if you blog, have you seen a downturn in your hits

I don't blog, but it's not you. I think a lot of it had to do with google reader ending. There just wasn't an amazing replacement and I think people just sort of forgot about looking at blogs as often.

Also around that time, Pinterest was really picking up speed, so people started pinning as entertainment vs. reading blogs.

I think right about the time Google Reader went away is when I sort of stopped following blogs I used to read often. I also had a baby at that time too, so it was kind of an easy time suck to quit.

I think now people are pinning from Pinterest, which is still blog-based in a way for ideas. I think people are using Instagram more for photo documenting instead of blogs too, because it's easier and less time consuming. And I think Facebook has filled in the holes. I do follow some of my fave bloggers on FB so I see some of their content come that way. I only click thru to their blog if it really grabs me whereas in google reader, I pretty much saw it all.

That might not be the "right" answer to your question, but it's certainly how it changed for me.

I largely blame pinterest. I also agree with google reader ending; it just adds to the decline.

The major thing that switched me away from blogs was how the formats would change. I enjoyed blogs of regular scrappers who used a variety of products, gave honest reviews, and posted pictures.

Now it seems like once a blogger becomes popular they start posting contests, get on a design or manufacturer team (decline in products and few reviews), and process videos are a huge thing. I'm a simple scrapper and I don't want to watch a 15 minute of a page being made. A technique? Possibly. BUT it's their blog to choose to do what they want. I just wasn't finding blogs that fit the way I scrapped.

I prefer pinterest because all I need is a picture. If I look at blogs, it is manufacturers to see if there might be a product I want to buy.

Do your analytics show how many people are reading you via a mobile app? I still read a lot of blogs, but I do it through Feedly. I don't leave comments like I used to because there's not an easy way to do it on my phone.

I've read that in general, people are reading fewer blogs and are replacing that time with Instagram, Twitter and other social media pursuits. But I think there's something to be said for a platform that allows you to tell longer stories or go in-depth on your process.

alissa103 summed up my thoughts.

I still check yours, Ashley, but not the long list I had with Google Reader. Family status has made another difference. My kids are older now, I don't have hours of practice to partially attend, they get dropped off or drive themselves. It's cut down my leisure surf time.

I am one of the few that can't spend a lot of time on pinterest. If I don't have a need it makes me twitchy, like it feeds a latent ADHD.