originals ^-^ and maybe "we" (I'm not an Original, but I can try and help) can create back the niche, feed the digital archive with the knowledge and the goodness of the filofaxing world.
ReplyDeleteHey, thank you for all your efforts and all these very enjoyable posts.