After several years of blogging on WordPress, I’m leaving to blog on one of the first and oldest platforms: Blogger. But with its ancient internet age and Google’s propensity to cancel products/services, why would anyone in their right mind choose Blogger in 2022? Because in my case, it’s not the mind.
My mind chose WordPress; my heart chooses Blogger.
Back in 2017, WordPress wasn’t my first platform of choice. I actually chose Blogger first and, at the last minute, changed my mind. I picked the most logical choice (thanks, brain), the CMS that was more viable, popular, and had greater potential.
Today, I think WordPress remains the more rational choice over Blogger. In fact, during the plan/pricing upheaval this past April/May, although I was preparing to leave WordPress for Blogger, I again choseWordPress. And as it turns out, WordPress reverted from its radical new plans to the previous tiered offerings.
So why leave now for Blogger?
The Catalysts
In late May, when I re-chose WordPress and cut off Blogger, I was resolute and settled in. Forget Blogger, it’s in the past; unpack my bags and keep moving forward with WordPress.
But something happened.
While reading the book, Biblical Minimalism, I checked to see if there was a website for it. I typed the search terms into DuckDuckGo and — whoa — www.biblicalminimalism.com has a site on Blogger with posts as recent as August 2022!
I found a current blog hosted by Blogger on a topic I like.
That hit me.
I realized Blogger, to this day, is alive, active, and I could be there too. In fact, had I ultimately chosen Blogger in 2017, I could have been blogging there for the past 5 years.
Next thing I know, my fingers were on auto-pilot, migrating all my Jason Journals posts over to Blogger at a rapid pace. I resumed the process I had started back in April amidst the WordPress uncertainty. I was primed. So when I realized my heart was still with Blogger, I just went with it! Risk accepted.
“…’cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore…”
Some Reasons
Nostalgia
Sure, Blogger is ancient. But the platform’s “oldness” is part of the attraction for me. I blogged there first; I’ve got nostalgia fuel.
Availability
Yes, Google could kill Blogger at any moment. But I figure that even if Google decides to sunset it, the company would most likely give advance notice, probably a year before final shut-down. I could enjoy Blogger while it lasts, having time to migrate back to WordPress or switch to something else like Ghost.
I also figure that since Google has had plenty of opportunity to end Blogger — like during the deconstruction of Google+ — yet after all these years still hasn’t, then maybe Blogger is here to stay.
Simplicity, Flexibility, Affordability
The biggest reason why I choose Blogger is the same as before: it’s simple.
Four Reasons Why I Chose Blogger - February 7, 2017
Blogger as a platform is all I need, nothing more. It’s minimal and enough. It’s also flexible and “free.” I can edit the HTML if I wish, and it costs no money.
The fact that Google owns Blogger doesn’t bother me. Google has stewarded it well enough all these years. And since I frequent YouTube that’s owned by Google, why not also enjoy Blogger?
Text-based
Since 2018, WordPress has been increasingly block-based. But at Blogger, I can work with text in a WYSIWYG editor for posts and pages. Love it. No more blocks, thank you.
Is this a crazy move? Did you use Blogger back in the day?