1.9 Million Blogposts Written Today: Why You Should Quit Reading Them

I know, it’s senseless to tell someone not to read a blogpost, and then hope they do.  But the title, why you shouldn’t read this blogpost, is really deeper than it lets on.  A 2013 statistic found that there are over 152 million blog sites in the world!  152 million!  More shocking, in 2017, there are nearly 1.9 million posts written TODAY alone!  Roughly 1 blog page for every 46 people on earth.  These are crazy stats, and quite telling.  People are creating content at an exploding rate.  Good!

Breaking down the context to the individual level tells a bit more however.  On the whole, our daily lives are built for consuming, and this certainly has its drawbacks.  While this topic could certainly delve into modern day over-consumption and materialism, let’s leave that off the table for now.  On entertainment and education levels, we are consumption monsters.  In a recent Nielsen study, the average American watches more than 5 hours of TV every day.   Further, tablet devices, now in 58% of American homes, see another 31 minutes of average daily consumption.  But wait, there’s more, add smartphones into this data, and another 1 hour and 40 minutes of media intake occurs here.  So, net-net, with these three mediums, nearly 7 ½ hours of your day is aligned to consuming media of some kind.  And, Nielsen suggests that adding in other miscellaneous mediums, puts this average number at 10 hours and 39 minutes.  Holy. Crap.  Sleep 8 hours a night, and you’re left with another 5 hours and 21 minutes to live your life outside the digital world, and maybe do your job, while you’re at it.

I get it, yes, these statistics could certainly implore that some of this consumption could be classified as work.  But, I’d rather not debate the data, just highlight the point.  This data, in every single category, is rising year over year.  We are consumers of content on a ginormous scale.  So, when is the actual creating taking place.  The hustle?  The taking action?  Actually, wait for it, doing things!?

Many of us leave the “creating” to others, and we merely sit back and consume what they put out.  We crave reading our favorite travel blog, or watching that YouTube star document every step of their day.  If not careful, you can easily fill all your available time with things that are ultimately unsatisfying.  Do you feel better or worse about yourself when you check that influencers Instagram feed, pumped full of selfies, and projected happiness?  My guess is that in time, this will leave you empty and unfulfilled with your own achievements.

Look, at the end of the day, we need to consume.  It’s part of our human nature.  We learn and grow and develop by soaking in material that makes us better, and no one would ever dispute that the technology advances of this century are hugely positive.  Instead, it is our use of them that can be more draining in our individual lives than fulfilling.

Take a personal audit – where is your time spent?  Specifically, how much of your time is spent consuming content versus creating it?  Are you listening to 6 podcasts a week and reading another 5 blogs, and watching another 4 YouTube channels, and not to mention all the Instagram and Twitter feeds?  I would recommend a gut-check on how this is helping you accomplish what you want.  Start swinging that pendulum in the other direction by putting out some creative work.  Pick up the blog you’ve always wanted to start.  Look into podcasting.  Create a YouTube channel.  Create a new Instagram profile about something you’re interested in.  I guarantee that it will make you feel better than another several hours living vicariously through the others that you follow.  So, before you consume more content, ask yourself, should I be reading this blogpost?  Create over consume.  Balance in this area could be a life-saver!

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