When I look back on my life, I seem to have cycles of 5-10 years where I am gung-ho about something and then my interest wanes. Right now, my interest in blogging is getting smaller by the day--and it seems to be that way across the blogosphere. Along with Facebook, it seems as if people I follow are less and less inclined to do many posts or status updates. The only thing that is going strong right now is Twitter and some of the Red Wing blogs. (I am one of the 3,967,542 Wing fans with a blog and I am seriously thinking about closing up shop. With so many people talking about the same thing, I have next to nothing new or interesting to add to the conversation.) I think blogging and Facebook have reached their peak and are on the downslide. And, to a great extent, it makes me sad. I very much enjoy the people I have gotten to 'know' online and really am interested in what is going on with them. I would hate to lose touch with a lot of the 'imaginary, fake' friends I have come to know. Through the years, I have lost several regular readers and often wonder what has happened to them. And when you don't know real names, it is impossible to contact them.
I haven't decided to close this blog--I will continue on. I'm still not sure whether I will just blog when the spirit moves me or if I will force myself to post more frequently. Forcing myself might bring the fire back, but it also may make me hate this whole thing. The whole thing is a dilemma that I have to work through. Hopefully it will work out quickly. :)
(And watch, starting tomorrow the thoughts will start pouring out of me like diarrhea and I will post multiple times per day for the next six years. That's just the way things seem to happen, at times. :D)
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I was going to do a post about the decline of blogging. I don't think the fault lies entirely with Facebook and Twitter, because for some months now, I've noticed that commenting on blogs, particularly Blogger blogs-maybe it's because I use a Wordpress ID-that it's time-consuming and frustrating to leave a comment. I've learned to copy what I've written in comment boxes if it's more than a couple of sentences, because more often than not, if a blogger has word verification, the word doesn't show, which means that after I've put in my ID and click Publish Your Comment, it tells me I need to enter the word, which now shows up. And then, sometimes I need to sign in at Wordpress (why didn't it tell me I need to do that BEFORE I wrote a comment?) If I haven't copied my comment, then I lose whatever I typed. So I go sign in, go back to the blog, click Comment, paste in my comment if I coped it, go through the invisible word verification thing again, and then sometimes I get an error message. It used to make me so mad I wanted to punch the monitor, but now I just sigh. If I really want to make the comment, I'll keep trying, but if it wasn't something I was really interested in, I'll forget it. Not many people want to spend several minutes trying to publish a comment that took them thirty seconds to write.
ReplyDeleteBlogging, for me, is a way of sharing what happens in my life with anyone who cares to read it. I look it as a kind of journal-I've copied my blog posts and saved them to My Documents folder, so even if the blog sites go away, I'll still have what I posted. I could just write in a journal, but I like knowing what people think, and I've learned a lot-sometimes I have problems and people will give their opinions. Like my watch post when Skipper told me about watches that don't need batteries or winding. I didn't know that. I enjoy the comments a lot, even if I don't agree with what they say.
So it's my opinion that the screwed-up commenting system is just as responsible for the decline in blogging as Facebook and Twitter. I don't find Facebook as satisfying as blog posts, because you're limited in what you can say in one FB post. And I have some FB friends who seem to post every ten minutes on the minutiae of their day, or post when they have a clever thought. Blog posts are more like having a conversation with a friend.
I don't plan to quit blogging, and I hope you don't either-just blog when the spirit moves you, like I do. ;-)
Oh fine...I come back and you are contemplating leaving. **rolls eyes**
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't close up shop. Where is it a rule you have to post daily? Couple times a week is more than adequate.
janet: I never realized there was any kind of problem with Blogger, but it isn't surprising. I find, at different times, that I have problems commenting at other blogs, also. And not usually Blogger sites. Go figure. In many ways, it seems as if the interwebs are STILL in infancy and there continue to be problems that should NOT exist. (I just about had a meltdown today when I was trying to purchase tickets for 'Wicked'--things didn't go very well for me, at first, but all worked out in the end.)
ReplyDeleteI looked into Wordpress, but am too lazy to export/import my blog there. Blogger is just too damn easy to use--frustrating, yes, but easy enough for even the dimmest bulb to use. And I really don't want to tax my brain more than I need to these days. ;)
dazd (welcome back, friend) and janet: I think my 'I'm gonna quit blogging' moment came more from my frustrations at my other blog. As I said, there are 4,582,643 Red Wing blogs out there and most of them are SO much better than anything I could dream of. I hate doing posts that are, basically, rehashed versions of something that another person wrote--so I tend to not post on the other blog very often. And I try to limit myself with WHAT I may post--too many VERY knowledgeable hockey fans go over to the other site and WILL call me out if I post anything too stupid or wrong. (I accept that--it is part of being a fan of a sport.) And too many of the Wing-fan writers are very, very good at writing--so good, in fact, that I really think they should be getting paid to write--and this, too, makes me self-conscious over my utter lack of talent.
With all that being said, I think my self-pitying post DID pull me out of my funk, for now, anyway. And I will be posting today. Just like I said would probably happen. ;)
oh, good! I look forward to more posts about toilet seats!
ReplyDeletep.s. I have a Blogger account but I'm too lazy to sign in and see if that eliminates the problems I have with comments on Blogger. One of these days. ;-)
janet: Don't get me started about our toilet seat...OR the ones in hotels. ;D
ReplyDeleteOh no! Please don't stop blogging or facebooking! I'm not really on twitter all that much - and I would miss you terribly!
ReplyDeletemeleah: I don't think I will be stopping--it was just 'one of those days' I guess. ;) Besides, I would miss all of you, too.
ReplyDelete