Food Blogs: Peaked Yet?

[Sam Salmon]

As per the subject line have Food Blogs peaked yet?

Looking through my Bookmarks I was struck by the numbers of places that looked interesting but I've rarely returned to-of course there are dozens of Blogs bookmarked.

It's all online now-Thai Street Food Chronicler, Verbose Yuppie Chef/Wanker, Indian Veggie Whiner, Breadhead, Sushi Slave you name it.

And-if you can accept my assertion-or even if you can't-what's next?

The sort of Gastro-tourism chronicle posted Here? (an excellent effort BTW)

[Fat Guy]

Interesting you bring this up today, because just a couple of days ago I was chatting with a friend and we were wondering whether the blogging phenomenon would eventually collapse under its own weight.

I think a lot of the food blogs are great, and the professional blogs like Eater and Grub Street have raised the bar and put even more pressure on old media.

There are so many issues to discuss under this heading. It seems everybody has a blog these days -- you look at a lot of signature lines of eGullet Society members, five years ago almost nobody had a blog and now lots of our most active members do. On some topics, it seems like six or seven bloggers are debating an issue.

The typical blog seems to have a life cycle that begins with high energy and enthusiasm and then things trail off. Blogging is lonely, and after awhile it becomes exhausting. But some blogs go on for years, and the professional ones will go on as long as their business models remain intact.

The proliferation of blogs means, of course, that it's harder and harder for any one blog to get noticed. This has got to start discouraging new bloggers at some point. The best blogs still seem to rise to the top, though.

[markemorse]

I think in some ways it's probably like any creative endeavor...it depends on why you got into it in the first place: if you did it for recognition or affirmation, you're going to keep doing it based on whether or not you achieve that and whether or not it satisfies you after all. If you got into it as a way of exercising your mind or your demons or whatever, you're going to keep doing it as long as that keeps working. I don't think it necessarily has to be treated as something with a limited shelf life...

mem

[JohnL]

Good thoughts mark. I agree. The fact is that the vast majority of people

in the world are not interesting nor do they have anything interesting to say.

The internet has become a vast American (or any country really) idol contest where one has to wade through countless examples of mediocrity or worse to find a tiny number of people worth listening to.

I agree with Fat Guy that the "professional" blogs will survive and will continue to pressure other media.

[Fat Guy]

I hasten to add that by professional I mean for pay. I don't think professional blogs are necessarily better than amateur (as in not for pay) blogs. Certainly some of the best blogs are amateur blogs. But professional blogs have resources. They may be have multiple contributors who are getting paid, they may be attached to a media corporation, etc. These factors can keep them functioning beyond the tenure or enthusiasm curve of any individual. And their agendas are different. The professional blogs aren't necessarily about the enjoyment and expression of the blogger(s). They're calculated to have relevance and reach.

[lancastermike]

I used to do a blog, not about food, and the reson I stopped was that I really had little to say about the subject that was fresh or different. After a time I really felt I was just another of the barking dogs. I also found my writing skills to not be as developed as I thought. Mr. Shaw is right when he says it is not easy. And it is realy not easy to do well.

[pastryelf]

In another blogosphere that I watch/read/engage (the knitting world which rivals the food world for blogs) many bloggers have parlayed their online presence into book deals. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee(YarnHarlotDOTca) has 4 books in print with another coming any day now, to name just one. Julie Powell made the leap successfully with the Julie/Julia Project and I see that Clothilde DeSoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini has a book coming out in early May from Broadway. But I am not aware of as many bloggers moving to the printed page in the food world. Am I missing something? Or were there so many more food writers before the blog craze that the competition is more fierce.

As a nascent bookseller of food and wine material I am pleased that the publishing world has had a food book boom. Although in my opinion I think we could do with a few less Rachael Ray/Paula Deen/Sandra Lee books and maybe pull some more good writing off the net. But that's just me...

I do find however that the cream always does rise to the top. Good writing will find an audience whether it is online or in print.

[Carrot Top]

It's all online now-Thai Street Food Chronicler, Verbose Yuppie Chef/Wanker, Indian Veggie Whiner, Breadhead, Sushi Slave you name it. 

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When I read your question last night, Sam, first I thought (as you did) of how very overwhelming the sheer mass of blogs are, and got slightly tired even thinking of it.

But that was last night, and now it is morning, and sunshine brings different thoughts.

We're a world of consumers. We consume media in masses, and it is easy on this superhighway (eh. cheap language shot there but whatever ). A click of the finger and we have it before us, whatever it may be. And a lot of it is very good. Some of it is excellent.

As markemorse said above, bloggers do this for different reasons. But all of them do it from their heart, and it is a gift to us all when we click on their work. Whether we "like" it or not, it is still a free gift, given from a real live individual who exists, "somewhere", who we might run into on the street, anywhere. For they *are* everywhere - the very essence of "globalization" in real terms, not in reports on paper or in economic studies.

I think blogs are going to become like blue jeans. There are never too many, and they come in all styles and varieties. And people love them.

[Tess]

I watch literary and publishing blogs a lot. It seems to me that the ones with staying power are usually those that are part of networks, formal or informal. The writers are somewhat connected and in the know, and they read and comment on each other. They also have professional reasons to keep their blogs going. Most of the time, I only have two or three of these bookmarked and keep up with the rest through their blogrolls and comments. I used to write about sex professionally, and it was possible to do pretty much the same with that subject.

With food it seems a little more difficult to identify nerve centers, at least in terms of blogs. For one thing, discussion boards are better established and more important in the area of food. At least in my opinion.

[Carrot Top]

It seems to me that the ones with staying power are usually those that are part of networks, formal or informal. The writers are somewhat connected and in the know, and they read and comment on each other. They also have professional reasons to keep their blogs going.

With food it seems a little more difficult to identify nerve centers, at least in terms of blogs. For one thing, discussion boards are better established and more important in the area of food.

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Yes, but as with that elusive "great meal" at a restaurant that happens serendipitously, without planning, without intent, without focus, a pure and unexpected gift given yet maybe not replicable again, it could be that there are blogs or even posts in blogs that one really enjoys yet the blog does not go on forever. A free-from sort of enjoyment, far from any business-like approach. The very independent nature of blogs allows this, and I feel that I've enjoyed some blogs here and there very much, that finally, are never to be seen again.

I'm curious as to what you mean when you use the word "important" in the area of food in the last sentence, Tess, though I agree with the difficulty of identifying "nerve centers". What variety of "importance" do you mean?

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Personally, I like discussion boards very much (as one might guess ). But I've written things that (although enjoyed by those responding to it) were pulled off a site, deleted by management as not being part of what they do. So those writing that do not fit into the policies and procedures, rules and regulations, that any given discussion board may have, still have the great opportunity for expression (freedom of the press, that much-touted thing?) on a blog, without hands being tied. Whether this is financially profitable or not, it broadens the reader's opportunities or chances for a variety of readings or forms of expression as there is no pattern drawn that the writer has to fit. Each to his or her own.

[Fat Guy]

With food it seems a little more difficult to identify nerve centers, at least in terms of blogs. For one thing, discussion boards are better established and more important in the area of food.  At least in my opinion.

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I think it's the diversity of the subject matter that makes generalizations tricky.

In New York, for example, which is a city particularly rich in food media, there are many niches. The Eater blog really came out of nowhere and became dominant in the food-news-and-gossip category, though Grub Street has made inroads there. Those are both professional blogs, which used to be oxymoron but has now become a standard use of the term. Dynamic, interactive, group discussion forums don't really compete with Eater and Grub Street in the area of news and gossip reporting.

Indeed, the relationship is synergistic: just last night I posted about the Saigon Grill delivery strike in New York, and when I got online this morning it was mentioned in Eater with a link back to us. Likewise, there are many topics here that start with a link to a story Eater broke. There's no discussion on Eater; there's no formal news-and-gossip reporting function in eG Forums (except for our excellent media digests, which are sort of a different category); so except on the rare occasion that Eater takes a swipe at us or vice-versa, it's mostly a mutually beneficial relationship.

Then you have the Diner's Journal blog on the New York Times website. The Times has always been pretty bad at doing online content, but the Diner's Journal effort has at least produced some interesting material. It gives more depth and nuance to the Times's food coverage, and especially to Frank Bruni's work (he's still the blog's main voice.)

Those are all things we wouldn't have called blogs back in the day, when blogs were by definition amateur efforts. The other thing non-blog-like about Eater, Grub Street and Diner's Journal is that they're not really journals aka "weblogs." Diner's Journal is even called a journal (the name derives from the print column that it replaced), but it isn't. It has some journal-like entries, but plenty of more news-and-essay stuff. So if you think of blogs as online journals, the professional blogs are really something else. They're news services dressed up in the now-familiar blog format.

Of course, New York regional food (mostly restaurant dining) blogs are only a tiny part of the food-blogosphere. There are thousands of blogs that focus more on cooking. There are the blogs by people whose only food writing occurs on their blogs, and there are the blogs by people who are food writers at various stages of their careers.

[Carrot Top]

In a sense, I can equate "non-professional" blogs with home cooking.

As an activity that is done solely for the pleasure of one's own small group, without any intent to influence or affect the world-at-large. No "late-breaking" news, nothing about "the business world" - just a simple (but often deep, as is evidenced by those who post to eG about their home cooking)pleasure enjoyed by those who do it.

In this sense, the "non-professional" blogs are interesting, for as one can not measure the cuisine of a nation by looking solely at its resturants and chefs, one can not measure the real "news" of food in the world by merely examining the professionally produced and shaped efforts.

[Tess]

I'm curious as to what you mean when you use the word "important" in the area of food in the last sentence, Tess, though I agree with the difficulty of identifying "nerve centers". What variety of "importance" do you mean?

By "important" I mean "important to me" in the sense being the first few places I go to looking for information or discussion.

There has never been a Chowhound or an eG for most subjects I'm interested in. In food, these types of sites are among my go-tos. When it comes to food, I'll never be more than a consumer and a fan, which may affect the kind of information I'm looking for in this field. I don't need insider information, and I don't care much about developing a critical perspective. Even if I did, though, I think I would be visiting the discussion boards. In my other fields of interest, I would probably visit them, but they don't exist.

[Carrot Top]

I'm curious as to what "Serious Eats" is considered to be, by most. A professional blog, or something else? What would you call it? Is it a horse of a different color, or not?

[eje]

Here's a related question I'll throw out.

What happens to dead blogs?

Right now there is a lot of great content on blogs. Recipes, commentary, reviews, stories.

Obviously, at some point hosts will die (sorry to be a downer), domains will expire, etc.

Unlike, say, Usenet, there is no real archive or mechanism for extending the life of this content in perpetuity.

I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot of people who don't even bother saving local archives of their blogged content (Nudge! Nudge!).

[Fat Guy]

I think the challenge with taxonomy is that most observers don't have the patience to pay attention to the fact that the larger web efforts are multifaceted. I mean, take the eGullet Society's webspace. It's virtually impossible to get anybody in the press to describe the Society or any of its web services accurately. We're constantly seeing things like "I used to be really into all the blogs, like eGullet" (that's a quote from an article about Grant Achatz). Our web pages are often cited as eGullet.com even though we shifted to .org years ago. So, I'm sure the poor folks at Serious Eats have the same problem, because they provide so many different services, including blog aggregation. The problem when you're a category-defying effort (like we have here, and like Serious Eats is) is that everybody still puts you in a category.

[Fat Guy]

What happens to dead blogs?

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The Wayback archive picks up a lot of that stuff. I know that whenever I'm looking for content from dead websites, I find it using Wayback.

[russ parsons]

i'm amazed that there still are as many as there are--and some good ones. i always check "wednesday chef" and "mouthfuls" among the non-professional blogs. I still can't get over the fact that someone would go to all the work to write write something when there's no paycheck at the end.

that's a joke, kind of, but i do think that's an issue. as someone who makes his living writing, there are times when i think i can't make another deadline, but it is amazing how the thought of getting paid at the end of hte week pulls me through. if my only reward was a warm feeling, i'd probably go sit at the beach.

[Carolyn Tillie]

What happens to dead blogs?

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The Wayback archive picks up a lot of that stuff. I know that whenever I'm looking for content from dead websites, I find it using Wayback.

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I killed my blog a year-and-a-half ago, in November of 2005. I didn't kill it as much as I just stopped blogging and stopped paying Typepad its monthly fee. It is still there and I still get hits and e-mails from the media trying to get me to write about their product.

Ironically, I am actually considering starting another blog just because I am doing so many different things that my family and friends want to see (travelling, knitting, jewelry) as well as cooking. The intent would be far different from what my previous blog was for; I used to blog to get those writing contracts and it worked. Now I don't care if I write professionally or not but want a place to document my experiences.

[Carrot Top]

I still can't get over the fact that someone would go to all the work to write write something when there's no paycheck at the end.

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What is work to one may be pleasure to another.

Again, I'll reference cooking. Not all the chefs in the world cook solely for a "warm feeling".

[Carrot Top]

And gosh. The thought just came to me that eGullet itself was started "just for fun" by a couple of guys. So who knows what might happen to some of those happy little bloggers out there just doing it for fun. I guess, really, anything can happen.

[Sararwelch]

I just started a food blog a few months ago. My primary motivation for starting the blog was the fact that I had friends and family constantly asking me what I was up to in the kitchen. By putting it on a blog, it saves me from emailing the same descriptions over and over again, and it adds a visual element. It also forces me to write down the recipes that I create, which was not something that happened before.

I only blog when I have the time, and so far I've enjoyed it. It's especially exciting when strangers write to tell me that they've tried my recipes and liked them.

Since it's more of a hobby to me than anything else, I don't expect any kind of financial payoff.

[Carrot Top]

I find foodblogs vastly more entertaining than karaoke.

[The Blissful Glutton]

I've had an Atlanta restaurant blog for about a year and a half. I started it because my BF was sick of hearing me talk about food all the time. I guess I have been lucky because the feedback from readers has been very positive and I just enjoy talking about restaurants and taking pictures. I have even gotten some writing gigs for local publications out of it. Blogs are a bit self-indulgent, but if people enjoy them--what is the harm? We don't have that many here in Atlanta compared to other large metropolitan cities, so I guess it is a bit different. I plan to continue as long as I have the time.

[The Old Foodie]

I find foodblogs vastly more entertaining than karaoke.

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Amen to that one, sister.

And I do hope we'll be hearing a lot more about Barry Fig and his chips and doodles.