The Blog - Lasting Fixture or Passing Fad

Whether blog's are here to stay in some form is no debate - there will always be a significant population of web users that provide some level of significant content related to their personal lives, profession, hobbies, etc.  The bigger question, however is whether the blog, which agruably has now become "mainstream", will fade from the mainstream over time. 

I must say, I'm amazed by some of the people that are now "bloggers" - certainly some that I would consider to be far from high tech.  With all the online social networks, the blog, along with other social network tools seems to be a great way to connect with like-minded people.  Web 2.0 (and beyond) does seem to be here to stay.

On the other side of the debate though are the contrarians - many of which I find are the more "high tech" crowd.  We recently interviewed several new web development providers as part of our plan to upgrade our custom home web platform and presence.  Without exception, each of these "high tech" resources argued that blogs are the latest fad, and will soon fade from the mainstream.  It was a point of contention because I was adament that the blog structure be included in the next phase of our web development.

I understand the argument - and have certainly seen many fads come and go.  I do see logic in the contention that the time and effort required to maintain a steady stream of substantive information may push this online communication forum from the "mainstream".  But I do believe that for those who are passionate about what they do, and who make the effort to post meaningful content, there will always be an audience and a community to share thoughts and ideas.