Whatever Happened To…?
So I was bored today and started browsing MyBlogLog. MyBlogLog, once you join, automagically adds blogs to your Community list when you’ve visited them, assuming that just because you glance at a blog once you must love it and want to be associated with it forever. Which is a bit silly - isn’t that what RSS feeds are for?
Anyway, I was looking through my Community list and saw a lot of blogs I used to frequent but had lost track of. I clicked on the names to see what people were up to and discovered that 98% of the blogs fell into one of three categories:
1) They hadn’t been updated since July 2007
2) They had been sold and the person now running them was not a particularly good blogger - lifeless, impersonal posts that left me feeling a little sad
3) ‘This Page Does Not Exist - but hey, click on one of these irrelevant links!’
The experience was akin to wandering through a cemetery and reading the headstones: “Here lies Blog A, May 2007-September 2007. Died of natural causes.” It was a reminder that most blogs are ephemeral, and that although some may achieve that longed-for status of $100+ a week on AdSense, 1000 subscribers and publication of an ebook on how awesome they are, many don’t.
So let’s spare a moment of silencio for our friends of yesteryear, shrug and check our own stats once again.
Are there any departed blogs or bloggers that you miss? Or is your own blog gathering cobwebs?
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Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
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It is true that blogs disapear, like all things there is a natural attrition rate, the same darwinian concepts that apply to biology apply to the web as well it seems. But the one thing that stands out among the failed blogs that litter cyberspace like space junk litters space is that those bloggers that try to make money normally loose heart while those that truly love their subject do not, even if they only post once a week, or once a month.
As an aside the concept of being able to sell a blog seems vaguely wrong, a blog is a communication, a converation via electronic media between the author and the readers and between the readers themselves. You can’t sell a conversation in the real world, why can it be done online? Its like a new actor taking over a much loved tv character, it just doesn’t feel right.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:08 pmPeople being afraid of death is ok, and normal. But if you’re starting to feel scared about your blog dying, you need to see a therapist. Like now.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:48 amI get a little sad when I notice a blog left unattended for a long time. One of those was Marco Richter, this guy came out like gang busters. He published a top 100 list of blogs about blogging. I was on his list and one of the factors used for ranking was subscriber numbers. I never really cared about subscribers and had around 60. But just so I would rank better I threw a subscriber contest. I passed the coveted 100 mark. Just to rank better on his list. Then he abandoned the site. I always wondered what happened? Did he just get bored? Did he wake up with amnesia and forget he had a blog? Is he alright? I guess I like finality. I’d like a good bye or a dear blog letter.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:55 am$100 per week…wow you must live cheap!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:18 pmDon’t dramatize this much and be more enthusiastic!
Lots of blogs appear and disappear for tons of reasons. Blog is a kind of community which is always pity to loss.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:09 amHi RichMinx
I must say: I do miss CashQuests.com when it was owned by Kumiko. I also miss worldofangel.com. But I guess it’s part of the natural flow of things. I have a couple of dormant blogs myself. Funnily enough, it was the one blog that I set up on a whim that seems to be chugging along nicely.
take care…
May 18th, 2008 at 11:05 pmWhat ever happened to the Rich Minx??? Come back!
June 8th, 2008 at 1:52 amI am a new blogger. I find the blogs left on this webpage fascinating. Who would have thought that an online based communication system could have caused many to have an undying affinity for expression on the web? The blog is dead when those who love it most leave it behind. The blog is dead when YOU say it is.
June 24th, 2008 at 1:33 am