Good Bye Fontblog

During my morning read of several blogs in my RSS reader (yes, I am using RSS still), it was sad to read that the German Fontblog closing the doors. For 13 years I read many articles on this blog, which was started by the Fontshop AG in 2004. In 2015 I already was sad when I read, that Yves Peter said Goodbye to Fontfeed, a blog he was running. So the only one still existing in that range now is the Fontshop News now – correct me if I am wrong.

I mean, yes, I can see that writing for your blog eats quite some some time. Especially if you write longer blog posts and articles. But it is sad to see their statement, that conversations and discussion will still be led in social media. They write …

Solche Diskussionen gibt es auch heute noch. Wir führen sie in den sozialen Netzen, schneller, einfacher und demokratischer, denn jeder Empfänger ist auch Sender […]

Translates to something like …

This discussions still exist. We just have those discussions in social networks, faster, easier and more democratic, because each recipient is also sender […]

Sadly this is what many people tend to do and think nowadays. Social media is faster, reaches more people and people can interact easier.

Not completely right in my opinion. Not every medium is a platform for discussions and rich conversations. What about Twitter? 140 characters – really? Even Facebook or Google+. It is no platform, where I want to read a long article on Typography (maybe just a matter of taste, I know). I don’t want to go into detail and criticise social media – I use it myself, a lot – but it is sad to see this all or nothing mentality. Why not using the blog as source for thoughts and writing and then social media to point people to it. Even discussions can be led with using things like Webmention, for example. And this across many social media platforms leading all to be shown and collected on your own blog. It’s far from being perfect, but maybe a start into the right direction?

So yes, even though many new blogs pop up and people start to write more in their own blogs again, even though many new newsletters are created every day, I fear that those personal platforms and ways to express your thoughts and ideas are fading away.