Now, in the ultimate sign that it's a mature medium, people simultaneously talk about the death of blogging (killed by Twitter, Facebook etc) and a blogging revival (long-form writing making a return as an antidote to Twitter, Facebook etc).
I guess I'm more in the revival camp - I cherish blogging as the first place I was ever able to write in public but, to me, the best bloggers are those that just kept pressing on, not worrying whether it was fashionable or not. I've realised of late that my RSS feed still brings me the most informed and useful writing I ever find on specific, particular topics. I wanted to share a few with you.
The first is Tom Ewing's Blackbeard Blog (http://blackbeardblog.tumblr.com). A place full of the smartest and pokiest writing about "the intersection of social media and market research", it's an essential read if you're interested in this stuff.
Its first great strength is that Mr Ewing is deeply familiar with the online world and with writing for it. This isn't someone who's been nudged into "delivering online content" by corporate overlords - he clearly loves writing on the internet and also does it with huge passion and eloquence about pop music. Go and find his section on "the new market research" - it'll instantly get you up to speed with some clear-eyed thinking about the state of the industry, properly balanced between social media optimism and old-school rigour.
The second and third are Matt Deegan Writes at www.mattdeegan.com, a terrific blog about the creative and commercial aspects of radio and digital, and James Cridland's blog at http://james.cridland.net, similarly terrific, similar topics.
I'm a big radio fan - I'm convinced it's the media channel that could get the most from the opportunities of digital - but I have to confess I'm not a big listener of commercial radio. These two blogs make me feel like an industry insider. For example, as soon as the BBC Radioplayer launched, these two had well-informed and useful thoughts available to all. It's sometimes worth remembering what the world was like before blogging came along - how hard it was to uncover this stuff and how expensive it would be.
I point at these blogs because they seem to me to represent the future for professional thinking. Tom, James and Matt aren't blogging because it's fashionable, they're doing it because it's a convenient way to get both quick and considered thoughts out into the public realm with the possibility of feedback. It's still the best way for the interesting minds in an industry to find and talk to each other.
- russell@russelldavies.com