Is Facebook Killing the Blog?

While it's popular to think that Facebook started the whole "social media" movement, it's also incredibly untrue. In fact, it's far more likely that the blog was the first form of social media -- it signaled a change from static, one-way communication to a more fluid conversation that took place online.

However, with the rise in popularity of Facebook, are blogs now completely passe?

Like many, I use Facebook to broadcast details of my life -- including, obviously, when I make new posts here on my blog. Invariably, people choose to comment not here on the blog; but back on Facebook; even though they, clearly, have to visit the blog to view the post.

Why is that? Is it that the blog isn't nearly as graphically pleasing as Facebook (and thus, the thought of leaving a comment here is less satisfying that leaving one on Facebook)? Is it that the people don't think I'll see it here (I do, rest assured)? Is it a selfish thing -- I think it's significantly easier these days to start building up a Facebook network than it is to build a blog following -- perhaps those leaving comments want the maximum exposure to their contributions; and Facebook probably offers that.

Is this signaling the end of the blog? For a period of time, new blogs were being created at insane paces. Now, it's just as easy to write a Facebook "note" and share it with your network. And, if the content is good, perhaps that network shares the "note" with their networks, and you build up your following equally as fast. Are there really any drawbacks?

So, is Facebook killing the blog? And -- perhaps more importantly -- is it really a worthy successor?