Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Blogging: Thoughts on a Snowy Day

Have you ever clicked on the "Next blog" tab at the top of the blogger page display?  Just one trip through a few of these gates will raise some interesting questions.  Or it did for me, at any rate.
 1. Why does this blog lie dormant?

 I clicked through five consecutive blogs which lay unattended for some length of time ranging from eleven months to five years.  Someone wanted to blog, conceived and initiated a blog, then quit without so much as a by-your-leave.  In some cases the blogger may be deceased, which I know for a fact, for I had a certain cousin x-times removed who died five years ago.  His blog floats in perpetuity in the nether world of electronic communications.

2. Why did this person try blogging in the first place?

Glancing over a couple of these dead blogs suggested nothing would be more appropriate than a decent burial.

3.  Did this blogger cave to some other social medium?

In some cases I know the answer to be "yes," because I followed the blog in question, saw the end, and later found the former blogger doing stuff elsewhere.  It is not the same thing.  I am thinking of three instances in which the writer was well-suited to blogging activity, an excellent writer with something to say.  It is sad to bid farewell to a real writer who opts to bury his or her material amongst the drivel on --------.  No disrespect to a blogger who chooses to use another platform in the manner for which it was devised, but why must they give up writing for real?

Not that everyone would agree that blogging is of necessity "writing for real."

But there are some excellent writers in the blogosphere.  I wonder if some make the switch thinking that the accumulation of several hundred friends will guarantee that their posts are flashed across those hundreds of news feeds, whereas with a blog someone must intentionally click on your site.  I would never accumulate hundreds of friends anyway, and the handful of people who regularly read this blog are of greater value to me than would be hundreds scrolling by with a yawn because they support me and are here on purpose.


8 comments:

mail4rosey said...

My blog helps pay my student loans, so I took another avenue. ;) I do so enjoy the 'regulars' who come to visit though. :)

I do know some bloggers who've quit without saying goodbye, and one who passed away. I still miss swinging by their place sometimes too.

I've used the 'next blog' feature, but only once, I think?

Swinging by 'cuz Chuck said to... he's over there talking good about you again!! :)

Jono said...

I always wondered about those lonely, abandoned blogs, too. To create something and nurture it along only to walk away without saying good-bye? It seems almost cruel.

vanilla said...

mail4rosey, that Chuck is one of the good guys. Thanks for visiting.

vanilla said...

Jono, I have considered bringing the blog to an end, but I think I would at least leave a farewell to the readers.

Vee said...

I'll have to try that.

I did accidentally create a second blog and never could figure out how to close it. I've never written there; never planned to write there. It may now qualify as one of the "abandoned" blogs.

vanilla said...

Vee, poor, lonely, cold, unused. Use it to express the thoughts you would never express on your "real" blog. Or as I have done, make it private and use it to journal things you don't want to share but want to remember.

Sharkbytes said...

I've clicked through a next blog train a few times. Found some interesting stuff. A pile of dead blogs belong to me. I always have too many ideas for my own good. :(

vanilla said...

Sharkey, there's a concept: too many ideas for ones own good!