Throwing in the Blogging Towel…
Not I – don’t be daft!
I’ve just become very aware over the past few weeks that less than 10% of my RSS feeds to other blogs have been updated.
Tim Worstall still beavers diligently away at the blogging coal face, as does Subrosa. Guido of course, JuliaM, Leg-Iron, Max Farquar, Witterings from Witney, Dick Puddlecote, but some of biggest names in the political blogosphere have fallen ominously silent.
Some so terminally silent that I have given up hope of their return and stopped following them – others occasionally rouse themselves from their slumber like drunks at a dinner party, to mutter something inconsequential and then fall head first into a blogging stupor once more.
It certainly isn’t that there is nothing of consequence happening in the political sphere – few of us are old enough to have ever experienced such dramatic political changes.
Is it that those who once pushed out such erudite posts every day are now content to tell the world ‘Watched PMQs, crap again’ or pass the odd witty comment on Twitter without elaborating on their thoughts or reasoning?
It cannot be the change of government – both left and right blogosphere appear to be declining with equal rapidity.
Unemployment figures continue to climb – so I can scarcely believe that it that those who once had time on their hands are now gainfully employed.
Is there a blogmonster silently chomping away at the most prolific writers? Consuming the big beasts of the blogging world that once I looked to for inspiration?
I know that inevitably people just splutter to a halt and find themselves repeating old thoughts – but logically there should be new blood entering the field and noisily making demanding attention. Look at any of the blog ranking systems, and all you see is corporate name after corporate name.
The audience hasn’t ‘upped and left’ – my stats continue to climb, no doubt boosted by the fact that better analysts and writers than I are no longer feeding the blogosphere.
Where have all the independent Bloggers gone? Long time passing…
Make yourself known – I am trying to rebuild my RSS feed!
December
22, 2011 at 10:55
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My thanks Anna for the add and to Ed P and Giolla Decair for the
recommendation. I can confirm that no money changed hands.
- December 15, 2011 at 13:17
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I’m missing Gildas the Monk – he seems to have been conspicuous by his
absence from these comments for some time – and also appears to have dropped
off the Twittersphere. Anybody know what has become of him? Could he have
taken a Trappist vow..??
- December
22, 2011 at 11:30
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He changed his ‘handle’ – think his new identity is ‘Nennius The
Monk’..
- December 22, 2011 at
13:27
- December 12, 2011 at 15:13
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I go through peaks and troughs of blogging enthusiasm.
Some of that is not having many readers; but some is just natural. Perhaps
we’ve dropped into a time when a lot of blogger cycles have synchronised?
- December
12, 2011 at 15:03
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I only started this year, and I’m still a bit aimless. I don’t have the
connections or knowledge to do politics much beyond the ‘what I think’ level.
It annoys the hell out of me when I see what’s going on but usually someone
better informed gets there before I do. Neither do I have the time to do more
than one or two posts a week. But I do keep trying!
- December 12, 2011 at 10:33
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Anna,
I’m a bit reluctant to push myself into the illustrious ranks of the other
bloggers above but if you were to be good enough to add my blog to your list I
will drag myself out of my current torpor and update it tonight.
Oh, and Rosie… not all of your devoted readers are outside Scotland, but I
still can’t comment on your blog (and others) without some external
registration (Google, OpenID or something similar).
dak
- December 11, 2011 at 21:37
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We aim to please…
Cullingworth may not be in the South of France but its views are fine
- December
11, 2011 at 19:41
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Ha ha! I did that too Filthy Engineer! However, I agree with Anna. So many
bloggers have become now part of corporates or blogs with multiple authors and
‘independents’ can’t compete. It’s not easy – in fact it’s very hard work – to
produce posts every day. I do it because of my two readers who insist their
lives would be bereft without reading my mumblings. As they don’t live in
Scotland should that tell me something?
- December 11, 2011 at 10:39
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Oooh! Me! Me!
- December
10, 2011 at 21:37
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Don’t think you have blogrolled mine before, mostly concerns smoking ban
but also the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications
(Scotland) Bill which is going through Stage 3 in Scottish Parliament in the
coming week.
- December 10, 2011 at 20:34
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It’s a petty annoyance for me to well. If you want others to follow you,
then please make it easy.
(I had a quick check to make sure you were not referring to me!).
- December 10, 2011 at
20:59
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to = as
*smacks self*
- December 10, 2011 at 19:32
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I’ve noticed the same over the last couple of months. I used to get up in
the morning and spend at least two hours being entertained and informed by my
RSS reader. (You’re probably thinking I’m a sad old bugger now). But yes, my
list of readers has become severely curtailed.
Then again, maybe they’re Christmas shopping.
- December 10, 2011 at
19:49
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Actually, that’s something else that you’ve reminded me about nick, the
number of blogs that have a hidden rss feed button. Right at the bottom of
the page sometimes. Drives me mad sometimes!
- December 10, 2011 at 21:35
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Me too!
- December 10, 2011 at
17:30
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I’m still here but due to work changes have not had the luxury of plenty of
time and home office working to comment regularly. Also, when I come home from
the client in the evenings to catchup on what the blogosphere has to say, I
find there’s not much more to add, although I agree with so much, and very
much appreciate all the efforts of Ms Raccoon and the Gang, and of course her
commenters and readers.
But you are right, I must make more of an effort: there’s a seismic shift
going on out there and our job is to maintain the momentum.
Lastly, in the words of Sergeant Phil Esterhaus:
“Hey, let’s be careful out there.”
- December 10, 2011 at 21:33
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As a “Gang” member I have to concur with you about work load. With
projects weeks behind schedule and working 10hr days whilst suffering from
mild CFS I’m pretty wacked out in the evenings.
Though unemployment might be up, all that means is that the least
productive people are out of work. The rest are having to work harder.
- December 10, 2011 at 15:53
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I’m still blogging, but the number of posts I write is subject to the
amount of bile in my duct (which depends on the amount of governmental
stupidity in the MSM); factored into that is tiredness; it’s currently busy at
my workplace, and sometimes I simply don’t have the oomph to throw out a hasty
post in my lunchbreak – which is where they mostly come from.
But I’m still
feeding the beast, and folks kindly read them, so I’m grateful. And I’m also
glad to see an increase in Anna posts again! Keep it up, lady!
- December 10, 2011 at 15:23
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Individual Bloggers are always going to be a transient phenomenon.
Some will have more perseverance than others, but developing multiple ideas
& postings day-in day-out has to be such a time-consuming labour of
love.
As some fall by the wayside (voluntary euthanasia), others surface with
their own take on life & events.
Thank you all.
As an avid reader of many Blogs, I’m grateful for their
endeavours.
- December 10, 2011 at 15:08
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Here in Croatia many are just tweeting at the moment. They haven’t posted
anything in months. The truth is the blogosphere lost its significance in our
society 4-5 years ago, so this is probably just an extension to that
process.
Many bloggers ended up living their lives on the Internet, blogging about
everything that happened to them so Twitter has become their new place to be.
I’ll never understand it, but it’s a fact.
-
December 10, 2011 at 14:45
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If it’s any consolation, the same thing is happening over here in Ireland.
I recently deleted around forty feeds to Irish sites as they hadn’t been
updated in over a year. Some have migrated to Twitter but the rest seem to
have just thrown in the towel.
- December 10, 2011 at
14:52
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Grandad – my first thought for a title for this piece was ‘where have all
the bloggers gone’ – then I googled it, just to see if anyone had had a
similar idea – 119,000 returns! It seems to be a worldwide phenomena.
-
December 10, 2011 at 15:12
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Heh! I see I’m in there and what’s worse, I was asking the question
three years ago.
Young people these days just have no stamina!
- December 10, 2011 at 14:26
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the C@W haven’t given up yet, I’m pleased to say
though we may be about to become rather unfashionable …
- December 10, 2011 at
14:50
- December 10, 2011 at 14:09
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Phew. From the title I thought another one was going.
- December 10,
2011 at 14:01
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I’m still plugging away here http://quietmanmyblog.blogspot.com/ and here http://4liberty.org.uk/ lot of
big names gone, but there are still a lot of cracking blogs out there up and
coming too.
- December 10, 2011 at
14:49
- December 10, 2011 at 13:51
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I have been quiet lately. Thats due to my bail conditions though. Will be
back after the trial. I hope.
- December 10, 2011 at
14:48
- December 10, 2011 at 13:48
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Thanks for the mention and inclusion, Anna. In my case it is a masochistic
love of hitting my head against a brick wall!
- December 10, 2011 at
14:47
- December 10, 2011 at 13:42
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I suspect the rise of Twitter has had some effect.
Might I recommend these (with no personal links or bias)?
http://www.misanthropegirl.me.uk/
John Ward’s http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/
Orphans of Liberty http://4liberty.org.uk/
- December 10, 2011 at
14:46
- December 14, 2011 at 23:18
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I’d second Misanthrope girl, also of course myself though I’m not that
new and don’t update with spectacular regularity
-
December 10, 2011 at 13:39
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Damn this predictive texting, I’ll never get to grips with it!
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December 10, 2011 at 13:37
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Hi Anna,
Perhaps the realise how difficult it is to influence the Bit public who
keep voting the way theory parents & their parents also.voted?
My blog does well, in 96 countries, bit I don’t just do politics.
Ampers
- December 10, 2011 at 13:29
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http://patnurseblog.blogspot.com/ Tea and Cigarettes could be
added perhaps?
- December 10, 2011 at
14:44
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Thank-you Pat – duly added.
- December 10, 2011 at
15:12
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Thanks Anna – I’d better update it now :>)
{ 41 comments }