I think blogging has a life span

from JoeUser Forums
None of my favourite bloggers post anymore. Myself included (yes, I love my own writing). I don't get to come on JU much anymore but when I do it's a little disappointing. Mignuna's stuck in a cornflakeless New Year's Day. Floozie's still ranting about being single. Trina and Elana only just got over a bad wake-up from weeks ago. Keolin's been spouting the "communication/education" rhyme since last September.

I wonder what happened to all these people? Do they move on and get a life? Have they just lost interest in blogging? Did their computer blow up in plumes of smoke and impressive bursts of colourful sparks? .... did they die? How would you know, anyway? These are people who live hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of kilometres away, that I've never met in real life and never even had contact with except through this website. (Keolin, Trina, Champas Socialist, Waynestar, Fishhead and Toblerone excluded)

It's a freaky thought. Even freakier to think that if you were the one to drop of the face of the earth tomorrow, that your parting comment to all your JU friends could be something as trivial as "I had cheese for breakfast this morning" or "10 reasons why leather shoes make my feet smell" or some such blogging-esque topic.

For those of you who suspect teegstar may have died, let me put your mind at rest. I'm alive and very well. The truth is, most of the time, I'm too busy to blog anymore. Yeah, I got a life. I also lost interest. Which brings me to the title of this post... I really do think there is a life span to a blog. Maybe it's different for people who have blogs on a particular topic or who comment on social or political issues. But a blog about random events in life kind of runs its course after a while. Because at first I thought it was just me who was blogging less, and I put it down to my busyness and the fact I write for a living, so doing it for fun had lost its appeal a little. Then I realised others were posting more sporadically too.

Anyway, kids, this isn't a goodbye or anything, just an observation. But if any of my faves out there are considering dropping back to ol' JU for a visit, I'd welcome their familiar humour and the glimpses into their lives they were so obliging to share.

Teegstar :)
blogging
6,263 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
hey i've written tons of stuff you haven't read - or have read but haven't commented on and I've written a few things that i've hidden from the rest of blog world. I tend to go through periods - I'll write 3 or 4 articles in one day and then nothing for weeks -- but people will only see the last one I wrote rather then go back and check if there's anything they missed.
Example I wrote 1 on Tuesday last week and then I wrote 5 this morning.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Good article...hopefully your pals' computers didn't blow up and they are just going through a non-blogging period (for whatever reason). I go through phases myself...and it really has nothing to do with my real life schedule....I can have 1001 things to do, and I'll still blog about something on my mind...I can be a lifeless lump on my bed and not feel like blogging at all....guess every JUer has their "to blog" or "not to blog" periods....

The good thing about your pals is that they didn't write some dramatic goodbye letter, so that's a good sign...
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
sure it has a life span. The new WILL become old. The luster WILL fade and enthusiasm WILL wane. Like a good buzz, I'm gonna enjoy it while it's here...
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Some of us do use the blog like a journal. So I don't think I'll quit in the foreseeable future since I like to put down events in my life and this want isn't a passing fad.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
trina: after writing this i went to your blog and had a nice little read-fest. sorry for jumping to conclusions

inbloom, shovelheat and bjwbell: thanks for stopping by. obviously you're still keeping this site fresh and kicking! i initially used this site as a journal but as i began to get to know people who read my blogs better, i began to self-censor. now i work that takes up a lot of my time and attention -- and i'd hate for my boss to somehow stumble over this site one day and see that i'd been blogging when i was meant to be bashing out the news!!

and on that note....
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top

"...if you were the one to drop of the face of the earth tomorrow, that your parting comment to all your JU friends could be something as trivial as "I had cheese for breakfast this morning"

 

Well, that quote got me, as I have been posting pretty much crap recently. Admittedly, I do use my blog to keep up with friends across the country so I share little tidbits of my daily life that is only interesting to them...no, I do not want my parting words to be a complaint or a joke about Adam and Eve getting fat. Good point.

I do agree with Shovelheat that everything has a lifespan. Some people just loose interest or get busy, as you say.

And even though she probably didn't know I read her blogs, I wish Floozie would come back too.

Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Blogging is a fad, like anything else.. I give it another year or two and nobody will care about blogs. We'll already have moved on to the next big thing.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I think blogging is gaining in popularity and will continue to do so. Even as some get bored and move on there will be people who join and then stay for indefinate amounts of time, meaning the the blogosphere will continue to grow unabated.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Although my blogging is bound to get more sporadic during the year due to uni (and later, hopefully, due to work) I hope that I never stop. To do so would be a sure sign that I have run out of ideas, and that is my greatest fear.

I don't think blogging necessarily has to get old. I think the thing is that when blogging feels like a chore you should step back from it and take a break. For example I had writer's block between my last two articles. I decided that instead of sitting down to think of a new one I should wait until one just pops into my head. I started blogging because I have many blog worthy thoughts (at least I think so) but until now I never had any outlet for them other than emails and converstions with friends, and even then I only manage to get out a small portion of them.

Like a relationship/marriage with a person I think your love of blogging can be renewed by trying new things...in the same way putting a trapeze in the bedroom can reinvigorate your sex life....or so I've heard.

Keep on Blogging guys,

Toblerone
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
I've had my blog going for over a year now, and I honeslt never thought that it would last this long.
Now that it has, however...I can't imagine NOT blogging anymore.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

dharma,

I agree with you. I started blogging to hone my writing skills to eventually try to make a little scratch doing it. I've pretty much proved to myself, at least, that I have it in me to finish up a full length book within a 6-8 year span (judging by my word count since I've been on JU). So, once I get a puter at home again, I'm goin' to town!

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
I realise this is a bit late to the party, but the problem is that most blogs have no purpose or driving theme.

I've been reading blogs for years, and none of the ones I check regularly (at least daily) have died. Why? They're all technical, they serve a purpose to a wider community in sharing knowledge and insight about certain technology and the community feeds itself.

Not meaning to be demeaning to the JU community - but it must be difficult to build a community around eating cake and 'work sux'. Those "my random life events" blogs that seem to thrive are those that offer insight into their writers lives that other can not only relate to but also play out their voyeuristic desires to watch others grow. Trina's blogs about Elana get much more interest than any of her other articles.

I've made a few attempts at blogging (privately), and it's easier when you have a community that blogs with you on similar subjects.

JU brings people together and helps build those communities - as long as their is a common driving (and interesting) theme in those bloggers. No purpose -> No community -> No motivation -> Blog death.

PS. Blogosphere == worse term ever.
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
I realise this is a bit late to the party, but the problem is that most blogs have no purpose or driving theme.

I've been reading blogs for years, and none of the ones I check regularly (at least daily) have died. Why? They're all technical, they serve a purpose to a wider community in sharing knowledge and insight about certain technology and the community feeds itself.

Not meaning to be demeaning to the JU community - but it must be difficult to build a community around eating cake and 'work sux'. Those "my random life events" blogs that seem to thrive are those that offer insight into their writers lives that other can not only relate to but also play out their voyeuristic desires to watch others grow. Trina's blogs about Elana get much more interest than any of her other articles.

I've made a few attempts at blogging (privately), and it's easier when you have a community that blogs with you on similar subjects.

JU brings people together and helps build those communities - as long as their is a common driving (and interesting) theme in those bloggers. No purpose -> No community -> No motivation -> Blog death.

PS. Blogosphere == worse term ever.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
I realise this is a bit late to the party, but the problem is that most blogs have no purpose or driving theme.

I've been reading blogs for years, and none of the ones I check regularly (at least daily) have died. Why? They're all technical, they serve a purpose to a wider community in sharing knowledge and insight about certain technology and the community feeds itself.

Not meaning to be demeaning to the JU community - but it must be difficult to build a community around eating cake and 'work sux'. Those "my random life events" blogs that seem to thrive are those that offer insight into their writers lives that other can not only relate to but also play out their voyeuristic desires to watch others grow. Trina's blogs about Elana get much more interest than any of her other articles.

I've made a few attempts at blogging (privately), and it's easier when you have a community that blogs with you on similar subjects.

JU brings people together and helps build those communities - as long as their is a common driving (and interesting) theme in those bloggers. No purpose -> No community -> No motivation -> Blog death.

PS. Blogosphere == worse term ever.
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
hey nick, thanks for making my points look good!! i think you make a very interesting statement, and i agree. the news based blogs i have read (crikey.com, for example) are thriving after years. but as you say, after a year or so whole articles on the scary, hairy cheese in the back of the fridge gets a bit old.