Looks like some of the early adopter crowd are waking up from their Twitter-induced dreams.

There are several conversations around the web about it this week, but I’ll sum the reasons you should blog and not just Tweet simply:  microblogging (or any social platform where you don’t control the rules)  doesn’t replace the power of an independent web publishing platform where you control the vertical and the horizontal.  Rather, if used properly it actually makes your independent outlet that much more powerful.

It’s funny to me that people think blogging is “making a comeback.”  In terms of what?  Being a topic of conversation with the early adopters or in web-industry media?  What does that have to do with the hordes of artists, marketers, businesses, hobbyists, foodies, moms and everyone in-between who have embraced personal publishing and are discovering real benefits from it daily?  Not very much.  The truth is blogging never lost its utility or groove.  Even further, lifestreaming would actually be pretty boring without blogs.

In fact, forget about the word blogging for a minute and consider all the platform enables:  an easy way to build relationships and share ideas in an area that is unique to you or your business.  I’m not sure how monolithic communities that throw everyone together into uniform layouts can disrupt something unique.  It’s like saying Starbucks is going to replace your local coffee shop.  Sure, your local coffee shop won’t scale, but maybe the experience there is so unique it would lose what made it special if it did.

Other points to keep in mind about the blogging/lifestreaming conversations:

  • Everyone uses the web differently – don’t ever make assumptions others get content just like you do.  Just because you’re using every bleeding edge service doesn’t mean everyone is.
  • The early adopters certainly use the web far differently from the average user.
  • Blogging allows you to reach regular users through email – the largest social network.  In fact, around 1,000 subscribers here are reading this through email.  If I was only on sites like Twitter or FriendFeed, I’d never be able to share my thoughts with those people who prefer content there.
  • Content producers are a creative bunch and demand control of how their content is presented.  Blogs enable this by their very nature.  Monolithic social networks make you play within the lines.
  • There is no “right” or “wrong” way to produce or consume content.  Despite the method of how you are getting it, it’s sort of irrelevant how it comes to you if it’s efficient and in a format that you enjoy.
  • Funny how a writer for TechCrunch previously declared RSS dead.  TechCrunch proudly displays their FeedBurner widget on the bottom of their blog showing close to 3 million RSS readers.  I’m one of them, and their content rocks – but that idea is rich with irony.  Lifestreaming services actually continue to increase the utility of RSS.
  • Imagine all that time you spent growing a presence in a social network, and then that network falls out of favor.  The best part about independent publishing is the niche audience aspect – bearing you continuously deliver value, your small but loyal audience will stick with you.
  • Vanity URLS like Facebook.com/YourName or Twitter.com/YourName are nice, but a catchy domain name is even better.

At the end of the day, comparing Twitter or lifestreaming to blogs is really an apples to oranges discussion, I’m not convinced they are in competition – I would say they work together.  I also have firsthand seen the opportunities afforded both personally and professionally as a marketer, artist and writer through blogging.  More doors only open up the more I go forward, and I truly hope others haven’t been influenced at any point to not develop their own publishing platform and purely work in someone else’s.

Related posts from The Future Buzz

Blogging Is Like Going To The Gym…For Your Brain

10 Things Marketing Professionals Starting Out Should Do

Interview With A Pro Blogger: Sarah Perez

Related posts from around the web

Your Blog Is An Island (Marketing.fm)

Is The Real Time Web A Solution In Search Of A Problem? (Regular Geek)

Will Websites be the Social Networks of the Future? (Daily Blog Tips)