Yesterday morning's question as to whether leading bloggers were losing their gusto hit a mark, especially concerning blog pioneer and Naked Conversations author Robert Scoble, who responded by saying he felt he was being pulled in too many different directions. (See: Am I getting "blog fatigue?")While Jason Calacanis and Bonnie Wren remained dormant, Scoble explained to his readers the many tasks which are pulling him away. There's no question he's busy, but some readers didn't get it - openly questioning how much work it really is to maintain one of the world's preeminent blogs.
One wrote: "I’m sorry Robert but I just don’t get it. Tired of what? Commenting on stuff? Transcribing an opinion from your brain to a digital screen? Is that really that hard? Maybe there’s some element to commentary blogging that I’m missing, but it’s not like you’re having to create new material every week." and another piled on, saying, "How do you get fatigued from writing 2-3 tiny 3 paragraph articles per day with absolutely no fact checking or editorial review what so ever?"
Ouch. And I thought it was a friendly audience.
But amid the din, it seems many others are similarly working on fumes. Paul from BizTips adds his thoughts in a post titled "Fatigue", saying, "I wouldn’t say I have quite the same challenges in the same proportions as Scoble does but I do know how he feels. The last few weeks and months have been a bit nutty." Meanwhile, Mac Beach, who authored an excellent comment on this site, adds his own thoughts, saying that toiling away without much reward is eventually going to grow tiresome for anyone - that we shouldn't expect to blog in our PJs and pull down six-figure incomes for that alone. (See: Silicon Valley Blog: Are Leading Bloggers Getting Blog Fatigue?)
As for me, I feel a bit guilty that I got Robert on the defensive. He posts more often than I do, on more things. He rarely misses days. He attends more networking parties. He reads more feeds than I do, yet my observation made him feel even that wasn't enough. We all get tired due to demands on our time, whether they be blog-related, work related, hobby related, family related, church... you name it. What we need to do is come to some level of acceptance with ourselves as to what it is we will produce and whether we are meeting expectations, regardless of what demands we get from others. That way, the fatigue will feel worth it, or be lessened.