Ariana Grande has put the blogging community on notice.
The “God is a Woman” star spoke out to publicly defend Justin Bieber’s performance at Coachella. In the process, she spoke out against bloggers in the infamous, now-deleted tweet:
“People are so lost. One day everybody that works at all them blogs will realise how unfulfilled they are and purposeless what they’re doing is and hopefully shift their focus elsewhere. “
While these comments were intended for one particularly vocal online critic, they struck a nerve with those who actually DO take part in the practice of blogging.
And so the age-old question once again rears its ugly head: Is blogging a waste of time?
The answer? It depends.
I ran a blog and a podcast about the cartoon series Hey Arnold! from 2016 until the end of 2017. I was excited about the upcoming release of the new television movie, and wanted to sing the show’s praises as a sort of love letter to my devotion to the fandom.
Well, November 2017 came and went with little fanfare. The series was sufficiently wrapped up, but with no future projects announced for the series, I was left to ask: what now?
In January 2018 I announced I was ending the podcast and closed my site later in the year.
The takeaway here is that I had set out to build hype around the new movie and brand new Hey Arnold! content, and when that was completed, I had no further use for the project. Its purpose had been fulfilled.
Had I continued podcasting despite no new news on the show, then yes, then the podcast and blog would have been a waste of time, as I would only be catering to an EXTREMELY narrow niche: superfans of Hey Arnold! who are partial to retrospective recaps of old episodes. Not that there isn’t a market for that….
Blogging and podcasting are a waste of time if the undertaking is not in line with one’s personal goals.
Why did I create the Sylvie Soul blog and podcast? It’s because I am writing a YA novel and I want to publicly share my journey while teaching and inspiring others who come from a similar background of creating fanfiction. I want to build an audience that will have a vested interest in my book when it is published.
The moment I stray from my goal and devote time and energy to projects that don’t serve to propel me toward said goal, then what I’m doing is wasting time.
There has to be intent behind making it on different platforms.
Do you think King Bach or TheFatJew’s end goals were to be megastars on Vine or Instagram, respectively?
No! They used their fame and popularity as a launchpad to break into Hollywood. TheFatJew has made appearances in some very high-profile music videos while King Bach has made the leap into movies and even starred in a commercial that airs on national television.
No one would dare tell them the time they spent on Vine and Instagram was a waste of time. They leveraged what they could from the experiences and made them work to their advantages to achieve their goals.
That’s what bloggers and podcasters must do if they are to succeed.
Are you blogging to make money? Maybe don’t write a weekly personal blog that’s all about your feelings and sappy poetry.
Are you podcasting to make it big? Maybe don’t sporadically publish 3-hour episodes that are just you and two other guys gabbing about nothing in your basement.
It’s all about intent. Pinpoint your goal, then work backwards to determine what it would take to accomplish it.
Stay focused; abandon any activities that don’t help you achieve your goal.
Be consistent: you are not going to see results immediately.
Discipline and dedication are required, but eventually the effort will pay off and you will benefit from the fruits of your labour.
Do you agree? Is blogging and podcasting a waste of time? What other steps do you recommend in order to achieve one’s goals?