In End of an Era: The Golden Age of Tech Blogging is Over, Jeremiah Owyang pinpoints the four trends that signal a shift in blogs that cover electronics technology and the tech industry:
- Indie tech blogs acquired by corporate media
- Key tech bloggers exiting from major tech blogging sites
- Audiences wooed away by channels with shorter, faster, messages: Twitter, Facebook, Google+
- Fewer tech bloggers making a living via blogging alone
My own predictions for 2012:
- Corporate-owned tech blogs will increasingly adopt the tools of business blogging (better keywording and other SEO elements).
- It will be increasingly difficult for new tech blogs, even those by well-known individuals, to gain traction — especially if they focus on offering opinions rather than tools or information.
- Some new influencers will rise to the top using YouTube channels (in conjunction with Facebook and Twitter) rather than blogs. (Check out what Chris Pirillo has been up to recently.)
- Successful blogs will feature online education (how-tos), including video; they may offer click-throughs to inexpensive ($1 – 5) paid content modules — from online quizzes to ebooks — that expand on the blog posts.
Sounds like what’s shaping up.