Blogger Burnout...And Renewal

The Endless Faculty Meeting, one of the longest-running education blogs with the best names out there, is calling it quits after what looks like more than two years of posts at the site (Reflections on Teaching and Learning).

The explanation is brief but will resonate with anyone out there blogging these days -- especially after the first rush fades away: "I've too many things to do to keep it going and give it the time it needs and there are many others out there in the blog world talking about the same things and doing a better job of it."

As education blogs proliferate -- especially professionally run newspaper or ed organization ones with paid staff -- my guess is that more than a few folks will drop out this year. It won't necessarily be a good thing.

On the other hand, a promising new type of group watchdog blog seems to be proliferating outside of the education world -- blogs that highlight federal waste and earmarks, and do all sorts of other group sleuthing that reporters and single bloggers can't do ('Blogosphere' spurs government oversight). Porkbusters is one example, and Sunlight.com is another. With sites like this, we could track the spread of ideas, the movements of education leaders, and even vendor contracts. Geeky, but very cool.

UPDATE: Over at edspresso, Ryan Boots says there'll be more growth than attrition, and that "paid bloggers" like him aren't going to take over the world.

UPDATE 2: AFT John is taking a break, says AFT Michele.