Is blogging passe?

It's hard to remember that blogging was once deemed faster, less formal and often shorter than typical online prose.

These days, the online experience is often about Facebook updates and 140-character Tweets. More stream of consciousness, fewer essays with links. So Steve Rubel - formerly author of the Micropersuasion blog - says he's moving from a blog to a "lifestream" using the the Posterous service.

Blogging, says this chronicler of online trends, "feels old."

Given the increasing popularity of blogging sites like the Huffington Post, I'm not sure blogs have quite gone out of style. There's room for multiple formats on the Web. But for an individual, there's not necessarily time in the day to give careful attention to a steady stream of text microbursts and a full-fledged blog ... plus one's day job. I understand why he's had to choose.

The fact that a blogger received prime attention at a presidential press conference this month underscores how (despite the protestations of many in the Washington press corps) bloggers are moving into more into the mainstream. I think it may be awhile yet before we see, oh, a top Twitterer called on by a U.S. president.

Blogging doesn't necessarily feel over the hill to me, but it's certainly not cutting edge or real-time anymore. It does feel slow compared to the more instant give and take of Twitter.

I'm enjoying Twitter a lot more than I thought I would.  It's surprisingly satisfying to be able to share thoughts and ideas so quickly (although shaving them down to 140 characters can take a bit of work). And I find scanning the tweets of those I follow a time-effecient way to see what's going on beyond my own universe.

I wouldn't want to live in a world where the only prose came in 140-character bursts. I enjoy sitting down and reading (as well as writing) longer pieces. As a writer, I'd miss the ability to craft prose in a longer format; in fact, one of the many joys of online is not having to "write to fit."

But I'm definitely spending less time on my own blogs and more in places like Facebook and Twitter. Lots of other people are, too. If you're charged with crafting a company social media strategy, Rubel's move is definitely something to watch.