The blogosphere was already crowded when I started writing in April 2009, but individual commentary was unquestionably influential. Blogs had been acknowledged as being crucial in shaping public opinion. However, new platforms have been taking away most of the of readership, and in current days, blogs have little or no influence.
In 2017, Gina Bianchini gave advice on not starting a blog:
2017 is a very different world than 2007. Today is noisier and people’s attention spans shorter than any other time in history…and things are only getting worse. Facebook counts a ‘view’ as 1.7 seconds and we have 84,600 of those in a day. Your new blog isn’t equipped to compete in this new attention-deficit-disorder Thunderdome.
Some years ago, I realized Facebook’s influence while I was in a UBC class, feeling like a relic among fresh-faced students. I sat in the back of the lecture theatre, intending to remain a silent observer. I looked down upon a sea of glowing screens. Many of the students were scrolling through Facebook, not writing course notes. It seemed that the professor’s content was no match for social media content.
As with other blogs, the audience for IN-SIGHTS has decreased. Admittedly, this decline is partly due to less relevant and less frequent content. Additionally, platforms like Twitter, Meta, Reddit, Bluesky, and Pinterest capture people’s attention by providing quick and engaging posts. Substack and Medium are places for in-depth commentary, but those are designed to create revenue for the platform owners as well as the content contributors.
I guess I have been writing IN-SIGHTS for myself, not to attract a large readership or change public opinion. If I see incidents or information that intrigue or outrage me, I can share them with others. My wife appreciates that because she doesn’t have to be bored by my major and minor rants. (In the beginning days of this blog, I said that if Gwen were to read my blog, the audience would be doubled.)
I’ve been spending time on the Canada West Forums Society lately, so I’ve been concentrating on topics that are covered there in even greater detail. It’s an effort that I hope will succeed and be continued by much younger people. The current series on energy makes expert information available to anyone interested, and that information is substantial.
I turned 80 this week. So did Gwen, my wife of 57 years. The average life expectancy in Canada at the time of our birth was 63 years for men and a few more years for women. The excellent medical care we’ve received has helped us survive, but even if my mother and maternal grandmother lived past 100, I know the time left is limited.
Maintaining IN-SIGHTS takes more than a few dollars. Fewer readers means fewer contributions come in to help cover the expenses. The cost of the website host is merely a portion of the total. Major news service subscriptions are expensive, and the computers I use cost more than my first new car, although that was bought over 60 years ago. Inflation is unstoppable, but pensions barely change.
As I decide whether to keep up this blog, I would like to hear from regular readers. What kind of content do you like to see on this website? What do you want to see less of? If the blog does end, should I maintain the more than 3,000 posts on this site, even if the majority of them are out of date? Would it matter if I completely shut down IN-SIGHTS?
If you prefer not to comment on this post, send me an email at normanfarrell.ca@gmail.com
Categories: Blog Business
in-sights.ca 
Happy belated birthday, Norm!
It sounds like you’re taking stock of where you’re at, where you’ve been and where you’re going — which is a good thing to do every so often.
You’re “sharpening the saw”… or at least using a sharpened saw wisely, so it doesn’t go dull too quickly.
I must admit, the pull of “life” — and new commitments mixed in with old — have left me less time to spend on reading and responding to blogs. I think I’ve read almost every post you’ve made since I discovered your Northern Insights some 15(?) years ago. I will admit that I’ve been less prone to making written responses.
I’ve always appreciated the veracity and tone of your posts, and the lack of bombastic comments from haters and troublemakers. You usually showed receipts and I guess they just couldn’t counter without looking like fools. Interplay does invite more engagement, though.
It’s amazing that even in 2017, Bianchi saw the coming demise of blogs. Sites like Facebook have grabbed the limelight — and Donald Trump has placed his name above all others, with his daily/hourly idiocy, lawlessness, lies, corruption and cruelty. I’ll stop there, before giving him another breath.
Back to you, Norm: even if you choose to shut things down, it would be a shame to lose a record of all the work you have done. The outdated stories are still a historical record.
I was a teacher on call recently and a student who had just qualified for the provincial track and field championships asked me about a sports story I wrote for the Hope Standard (Black Press) in 2011, when he was three years old. He had “discovered” me, all these years later.
As a weekly freelancer from the 1980s until the COVID years, I wrote and photographed over 1,000 sports stories as well as other news and community events — and those from about 2000 onward are all retrievable with a simple search. Older issues are on Newspapers.com.
Is there a way for you to park your work on a provincial library server, or perhaps a university server? As a history buff, I know there are 1930s masters’ theses on BC history on UBC’s servers.
I don’t know the how-tos for porting your work over… but it needs to be protected — and it shouldn’t be at your continued expense. People in the future need to have a chance to be amazed by what was written in the early 21st century by a caring “nincompoop, ranting in his underwear.” 🙂
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Just to say, I read and appreciate all your posts. Thanks, and best wishes, whatever you decide to do.
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Milestones usually provoke self reflection, and the closer we get to the ultimate milestone, the more there is to reflect upon. True to form Norm, you’re doing a thorough job of it; seeking insight into both IN-SIGHTS and the guy who makes it tick by examining all corners while taking your readers along for the ride with a request for their input. You learn, and we learn. Your blog has been ever thus.
I agree with Barry. Your body of work is too valuable to be shelved in the dark. Like him, I’m not sure how or where it can be made permanently available for future researchers (hopefully your readers will have some expertise in that regard), but I would certainly be willing to contribute annually to help with the cost.
Whether it ultimately swayed governments in one direction or another (The John Horgan Dam and Generating Station!?), I enjoyed the attempt this blog made in the past to hold political feet to the fire, especially the provincial variety. With David Eby seemingly doing what he can to alienate large swathes of the electorate and gift wrap the next election for the Conservatives, there will no doubt be much fodder for your cannons should you decide to continue. But it is a frustrating and largely thankless task, not likely to improve for several reasons as you point out. It’s probably selfish on my part to hope or urge you to continue.
Your heart and your mind will ultimately make the decision. Both must benefit.
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I very much appreciate your writing with IN SIGHTS Norm. I get too much to read on my computer and struggle to keep up, but I normally read your items because they are good.
However, I understand where you are coming from.
The Peace Valley Landowner Association has idled down after losing the Site C fight. We got tired of the cost of maintaining the website, so we reluctantly canceled it. However, it was sad to see all of the information that was there no longer available.
Glacier Media was the last owner of the former (original) Alaska Highway News, and when they shut it down a few years ago, they killed their website, and all of that online content disappeared, including my Bear Flat Dispatch opinion pieces up to that point.
One would think there has to be a way to keep that up and available for the public somehow, but if there is, I am not aware of it. Perhaps someone from the younger generation has brighter ideas on that. Whatever you do Norm, thanks for your IN SIGHTS.
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Why keep going? To better inform a public being lobotomized by media.
That said you’re in very good company.
On the subjects you study, technology, governance, energy, the environment, and how things are perceived by idiots with more power than brains, suggestions about policy alternatives only work if those in power concede – what we’re doing isn’t working. We need something Very Different.
Helpful, respectful submissions to real politique are nice but what drills past surface rot – for centuries – is HUMOUR.
A sample.
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