The end of the explosive growth in blogs has been predicted for some time. Sam Diaz writes about the subject on Post I.T. blog.

Could Web logs be headed for a slowdown – even when there’s still 99 million of them that I haven’t had a chance to read?

I remember first reading a while back that the number of blogs was
set to peak sometime in the middle of 2007 but was reminded about it
when I stumbled upon a short article while flipping through the latest
issue of Macworld magazine.

Research by Gartner, according to the magazine,
found that the number of blogs will top out at about 100 million this
summer. But it also noted that some 200 million blogs are no longer
being updated–many of them abandoned by their authors.

I know I’m guilty of blog abandonment. But, another factor not mentioned in the articles I have read (sorry, don’t remember where…) is blogs that “upgrade” by moving away from say a blogspot hosted site, to a unique domain and custom hosted blog. I did that with my Technology and Communications blog, originaly started on blogspot, and now residing here.

Overall, the technology and its use needs to “mature” in the sense that it has to find its place in mainstream America, and I think we are seeing that through different companies that are finding ways to monetize through the use of blogs.

technorati tags:Blogs, blogging, Sam, Diaz, Washington, Post