While surfing the web recently, a thought struck me: ‘Does anyone still participate in blogging as a hobby—or is it all about views, clicks, and monetization?’

It seems like we’ve lived in a hyper-monetized online world for over a decade now. There are countless guides out there for turning your hobbies into side hustles and using your time and talents to build additional income streams. Heck, I’ve written about those topics myself – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I found myself strolling down memory lane to the good old days where I’d stumble across random personal blogs that weren’t decorated with ads, littered with pop-ups (“subscribe here for updates!” “Buy my course!”), and curated to generate revenue.

It’s been so long that I can’t even remember the names or domains of some of these blogs. I’m sure some of them still exist, and I’ll bet there are millions of active websites that fall under the personal, non-monetized blog category. But the point of this article isn’t to promote hobby blogging over monetized blogging, or vice versa. We’ll just have some fun musing on the subject, and I’ll share my thoughts on the “hyper-monetization” of online content, knowledge, and entertainment.

What Does Blogging as a Hobby Mean?

Naturally, we have to start with some definitions. What is a personal blog versus an income-generating blog? And is there always a difference? In my view, a personal, just-for-fun blog:

• Does not contain ads or sponsorships
• Isn’t being used as a funnel toward a paid offering (like a course or a coaching program)
• Serves as a space for a person to express their opinions or thoughts without any specific aim
• May or may not be optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) and views (more on this later)
• Is maintained by the site owner for fun, personal interest, or creativity’s sake.

On the flip side, a revenue-generating blog:

• Contains ads or sponsorships, or is being built to obtain both in the future
• Funnels visitors toward a specific, revenue-generating objective
• May not always contain the author’s personal views
• Is optimized for SEO, designed to attract traffic, and built to scale
• Exists to presently or eventually generate an income for the site owner.

Before we dive deeper into blogging as a hobby, I want to touch on some points. First, there are countless examples of blogs that started as just-for-fun projects and eventually morphed into income streams. I suspect this is the case for many of the big sites we know today across all niches. It only makes sense that a talented and dedicated blogger would feel inclined to use ads, gain sponsorships, and monetize in other ways if they have a large platform.

Next, I don’t want this post to come across as throwing shade at anyone who is trying to become a paid blogger. I’m highly impressed by people who manage to make it big in the competitive world of paid content creation. I know a few of these people personally. It is NOT easy work to maintain a regular posting schedule, to navigate the convoluted web and app updates that can upend your site rankings overnight, and to deal with the publicity that comes with being well-known online. And with the rapidly changing landscape of content creation, it’s harder than ever to stand out.

A Look at Current Trends

The way we create and consume content in general is changing dramatically. Recent reports show that searches for podcast episodes have become more popular than blog posts, interest in personal vlogging has sharply declined, and the number of active personal blogs dropped by 45 percent between 2019 and 2023. However, people are creating content more than ever before – they’re just shifting their approach. Today, it’s all about short-form content on TikTok and YouTube, as well as live streaming. Podcasting is soaring in popularity, as well.

Why are people losing interest in blogs in general? 

• “Sexier” formats are more popular. Blogs can feel a bit impersonal at times. There’s something about hearing a person’s voice or seeing their face that resonates with people. At the same time, though, we have minuscule attention spans, and we want our information NOW. No wonder short-form videos have become so popular. They’re low effort for the consumer (i.e., you don’t have to pay attention for long), they’re easy to skip if you’re not interested, and they can be highly useful for getting immediately to the point. Short-form content is also low commitment – you don’t have to invest the same effort into watching a 1.5-minute video as you do to finish a 3,000-word blog post or an hour-long video essay.

 

• The rise of AI. We can’t talk about changes in content trends without addressing the elephant in the room. AI tools are incredibly popular since they deliver instantaneous answers to specific questions. Blogging has long been about solving people’s pain points – helping someone know exactly where to go on a trip to Mexico, giving a reader step-by-step instructions for cooking a casserole, or explaining how to start a backyard garden. But AI can do all of that now, and so much more. I use ChatGPT daily, and I often utilize it to brainstorm blog post ideas. I can’t help but laugh when it offers to write the opening paragraph for a particular article or come up with a highly detailed outline for a blog topic. It’s like it WANTS to take the creative wind out of my sails! (But, I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to writing – so I relegate AI to being my brainstorming partner, and nothing more).

 

• People are losing interest in reading in general. We’re seeing a decline in reading for pleasure across all age groups. The statistics are sobering when you consider the potential impact of this trend. Reading for fun helps kids develop a love for books, and it enhances their reading comprehension skills, creativity, and motivation to continue reading later in life. But sadly, even the best books have to compete with screens, the most intoxicating media format of them all. And in the end, videos, reels, and podcasts typically win the war for people’s limited attention spans.

 

• The majority of online content is homogenous (and therefore, boring). This is purely my opinion, but online content has become so formulaic in recent years. This is understandable – bloggers, YouTubers, and other creators cracked the codes for online popularity and shared their findings (probably to generate even more revenue in the form of courses, workshops, etc). Then, everyone who wanted to make a buck or two off of content jumped on the bandwagon. The next time you watch a popular reel, pay attention to ALL of its elements – the format, the music, the placement and style of the text, the sound effects, etc. Chances are that if you start scrolling through other popular reels, you’ll see a bunch of the same elements, even if the reels are on totally different topics. This recognition helped me understand why I’ve been losing interest in YouTube videos lately. I used to love watching videos on all sorts of topics, and I do still enjoy the uniqueness that shines through when I watch my favorite creators. But even then, there are SO many similarities across videos and creators that I can’t help but lose interest unless someone truly stands out. Truthfully, I’m experiencing a content “burnout” that’s turning me off to online content in general.

Blogs are particularly prone to this formulaic approach. Consider the average cooking blog: an article probably starts with some long-winded explanation about the (often boring) background of this particular recipe. Then there’s a deep dive into the details of each ingredient, an overview of tools or techniques, and some more filler content just to make the article long enough to satisfy the Google Gods. Then, you have to wade through a big step-by-step of the process, and after scrolling for a minute or two, you’ll finally find the recipe in its condensed form. Lifestyle blogs, finance blogs, and other niche sites have their own formulas, as well (and even I follow formulas when I write!). But I think our brains eventually glaze over formulaic content simply because we see so much of it – and even if it’s valuable, it’s just not satisfying to consume.

Why Blogging as a Hobby Isn’t Especially Common

Anyone with a phone and internet access can create online content. You create content every time you upload a photo to Instagram, comment on a TikTok video, or make a Facebook post. That said, some forms of content creation – like writing long-form blogs or creating YouTube videos – require significant effort. I think most of us enjoy the thought of others seeing and consuming what we make, and it’s appealing to imagine being paid for our creative efforts. And this is the overwhelming message that successful creators send to the prospective bloggers and YouTubers of the world: follow these steps, buy this course, or listen to me for advice if you want to get paid for your content. This subtly reinforces the idea that if you aren’t getting paid for something now or in the future, then why put forth the effort? 

This ties back to the “hyper monetization” concept that I mentioned earlier. Hustle culture is no longer in its heyday, but plenty of people still promote the rigid idea that productivity equals money, and money equals success. I’d argue, though, that creation is a productive act in and of itself. And when all of us (myself included) spend hours each day consuming what others have made without expending our creative energy, I think we lose something within ourselves. 

I should also add that, ironically, the hyper monetization of the online world makes blogging as a hobby less accessible. For example, if you want to have your own website, you need to buy and maintain the domain. And then you’ll need to pay for hosting, and if you choose to dabble in SEO or other strategies to gain traffic, you might want to pay for subscriptions to keyword research tools. There are free options out there for some of these needs, but many people end up investing a bit of money into blogging, whether they’re pursuing it as a hobby or an income stream. 

Lastly, blogging as a hobby still requires plenty of time and effort. This is especially true in the beginning, when you have to handle all of the website design and setup tasks. People who want to write might be more inclined to choose journaling, poetry, essay, or book writing, or other methods to express themselves.  

Should You Try Blogging as a Hobby? 

It’s probably clear now that I advocate creating just for the sake of creating. Your work might not always be “Insta-worthy” or appealing to other people. But at the end of the day, who cares? If it makes you happy, the satisfaction alone is worth the effort. I don’t agree with the people who say that blogging is dead, even if the trends indicate that it’s declining. In fact, my hope is that society will feel “content-ed out” at some point, and that we’ll see a sharp return to more individualistic methods of self-expression (like personal blogging) instead of mass-produced, curated, formulaic, revenue-driven content. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I think AI will eventually corner that market, anyway. 

As for myself, I like to think that a few people will stumble across my posts and derive some value from them. I use some basic SEO principles to optimize my articles for that purpose. And I won’t sit here and say that I wouldn’t try to monetize my site if the opportunity presented itself. But the site doesn’t exist for that purpose, and I derive a lot of joy simply from rambling on about whatever topic happens to be on my mind. I’m not well-suited to writing guides or sticking to a specific niche (clearly..I’m as scatterbrained as they come). I write because writing is one of my hobbies, and it just makes me happy.