Nashville WordPress Community and beyond,
I recently returned from my first SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, TX. For those of you who don’t dork out 24-6.5 days of the week like myself, SXSW is like a dork spring break. All the big names in interactivity, social media, and technology are there talking about the latest and greatest trends and reminding us of the past.
I’m going to try and blog about all of the 15 or so talks that I attended, but since I pretty much have a man crush on WordPress and their parent company Automattic, I’m first going to discuss Matt Mullenweg’s presentation: Future of WordPress first.
Matt answered questions for about an hour, but two things really stood out to me which might be obvious to some, but they weren’t to me.
12% of the world’s websites are powered by WordPress.
I’ve heard so many times, “Oh, isn’t that just a blogging platform?” Not anymore! WordPress 3.0 should have put those thoughts to bed. Our site is WordPress powered. AND, Dell Connect asked the question if WordPress could power their platform and without hesitation, Matt responded, “Yes, we are ready for you right now.” WordPress is no longer a blogging platform folks.
Is blogging dead?
With the emergence of Twitter and Facebook, some are saying blogging is dead. However, Matt was quick to point out that a new WordPress blog is added EVERY two seconds. Again, WordPress powered sites have over a half a billion page views a month! That, in no way, shape form or fashion is a DEAD platform. This is a healthy platform that the world is using to express ideas and communicate.
So, what’s next and what’s next for WordPress and what’s next for WordPress in Nashville?
I’m going to devote a separate post to WordPress in Nashville, but for WordPress as a whole, here you go:
- JetPack: Check this article out and why it is important for WordPress here. For the first time, .ORG WordPress users will have the same features as the .COM folks. Thanks WordPress developers!
- Mobile: According to Matt and everyone else who has ever tried to use the mobile WordPress platform, mobile HAS to be faster. Tubmlr is killing WordPress in this area. Matt says he uses mobile daily and is reminded this needs to improve.
- WordPress is all about being a ginormous value for it’s customers. When people comment, WordPress listens. The future of WordPress is to get faster, easier to use, and to continually under promise and over deliver. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
What are your thoughts on the future of WordPress? Where do you see it going? Do you really believe as I do that it’s an emerging platform? Please share!
Thanks!
John