I realize a significant number of women who now use the internet were not around for the initial rise of blogging. It’s hard for a Generation X-aged writer to communicate to someone who has always been online how paradigm-shifting blogging was. But it was in many ways. It offered to average people an opportunity that had never existed before. It also created an entire new community model that isn’t available anywhere else unless you deliberately seek out old-fashioned blogs.

Blogging hit its zenith in the 2005-2011 timeframe. Once social media, especially Facebook, took off blogging was never the same again in terms of its influence and reach. But in the end, old-fashioned blogging is still superior to social media for many reasons. Here are a five.

Old-Fashioned Blogging Helps You Meet the Real Person

When you read someone’s blog, you get to know them in a way that you don’t on social media. While nothing can take the place of in-life relationships, following someone’s blog over the years allows you to see their children grow, follow their life experiences, learn about their particular gifts and abilities, and more. That doesn’t happen in the same way when you quickly scroll through short bits on social media.

Old-Fashioned Blogging Is Real

When blogging started, it was simply people sharing their thoughts and bits of their life via short little posts. It was mostly unpolished. Pictures were ordinary. It was real in the sense of real life, not in the contrived sense of being “real” in order to attract more social media numbers. Those who still do old-fashioned blogging continue to bring that realness to life.

Old-Fashioned Blogging Is Generous

This is one of the biggest differences and one that may only be readily apparent to those who were around for the start of blogging. Old-fashioned blogging is generous. It’s about blogrolls in your sidebar and helping readers find similar interesting people. (You can’t even get a blogroll widget now for a WordPress site.)

Blogging includes lots of link-sharing to other blogs. Rather than hoping to keep people on your website to increase your advertising analytics, you are happy to share links to other interesting posts and content.  It is about giving “hat tips” to thank others when you find something interesting to share with your readers. Contrast this with social media that is far more interested in what a person can get rather than share.

Old-Fashioned Blogging Is Slow

Although I think the entire “slow” thing has been overused, there is an element of truth to it when it comes to blogs. Blogs are meant to be enjoyed slowly. You don’t scroll through it in a few seconds and glance at it. You stop and read. Instead of hitting a like button or emoji, you write a comment with real sentences and original thoughts.

Because of this slow aspect to it, old-fashioned blogging builds communities. You get to know other women with similar blogs. You become acquainted with women who comment regularly. Blogging slowly connects people over weeks, months, and years.

Old-Fashioned Blogging Bypasses the Control of Social Media

Perhaps most importantly today, old-fashioned blogging allows bloggers to get around the necessity being heavily dependent on social media. Rather than focusing on getting algorithms to show their followers what they have written (or even paying to be seen in feeds), bloggers create their own community apart from the necessity of big tech overlords. Once that community is established, social media has no way of encroaching on it or breaking it up. Only the bloggers themselves can do that because they “own” the community they have built.

At one time, bloggers held the majority of the power. Many slowly gave it away to social media tyrants who now weaponize it against them. The old-fashioned bloggers still hold a great deal of power and continue to create small communities that bring value and joy to the lives of many people.

We need old-fashioned blogs today more than ever.