Abandoned Blogs: Why Do They Exist?

"Embraced by Words" - Robbert van der Steeg via Flickr

_________________________________________

ghost-blog

A once frequently updated, searched, and visited online journal, now left abandoned by it's creator. 

by El Jay Terry January 24, 2009

_________________________________

When surfing across the web, occasionally I come across a brilliantly written post, look at the date, and then realize that the post itself dates back to the dawn of the Internet era.

A dead blog, long abandoned by the writer who once filled it to its digital brim with posts.

Arriving at a party that ended a week ago. All the commenter-guests have left to who-knows-where, and the author-host is long gone. Flat soda and soft potato chips (never doubt the power of preservatives) sit on the table, exactly where the everyone left them. I decide not to dig into a bowl of fossilized fast-food french fries. 

There is a camera. And within, there are pictures and videos. The party is over, but I can flip through the photos to see what everyone did. What everyone said.

Now--back to the abandoned blog. I decide to linger, scrolling through their posts to see what they were up to, when, and who they were.

...Why did they stop? 

Sometimes there's a single post within a year saying, "I'm not gone! A lot of things came up, but I'm still here!" and no subsequent posts after that. In the older blogs that once garnered an active community of commenters, I wonder if their regular readers waited for them to come back...or if life just continued on like always.

...Where are they now? 

I scroll through their posts, particularly during their most productive eras. A few tentative initial posts in 2009. Abundant--hundreds of posts in 2010 through 2012, tapering off into a mere 54 in 2013. The blog had its good run...until whatever fueled the initial creation of the blog ran dry.

The author ran out of ideas. This is particularly true with some informational blogs in fields that lack the constant new this, new that. I came across a treasure trove in the form of a well-written frugal living blog that featured tips on how to save money in many aspects of life. Eventually, the author must have run out of ideas, or found a different way to supplement her income.

The author ran out of content. This is true particularly in blogs birthed by grief or trauma, sustained by the process of the griever/victim sorting out their thoughts and questions in their minds, before ultimately moving on with their life and leaving the messy emotions behind in the form of digital bits and pieces floating across the web. Sometimes the blog author leaves a goodbye message to his or her readers. I like to think that they are in a happier place now, one in which they no longer have to use a blog as an outlet to deal with pain.

The author got bored. These "digital graveyards" are smaller, mostly because the blog never made it into a "golden era" of productivity and sharply tapered off after one or two initial, lackluster posts. I, too, have abandoned several blogs soon after starting them, especially if I realized that I didn't want to carry this through to the end. The commitment was too great for the amount of enthusiasm I had when creating the blog.

The author had other priorities. Probably the most common one that I've seen happen, particularly to myself and this blog. School happens. Work happens. Weddings happen. Sometimes there is a hiatus due to life-craziness-schedules-etc, which can span a few days to...a year. Life intercepts, whisks the author from the chair, and that's it.

The author found a new and better platform. Not sure if I'd count this as a digital graveyard because the author is continuing the same project, only in a different space. These aren't as sad because the original blog author usually leaves a link to the new and updated blog website.

I like to think that the original blog authors have moved onto bigger and better things. Meanwhile, the blog functions as a digital time capsule of who they were and the era that once encapsulated these people. Some of you reading may be blog owners yourselves. Have you ever deleted or abandoned a blog, and why? 

Almost Done Listening to First Audiobook

When I found Passage to Dawn by R.A. Salvatore on Audible, I looked at the 11 hours of recording and thought, "Wow! That'll take forever to finish." I had never finished anything so big.

The audiobook replaced the radio on my morning and afternoon commute. I listened to it as I went on walks, as I cleaned the room, and thought about listening to it in the shower.

Now I'm 2.5 hours away from finishing the audiobook, and am stunned at how quickly the book went. Imagine that...At this rate I could finish the Drizzt series (and more books) by the end of the year!

As I brace myself for the long commute starting in June, having amazing audiobooks to listen to assures me that the commute will be a productive part of my day.

Adjusting to a Full Time Routine: From Student to Employee

Photo Credit: Ukraine Business Online

If you're one of my dear readers who've been following this blog, you may have noticed that it's been feeling like a ghost town lately. But don't worry--I'm still around, just taking a bit longer to finish reading novels for review. But I do aim to post more frequently, if not about books, then about life and other reflections. If anything, this blog will take a more personal turn, but I will still be reading and reviewing books.

One of the biggest life changes that I've been going through is transitioning from being a student for most of my life to full time employment. Right now, it's a bit beyond full time since I'm working six days a week. Alongside the job, I spend my day off writing an article or two for a college publication. Feel free to come visit me at CollegeNews anytime!

Photo Credit: The Conversation

Shifting from Full Time School to Full Time Work:

• Regular Schedule; Better Time Management Skills -- I wake up and go to sleep at around the same time each day, something that I never quite mastered as a student. A regular routine has many benefits, but the biggest one is that it makes it a lot easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I have a gym routine, and I eat at around the same time each day.
• No More Fat Finals Week -- I gained so much weight studying for finals. The stress would cause me to eat tons of unhealthy snacks. Even the guy at 7-Eleven recognized me as I stumbled into the store in my pajamas and a blanket on a regular basis towards the end of every school quarter. "Finals?" he'd ask. He'd be right every time.
• Gratitude for My Parents -- I wasn't able to appreciate all the sacrifices my parents did for me until I started working full time myself. They were able to push through all the problems at work, the long, monotonous hours, and occasionally, work drama and come home to take care of me and my siblings by cooking, helping us with homework, playing with us, etc. 
• Less Leisure Time -- As a student, I was used to having lots of time to dabble in hobbies and hang out with my husband, family, and friends. Even with a full schedule of classes, I had lots of time in between classes to sketch and write for fun. Now most of my days have an 8-hour block set aside for work (9.5-hour block if we take into account my waking-up and driving to and back from work). In a 24-hour day, this leaves me with about 6.5 hours before bedtime, and currently, I'm spending these hours with my husband.
  Now I have the funds to buy all those art supplies that I drooled over as a student, but I don't have the time to commit to art. I'm becoming more picky about which hobbies I want to commit to, instead of dabbling in a million little hobbies.
• Feeling Old; Nostalgia for Teenagehood -- Sometimes I go to my old favorite teenage haunts and I get a bit wistful for all the adventures I had there with my friends. How did I ever have so much time on my hands? 
• I Enjoy Each Moment to the Max -- Whether it's reading a magazine while propped on my tummy on the bed or just doing stretches in the room, I relish the moment and the little bit of time I get to relax. 

Photo Credit: Out of the Blackness

Reality Shock; Feelings of Future Closing In

This might not be something that most people can relate to, or maybe they can. In my early twenties, I felt like I had my entire life ahead of me--world and future both included in one shiny package. I felt that I could become anything I wanted, although the issue of balancing between passion and practicality was always there. As I went through school, I started to realize the limitations of my abilities, and so certain options didn't play out well enough for me to continue pursuing them.

Now I'm dealing with the question of Okay, I've got a degree in literature and writing. What can I do with it? I went to college for a total of about 6 years, and the result is a B.A. degree. Where do I go from here? A part of me is reluctant to go for more schooling because I already spent so much time in school. That part wants me to suck it up, make the most out of my degree, and see what I can get with it. The other part wants to maximize my potential with...you guessed it, more school! But is the investment worth it?

Photo Credit: HD Wall Source

Conclusion

Life tends to be a lot more open-ended than the genre novel, and having a Conclusion seems to be oddly inappropriate at this uncertain stage in my life, but I have a horrible addiction to closure. These are some things that I've been thinking about lately, and chances are that I will still be trying to figure them out in a few months. In the meantime, I plan to live simply and appreciate all the wonderful friends and family in my life. 

Drop Dead Diva: Therapy for Pessimism and Finals Week Blues

Photo Credit: Entertainmentwallpaper.com

This week finds me on the cusp of finals week. As you might have noticed, I took a break from the blog this quarter to work on my thesis project, in which I wrote and rewrote, and finally pushed out a memoir of about 50 or so pages. The process transformed me into a pure night owl, sleeping during the afternoon if possible, typing like a demon into the night, and going to bed after the sky becomes blue and gray. If that's not enough to convince you of that I have become a creature of the night, the sunrise has become a cue for my brain to go to sleep. I'll let you know when I start sparkling.

Overworked student, or vampire?

(Photo Credit: UCSD Snaps)

The Bookshelf as a Fashion Accessory: Are We Being Pretentious?

Photo Source: Yarra Plenty Regional Library

During my short stint at UC Santa Barbara, I had an acquaintance who carefully procured and selected the books he had on the shelf over his desk. I had stopped by his dorm so that we could work on a project for Chinese class. Scanning the room, my eyes came to rest on a small collection well-known literary classics on the shelf. "A person's bookshelf says a lot about their personality," he explained.

Exploring the Forbidden Corners of the Library: The Day I Ventured Out of the Children's Section

Source: 1ms.net

It all began when I was a chubby kid in denim overalls with an androgynous haircut that my mother had made me get during our two-month trip in China because it was "too hot."

Happy Labor Day!

Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day today! The temperatures seem to have cooled down but I'm still fan-dependent. I'm sitting two feet away from it. This is a deliciously cloudy day. I should have tea. 

My blog will have mostly young adult books, but I also want to read some fantasy and sci-fi books that aren't marketed to the YA crowd. There are books that I consider to be YA (well, the protagonists are young adults at some point!), but aren't marketed as such. You could tell by the fact that the covers aren't as cute. Well, when it comes to me, it sells. I'm a sucker for books with cute covers.