Is podcasting failing?

First off, I don’t believe that podcasting is failing anymore than I believe that an elephant is shaped like a wall, spear, snake, tree, fan or rope. However, I’ll play along. IF podcasting is failing, I think that it has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of the early supporters wanted it to tear apart the current media system of TV, radio and newspapers. However, those industries already have their own problems and any further losses that they incurred would not necessarily be gains for podcasting.

But I think the biggest reason for the current seemingly stagnant state of podcasting is something a little more basic. A lot of podcasters that I come across can fall into one (if not both) of two camps: Tech people or comic book people. In fact, the one podcasting genre that doesn’t seem to be slowing down is the comic book genre.

I think this is where the problem lies. Tech people are trained to consume their interests very quickly and thoroughly before moving on almost as quickly and thoroughly. There is always something else to learn about in the industry and while there is a sense of nostalgia at times, we have to move on to the next big thing. Everything seems to have a disposable feeling to it, even social media revolutions.

On the flip side, comic book people have been trained to stay on the unending weekly cycle. It might seem as though we might be more disposable with our media consumption, but actually we are a lot more apt to see something through because sometimes it takes a long long time to get answers to some questions. The peculiar mixture of constant consumption and patience has kept the comic book industry humming along for ten years or so past the time when it should have died.

So the answer to the question "is podcasting failing?" is No. It will be different in a few years (months?) than it is now, but it will still be there. I think that once all of the Gold Rush seeking carpetbaggers have left the scene, then we will be left with two podospheres, one populated by repurposed Big Media programs and the other populated by people still waiting for the revolution. And comic book people.

Tags: podcasting