Matt Davis raised some interesting points about blogs in a post last week. In light of the ever increasing popularity of Facebook and Twitter, is blogging on the verge of dying out and going the way of zines?

This is something that's been happening for at least the last six months. News and entertainment blogs aren't going anywhere anytime soon but for personal bloggers, sure, I can see that. It's much easier (and quicker) to pound out a 140-character tweet about how you spent your weekend instead of taking the time to write out a lengthy blog post and upload photos to a server or Flickr. Garnering comments from friends and readers is also a simpler task on Facebook and Twitter. Both of those sites are much more facilitative of a community experience.

So if you're not a professional blogger devoted to examining the nuances of the public option or the minute-by-minute details of Tiger Woods' disastrous holiday season, why bother? It's a question I keep asking myself as I watch friends and colleagues replace their blogs with Twitter accounts. For one thing, blogging remains semi-anonymous and it's more open to the public at large. It doesn't require readers to sign up and participate themselves. Twitter is a conversation, whereas blogging is more like a newspaper column. A post like this one wouldn't fit into the confines of Twitter and it would be completely out of place on Facebook.

Another Portland Blog has always been more of a personal blog than anything else. Someday I may pull the plug but, looking back, I was among the first Portlanders to create a blogger.com account and start posting about random stuff around town. I've been at this for over six years now (!!!). I'd be happy to be among those who hang around long enough to turn out the lights.