Food Blogs: Passing Fad or Here To Stay?

A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog

Do you remember when you didn’t even know what the word blog meant?

The short form, “blog,” was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999

[Source]

There are an estimated 120 million blogs on the internet with thousands of new blogs being created each and every day. Our vocabulary for blogging has also grown with new words popping up such as ‘vlogging’ (video blogging), ‘blogroll’ (the list of websites you enjoy), ‘blogosphere’ (the collective community of all blogs), ‘drogging’ (Blogging while drunk, lol), among others.

There are entire corporations surviving simply off food blogs alone, bloggers who earn a decent income though ad placements, and companies chomping at the bit to have bloggers review their products. There are websites dedicated to pictures of food and awards for food blogs.

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It is clear that the blogosphere has taken off over the past several years and shows no signs of stopping.

Or does it?

Must all good things come to an end?

Is food blogging here to stay or is it simply a fad or trend that will be washed away once the next big thing hits? In the next decade will food blogging reduce in popularity or will it only continue to grow?

Will the next generation be as keen to blog as we have?

It can be quite overwhelming for someone who is just stumbling across food blogs. Only a few years ago, food blogs were almost non-existent. Sure there were cooking and baking blogs, but blogs where people actually took pictures of what they put into their mouths weren’t too common. The first one that I ever stumbled upon was Cristin Dillon-Jones’ Eat Like Me. I remember thinking to myself, wow that is such an awesome concept- to show others what you eat everyday!

But nowadays, the food blog world has grown so immensely, it can be down right dizzying trying to navigate the sea of blogs out there. Where does one start and how does one keep up? Then, you stumble across a hugely popular blog and wonder to yourself, ‘How did I not know this blog existed before now!?’ That was how I felt when I came across Smitten Kitchen just last year!

I do think food blogs are here to stay, but I also think that we will continue to see them grow and change with the trends and fads. Vlogging is quite popular now, so I think we will continue to see video blogging more and more.

In what ways do you think blogging and food blogs will change in the future?

If you have a blog currently, how long do you see yourself doing it for?

And the most important question of all- Is food blogging here to stay or simply another example of a fad or passing trend?

Leave a comment below!

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Shelly

15 years ago

I’ve actually been blogging since 2004. I started on Xanga as a way to keep up with my friends, but eventually they stopped blogging and I didn’t like my new commenters (a couple of somewhat creepy scifi dudes and a bunch of teenagers.) The community got a bit too “myspacey” for my taste as well so I’ve recently moved to blogspot. My friends still read my blog, but they don’t comment very often, which makes my blog look a little lonely, I must say. I sometimes feel a little bummed about that until I’ll get an email from them talking about something I wrote about. That makes me feel better. :)
I’m also trying to format the topics of my current blog a little differently. My Xanga used to be fairly interesting but it eventually devolved into a “what did I do this weekend” type of blog that I found somewhat boring.
I’m trying to cover a variety of topics on my new blog, but I’m not 100% where I want to be, content wise, as of yet. I think that it will evolve and become better with time.
I’ll probably blog for quite a while because I like to write and it is a good outlet for me.

The Novice Berker

Hmm, these are all good questions. I personally suspect that food blogs will be here to stay, but that people who have been “hit” with the fad moreso than being truly interested in food blogging might gradually fall away. :\

Smitten Kitchen was the very first food blog I ever read!! I’ve been an avid reader of Deb’s since 2006. Did you see today’s graham crackers? I’m dying to try them already. :)

Susan

I think it would be great if more people learned about food blogs, maybe then I wouldn’t get so many weird looks when i tell people about mine! I think it is here to stay, but I don’t think the same people will always be blogging. I’m not sure how long I plan to keep mine up. I originally started it as a way to share and record my 6-month journey to a triathlon. Now that the tri is only a month away, I realize I’m not ready to give up the blog! So I’m going to put my journalism background to work and get a new domain where I can do healthy living writing, which is my real passion.

Jennifer

I have a blog, but I don’t post as regularly as I’d like to. I am just learning some things and would love to venture into the land of food blogs. I know there are a few blogs, including this one that inspire me and give me new ideas and fresh perspective on healthy eating, my hope is that one day soon I can inspire someone and help them out during a down time.

Heather

Great topic! I definitely think the food blogs are here to stay! However, I do think they will change over time. I think bloggers will start incorporating their other interests (ie fashion, books, hobbies, jobs, etc) into their blogs and not have such “food” devoted blogs. I love blogging and can see myself continuing it into my future. For me, it’s definitely not a trend, and I think most others would agree! Instead, it’s a way of sharing my passions and connecting with those who have similar interests! :)

Sarah

I definitely think food blogging will keep growing and growing and will see some new developments. I too started on Xanga, then went to Myspace, blogspot and now WordPress. So who knows what could happen, haha.

I hope they are here to stay though! I’ve only had mine for a year but I could see myself doing it for a long time…it may change over time, either its name, overall theme, what have you, but I love to write and I love connecting with people of similar interests so I’m keeping it up!

Great discussion :)

Lynne

I think food blogs will be around for a while, but they will continue to evolve, as is being done now with video, podcasts, etc.
I currently have a blog and post almost daily. I have no idea how long I’ll keep blogging. Some days I ask myself why do I blog, and others I can’t wait to post. It’s such a fun hobby and the food blogging community is wonderful. Actually, that’s what excites me the most about blogging – being a part of a group of people with common interests and goals.

MaryBe

Although I do have a blog (not a food blog just an every day living type) I am mostly a reader. I love Smitten Kitchen too, but I think my first big one was Pioneer Woman. Her cooking section alone is amazing!
I have enjoyed watching OSG grow and change. It’s been a great journey Angela!

seagirlrun

I stumbled across your blog a few days ago and am quite intrigued/impressed by how you changed your diet and exercise by looking at the “big picture”… I have read through your “transformation” posts and still have questions- What would you say are the top lessons you have learned that are now guiding your health and fitness? I have struggled with the yo-yo of diets/binge eating for many years. I have finally resolved to be good to my body and focus on eating healthy and exercising above all. I am a little confused on how to determine what foods are the best for my body- can you help to clarify what you mean? Thanks!

Lyndsey

I am a new reader to food blogs but now I don’t know how I can live without them! They are so inspiring and the ideas that I get from them are incredible. I just recently found yours through another one and was so happy. Thanks for blogging! I hope food blogs do stay around!

SarahF

I think that blogs will continue but they’ll adapt and grow as the people who write them change.

I know even as a reader (I’ve always played with the idea of starting a blog but I know I don’t have the time to make it a blog that anyone would want to read) since I started reading blogs-what I want from them is different. I first started with Self’s “Eat Like Me” blog, then I found Kath’s “Kath Eats Real Food” and that one exposed me to a ton. However, I’ve since deviated from blogs that discuss just the food they’re eating and now I more so enjoy blogs that discuss full living health. Even yours Angela-I love your segments with health and comparing ourselves-but I skim through your food entries. So yeah- as people change so will the blogging environment-but I think it’s definately hear to stay

Erin

I rotate through yours, Caitlin’s, Meghann’s, Sarah LovINs, Jenna at Eat Live Run and Gina’s on a daily basis. But that’s because I like how they are written and feel that the people writing them are genuine, honest people. I like to hear about what you guys are up to, and the tips and tricks and recipes and inspiration that you all provide is amazing! So I think food blog’s will last awhile – the good ones will always find new people/new readers. As long as you girls are blogging, I’ll be reading… BUT if you all stop, well, I certainly won’t hunt down new ones to read or anything. I just don’t know if it would be the same ;) hahah! I’m not sure if this makes any sense.. but I like the people and their lifestyles more than I guess the reading of the blogs. I’m not even a blogg-y person – I’m just addicted to these few!

Sara

Blogs they are just the evolution of what us geeks where doing way back when. Does anyone else remember the bulletin boards and threads? That was the beginning of blogs; who knew it at the time? They were mostly tech or game sites for fixes of patches. They were still based on communities with shared interests. Blogs today are much easier for the average user to find and use and they are a lot prettier. The old bulletin boards where like reading spread sheets online no images or video to be found. Today’s blogs are image rich and media rich but I think the video blogging will be a thing of the past. Most online Apps are now making it much harder to upload video because of the massive amounts of storage it takes and the cost of electricity to run the servers. Even Facebook and MSN are trying to cut out the video loads. I started my first blog in 1999. I have blogged ever since but mostly in tech areas. I think food blogs will stay but not in the numbers they are in right now. The well designed, information packed not video packed blogs will hold there ground over the years. I think also blogs that cater to a specific kind of community will hold out. Food blogs that jump around with their information and are not sticking to a set community such as vegan foods or snacks for kids will just die out as people are much more selective about the information they search out. Google and Wiki and the like have made it very easy to search out very specific searches on the web now and very specific blogs are going to do very well with getting there blogs listed to those searches, with people coming in to the blog from the search engine looking for the information they are offering or the product they are selling. At the end of the day it will all be about quality information with an easy interface, just the same as it is for websites. No one sticks around a poorly designed site with useless information and the same is holding true for blogs.

Eh, I think they’re here…for a while. Within a few years they’ll morph into something even cooler.

I plan to stick with it.

emily

I currently have a food blog, I started last August. I keep a blog both as a exercise/food journal for myself and so I can show interest in nutrition when I apply for RD programs with a background only in English!

Katherine

I think (hope!) food blogs will be around for a while, but I think their look and feel will absolutely change. I think blogs will become even more interactive and will incorporate different types of media more seamlessly. I’m relatively new to the blog world, but I give the initial set-up process a B+ for usability. I pretty much found my way around but I found WordPress (the site I use) doesn’t have the integration with other programs on my computer that I’d like for adding different types of media. I think we’ll also begin to have more options for customization that even the general public can use easily.

Bronwyn

I don’t know. I’ve been wondering the same thing lately. I’ve been reading food blogs for roughly a year and a bit now. I discovered them through weight loss forums, which led to weight loss blogs, which led me to health food blogs. I hope they’ll be around for a while. I’m struggling between wanting to start a blog myself… but fear I’ll just miss the “bandwagon” and the end of the food blog days…
Still maybe soon… I’d have to get a little more net savvy.

Jess

Great comments everyone. My story is very similar to that of Heather and Shelly. I have had an xanga for over 5 years, basically all through college and this past year of working in the “real world” (ha) that just my close friends read (and kept their own) and over the years I’m the only one who stuck with it. I do write mostly for myself, as a way to keep track of my life over the years, but with a public spin. It’s great to get comments and other people’s opinions. I have just stumbled across the world of food blogging in the past few months thanks to Meghann’s blog link on fbook. It was the kick in the pants I needed to really reconsider why I blog. I have started included a lot more varied content and using pictures, something I never did before.
It’s a work in progress but I hope everyone get’s a chance to check out my blog. I love comments! :D

Nicole

I really love your blog. I haven’t been reading that long at all, but whenever I am feeling down or unmotivated, I come here and look at your beautiful pictures and posts and it just seems like you’re a happy person and I want to be more like that. Thanks.

Mrs. Money

Blogging is a lot of work! I think some people have this preconceived notion that they will get rich off their blogs. I know it’s possible to make money, but it’s hard to make a living off your blog! I think you are fantastic and I love your blog!

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