Do you remember Ezines?

For those who are new to the internet, an Ezine is an Electronic magaZINE that is delivered to your email in-box. There were and probably still are many different subjects that you could get an ezine for, from the humble Apple Pie to ZZ Top.

They were produced weekly or monthly and those of us subscribed to an edition looked forward to the next one. On most ezines you were allowed to submit your own small offering for admission into the next edition.

Some also had paid advertising. This was a great asset as the big ezines had a huge subscriber base and the person buying the advertising space new they had a captive audience.

What has made these popular ezines go into decline? What can have happened to put a halt to their popularity?

Something has taken over the job of the ezine. The name is Blog, or Web Blog to give it its full title. Web blogs have become so popular that most people on the Internet have at least one.

What is a Blog?

At its worst, it is putting down the jumbled thought that are in ones head. At its best a Blog can be as well laid out and structured as the best of the ezines.

How popular is blogging?

Blogging has taken off like a rocket into space over the past year or two, and judging by the 10 Page Rank of Blogger.com it continues to grow popular. However, most blogs are like the worst case scenario I mentioned. Some are just downright Porn site doorways. Whereas a few of the select top Blogs are such a good read that people are now subscribing to them like in the days of the ezine.

Technology though has changed and now instead of receiving emails you receive RSS feeds.

The vast difference between a Blog and an Ezine though seems to lie in two parts. The first is that unlike ezines you dont have paid advertising in a blog. That is not to say it can not be done, it is just a rare occurrence. Secondly, an owner of an ezine could control the recipient of his /her ezine by the use of subscriptions, and could tell at a glance just how popular their particular ezine is.

So, maybe there is still a place on the internet for the ezine. However, to keep pace with blogs and blogging, the humble ezine will have to re-invent and re-launch itself with a massive fanfare.

Martin Wood