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Where Have All The Bloggers Gone?

I recently joined a site for writers which includes an extensive blog listing for all its members. I began working my way through the sites, browsing posts, and found a staggering number of them abandoned or completely unreachable.

What happened to these people? It's as if a hole just opened up beneath them; one minute there, the next minute gone. Were they sucked into another dimension, abducted by aliens, off on an adventure (Eat, Pray, Love anyone?), or did life simply smack them in the face?

According to CyberJournalist.net, there are approximately 175,000 blogs created each day. Add that to the nearly 140 million already in existence and you have some idea of the number of  people blogging.   Conversely, a study by Technorati found upwards of 90% of blogs are abandoned (defined as not being updated in the past 120 days).

It's difficult to share parts of your life with strangers, which is what bloggers do on a daily basis (well, some of us not that often because OMG that's hard), but do you feel a responsibility to keep it up after you've connected with people through your blog? After you've shared the good and bad times with your followers, realizing these people regularly check in, don't you owe them something?

Please, will all of you bloggers out there with derelict sites drop someone a line so they know you're OK? Better yet, take the thing down altogether, because as a follower, not knowing is just plain awful.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

I've noticed the same thing. Maybe the novelty has worn off for some. I, personally, love blogging (even if no one reads it - LOL)!

Miranda Hardy said...

Hi Lisa! I just found you through Karen G's blog. I've noticed a lot of the blogs I follow have been dormant for quite a while. I try to update mine on a weekly basis, but I am an avid reader of other's blogs.

Laura Kaye said...

Hi--I'm over from the bbq! I've only been blogging for about four months, but I could see how, in choosing between writing time and blogging time, some would give up the blog...! Hopefully I won't, though! :)

Lisa Potts said...

Thanks for the comments and follows, ladies. That BBQ is sure a fantastic idea, isn't it?

As far as blogging goes, each person has to find a balance, but I LOVE it and plan to continue for a good long while.

Brenda Drake said...

Hi Lisa, just stopping by for the BBQ. Having a blog is a daunting thing, isn't it? You have to be committed to it. It's difficult to come up with something to say, so I just do what ever inspires me at the time. There's no theme. No rhyme or reason to it. Just thinking out loud. I do have a point. It's overwhelming for some so they quit. Sad for them. Because it can be very rewarding. BTW great blog and nice to meet you! :D

Angie Ledbetter said...

Neat blog! I'm here from the bbq party, and am following now.

I think lots of bloggers hit a wall and burn out after posting for a year. I posted daily for my first year, but recently dropped back to 3X per week. That seems to work better for me, juggling the blog/FB/Twitter and running Rose & Thorn Journal, plus "real" life. I love the community and connections though, so will be hard to ever give up completely. :)

Nicole said...

It is frustrating when yoou find a great post but its eons old and nothing since then! No such worries with my blog ;p I just popped over from the BBQ, nice to meet you!

http://damselinadirtydress.blogspot.com

Words A Day said...

Hi I came over from karens blog nice to meet you and your blog! I think people start blogs without a clear idea of why and just lose interest...its a bigger committment than I'd thought when i started...but worth it!

Lisa Potts said...

Well, hello ladies! It's so nice to wake up to new friends and followers. Thanks for stopping by. If I haven't already, I will be visiting your blogs today. Keep enjoying the BBQ!

Candyland said...

New follower here (from the BBQ)! I know what you mean. I hate not knowing where all the bloggers have gone. Especially when it's someone I've "talked" to or befriended.

Nicki Elson said...

Okay, this brings up something I've thought about before - what does happen to all these e-spaces we've created when we do die? My family doesn't have my passwords or even necessarily know all the places that I e-live, so it's not like they can go on there and and inform people of what happened. Do we need to start making out lving e-wills? Where we leave a list of all our sites and passwords so they can put up a post to let readers know what happened?

Or...would we rather not know? I think I'd prefer to just think the bloggers, etc. moved on to better things. Like once, I had an e-friend disappear for a while, and to stave off thinking the worst, I invented a scenario whereby he went off to Disney World to be Goofy. Worked for me.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Omigosh I love this blog! And I'm with Nicki, in fact was thinking of it today how I should give my family my passwords *just in case.* I even had a mini-blog obit written in my head, to let you know what happened, then I thought, No, my husband will have the password, he can say goodbye to you all for me. Morbid I know, but this is how my mind works some days.

I love that you're from the Midwest. Me too. I still have family in Illinois and MN. I'll visit here often. I connect with your voice, maybe it's a Midwest thing.

KarenG

Lisa Potts said...

Nicki, that's so funny. I was just thinking about that very same thing the other day. Honestly, I don't think that living e-will is far off.

Karen, what can I say, you're BBQ is awesome. Thank you so much for putting this all together for us. I love meeting new people!

Al said...

Some people seem to have great long lists of blogs where they post for a while and then move on to another blog. Strange.
BTW I've come over from the BBQ

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

90%?? Wow, that's amazing. But I understand that it can be hard to keep up. I, on the other hand, can't seem to stay away! :)

Lisa Potts said...

Susan, I know what you mean. I love blogging and connecting with people. That said, I couldn't do a post every day. That would be too much for me.

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