This post describes exactly how I feel about the death* of personal weblogs.
*Deathbed, anyway. I’m still HERE, right?
bluishorange
This post describes exactly how I feel about the death* of personal weblogs.
*Deathbed, anyway. I’m still HERE, right?
Indeed.
Yeah, it’s the readers. Readers mean expectations mean trying to write something specific instead of whatever feels like coming out. The best blogs were (and probably still are) the ones where an insightful person with some writing skills doing what they felt like doing because they felt like doing it. For anyone who can’t say “fuck you, this is my site”, that means either being unaware or pretending to be unaware of your readers. Comments are great, but blog and discussion is at best an uneasy truce.
I’ve said just about that entire paragraph within the past month.
Yeah, I still miss the old days when everyone knew everyone and you didn’t need comments because you could just carry on conversation across blogs since you knew everyone involved would read it. Also, when you didn’t have to worry about griefers, spammers, stalkers, and employers or distant relatives knowing how to Google you. I guess that’s what LJ is for now. Insofar as I still read personal blogs, that’s where the action is. But, it’s so self-limiting. I like the idea of having at least the chance of coming across interesting new people through my writing, and that was one of the stimulating things about the early days. You had your vague circle, but things were growing and cross-pollinating enough to keep it fresh and interesting. That kind of safe but still somewhat open environment no longer really sustainable, which is sad, but what can you do?