Blogs and the Plague of Hustle Culture
What was once a simple way to express your thoughts to a potential audience has now become an opportunity to make money in a society that is hyper-focused on turning hobbies into side hustles.
Today, when many are struggling to make ends meet and advertising revenue can provide a comfortable living for those who are lucky enough to gain an online following, the idea of earning extra cash from a personal blog may seem like a great idea. But how does hustle culture affect these hobbies which once were stress-free, creative experiences? What are the odds of building a large enough audience to make a living from your blog?
In 2007, 53.7 million blogs existed online. According to data from Manuel Castells’ Communication, Power, and Counter-power in the Network Society, 53% bloggers chose to blog for themselves, versus 32% blogging for their audience. The majority of blog posts saw little traffic — each singular post compared to “a bottle drifting in the ocean of global communication (Castells, 247).”
Today, more than 600 million blogs exist and 2 million blog posts are made each day, according to data from Hosting Tribunal. The majority of whom are blogging for financial incentives associated with a successful blog. These are staggering numbers, making me question who actually makes money from blogging. So, I dug a little deeper.
According to a 2012 study from Blogging.com, only 8% of bloggers were able to support a family on their blogging revenue, and 81% of bloggers surveyed never made more than $100 from their stories. These figures aren’t very promising. So why are so many bloggers writing with the goal of monetization?
Our culture has evolved to expect that any hobbyist is also earning money from their hobby. Etsy shops and monetized blogs have become coveted jobs where a person can make money outside of their 9-to-5.
In theory, this sounds like a sweet gig, but the reality of this mindset can be damaging. We are losing touch with our ability to simply do things, and instead spending our precious free time rushing to make more money. So, before you start your blog, take a moment to think — what are you really hoping to gain from this endeavor?
You and 600 million other souls are the proud owners of personal blogs. Make sure yours is something that makes you happy! Your most important reader is yourself.
