Man, is it just me or are things kind of dying down in the blogging world? Some blogs I visit haven’t been getting as much attention as they used to. I don’t get as many travelers stopping through here any more, yet I’ve won some awards for my writing, and even a scholarship for a poem. It’s kind of nice though, because this space has become like a personal journal once more. I’m starting to write more material that I wouldn’t have mentioned otherwise. I’ve learned my lesson of posting articles to the more traffic-chocked collaborative weblogs, realizing that I don’t like getting the negative attention as much as I would the positive. More often then not, I’m writing in my composition notebook then West Desert Journal, because I have retained the introverted side to what I do, all along. Attention is not really what is important. What is important is sharing your thoughts, feelings, experiences with the larger world. Some lone drifter comes through here out of the wood work, looking for the off-beat. It’s like meeting some dusty traveler out from the sticks, or the hitch-hiker on the lonesome desert highway. When the rest of the world is bogged up in some fad, we have our little e-mail conversations, and enjoy a fresh conversation like ice cold lemonade on a hot summer day. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts, I write for the sake of writing, for therapuetic reasons, and to inspire those that care to read. My goal was to keep West Desert Journal around as long as I’m alive, however it may one day get a name change. But for now, everything is good.
So I wander, is it just me, or is the popularity of blogging fading?
Hi Nate, my fiance’ and I were talking about this subject a couple days ago. A lot of the native blogs I used to visit are not updated as frequently as they were anymore. Not even I update with zeal and even if I do, I have a password on my entries now.
Most of us have been blogging for 2+ years now and I think the boredom has set in for us. I know of a couple people who have closed up shop because their lives are taking them onto a professional level and this means erasing traces on the internet.
However, I do think that what obscure has now turned into a free-for-all thing. These days, you can go anywhere and you have sites like MSN, Yahoo, and MySpace offering blog space. Now EVERYONE has them. It’s almost as if it’s not special anymore which is kind of sad.
Maybe we’re all just moving on in our lives and things get so busy we have no time to write.
Hope all is well in your world, Nate! 🙂
Carmen, Thank you for the comment! 🙂
There’s writing that I posted to the Internet over five years ago, that I can honestly say would offend me these days, because of my arrogance and ignorance then; to put it simply, my outlook has changed exceedingly overtime. If somebody ever used my own words against me, they would simply be pulling them out of the time-space and context in which they had been composed. But I stand by everything I have written whether it creates negative or positive impacts. I’ve always tried to keep my personal details out of the woodwork though…
Lately blogging has lost it’s zeal somewhat for me too, but I continue to post. I will not give it up. It has become one of those things that require sacrifice for me. Writing also is a sacrifice, so I try to keep at it so I don’t become lazy and unmotivated. I’ve always enjoyed reading peoples’ personal blogs, so it is sad that some are choosing to call them quits.
I’ve used Myspace, but I think those that host their own blog or journal have more of a personal sovereignty that separates them from myspacers, etc. I use it to keep in contact with friends though…
Nathan, I enjoy coming to this place you have created on the internet. Many people may get tired of writing in blog journals on the internet, but I hope you do not. I think you have a lot to share with others, and should continue to do so. I like the way your website looks, also. Keep on writing!!! Your friend, Mike Kines
Love the blog and the photoblog. My wife and I just moved to SLC from Illinois for her job at UU. I’ve been blogging for about a year now and still love it. I put edited video on my blog and sent it from the foot of Mount Everest this spring while I was shooting a documentary (check it out on the blog). I think blogging is like anything: it starts out trendy then matures. What you’re seeing is maturity of the form. The losers quit, the winners keep going.