Recap: Spanko Brunch 2.0 for July 20

What's the future for blogging and other spanko social media? 

Anon: No doubt, people are opening up more with social media, learning their desires, lifestyle is common. Social media has been a positive influence, nothing one should hide any more, it is just a part of who we are.

KDPierre: I believe the death knell for blogs has already been ringing for a while now. When the remaining holdouts give up or are censored out of existence, that will be it.

As for other forms of social media? I haven't a clue. However, I believe with the growing use of AI in the future, what does show up will become less and less personal or reliably authentic. I also believe short, banal, attention-grabbers will utterly replace anything of depth or substance.

The one exception may be the podcast-type feature. Those may be the only place in the future for lifestyle people to share anything of substance in depth...but even here I must emphasize 'may'. They just as easily could go trite and sensational, since many already do.

This may sound depressing, but it won't be, because anyone who would lament the passing of substantial lifestyle discussion (like me) will be gone by then and the new generations won't know anything different.  

CEM: Most things are cyclical. People lose interest in certain things over time, jump to newer technology, that becomes passé, they go to other forms of media, literature and entertainment. Blogs were huge for years, then other social media came about, people jumped to that, now a lot are growing tired of it and seeking out other forums or venues, which may (or may not) mean blogs increase. I don't think anyone can predict what the future will hold, but it will endlessly evolve, rotate, fluctuate and change. And fetish interests change to some extent with time as well, and also cycle around too. Human beings are fickle and unpredictable. Anyway, congrats on the success. 

Roz: Wow, congratulations on your 600th brunch Hermione!

Gosh, I have no idea what the future holds in terms of social media. The number of active blogs in the spanking community has vastly reduced over the years, and censorship isn't helping, but perhaps the blogs may make a comeback? Censorship may be the biggest barrier to meaningful conversations over any platform.

Dan: Congrats on 600 spanko brunches!

I don't think social media forums related to spanking will go away, but as for blogs in particular, it's not pretty. When I started my blog twelve years ago, there were quite a few blogs focused on M/f disciplinary spankings. Now, it seems like I'm the last man standing.

On the other hand, Tumblr is chock-full of channels with that focus. But, that doesn't mean the same content is still out there. Tumblr is largely a visual medium. Very few Tumblr "blogs" have more than a snippet of text (at most) under whatever picture or drawing they're sharing. Maybe that reflects a younger audience that is very visually-oriented but won't read a book to save their lives.

And, KD is right that those blogs that don't run out of gas are still subject to arbitrary censorship from the platform providers like Blogger and WordPress. Often, blogs in his genre disappear not because their authors gave up but, rather, because censors at Blogger or WordPress took them down.

One other platform I've been exploring lately that is kind of blogging is Medium. I like it as a platform, and so far I haven't seen much in the way of censorship. But, because people can't comment without a Medium account, and since most of the users have a profile linked to their real identity, it is virtually impossible to have a conversation, because people won't leave comments revealing their identity. I've published articles that have gotten several thousand reads but few of them get any comments at all.

Prefectdt: I don't think that blogs are done, but the type of blog around is changing. The more heavily written blogs and story blogs are flourishing but they are often not as informative as blogs of old. From personal experience, it looks like explicitly illustrated blogs have the clock ticking. It is a shame that a lot of the newer blogs do not have blog rolls, as they are still the best way of spreading the love and creating a spanking, linkup, blog network. I do hope that another form of adult-only  platform might come along, but it might be inadvisable of us to hold our breaths. Perhaps we should all go back to the printed word :)

Bonnie: Congratulations on brunch #600. That's excellent! And happy moon landing day too.

I may have originally posed the question, but sitting here today, I don't know the answer. I think people will continue to find ways to discuss their shared interests despite growing censorship. It seems like traditional blogs will retain a role, though a diminished one.

Podcasts and vlogs are hot, but many in our community cannot be that out. I never liked Twitter/X because it feels more like a series of strafing runs than an authentic dialogue.

Reddit is an interesting platform, but some of the users (and bots) who inhabit it are idiots. Maybe someone could start an invitation-only spanko discussion subreddit. That could provide an open forum like we once had in Geocities, Delphi Forums, and Yahoo Groups.

I guess that's my long winded way to reiterate that I don't know.

Hermione: When I first started blogging and even before, there was a multitude of blogs focused on D/d relationships. Bloggers used to  have virtual surprise parties for one another, and there was a real sense of community. As George Harrison once said, all things must pass, and the golden age of blogging is now over.

Reddit is a good idea for having spanko conversations, and Substack is an idea for podcasts, although that would necessitate being "out".

I guess we just need to enjoy the remaining blogs while they last. 

Slava Ukraini
Glory to Ukraine