Given that I’m thinking about #blogjune, blogging, and this blog at the moment, I may as well jot down some thoughts as I go.
When I was thinking about the other folks blogging this month, I decided I should check my RSS reader. For me it’s been feedly, which I think I moved to after Google Reader died, and then for a range of reasons, stopped using it. So all my feeds there were from a bygone era. For the longest time I just left all my subscriptions as they were, even though I didn’t look at them and even though quite a number of blogs became inactive over that time. I guess I felt sentimental about it all. Well, this past weekend I deleted a whole bunch of feeds that no longer had active sites/blogs: what a sad activity that was. I looked at those feeds that were still active and marvelled at people who have continued with their blogs over all this time.
While looking for my post all those years ago that kicked off #blogjune, I skimmed through a few of my old posts in 2007 – 2008. What amazed me about the posts back then was the number of comments people left on my posts. People chatted with me, and with each other. They blogged too – and linked back to my posts. Many of the people who commented, I subsequently met in person, and still keep in contact with them to some degree; some of them have become friends. Kathryn commented (on Ausglam.space) that “we were very lucky to be part of early social media where it was 85% connection, 10% getting your privacy invaded by corporations and 5% monetisation” – a golden age, as it were. Well, okay, it wasn’t all roses back then, of course it wasn’t, but social media platforms hadn’t corralled us all within their walls yet. I still remember when people started commented on blog posts on Twitter instead of on the blogs themselves. All the conversation just moved to the walled gardens, and the diverse and quirky blogosphere withered away…
Every year I think that I should keep blogging after June. Every year I fail to. I suppose it feels a bit like you’re talking to yourself, and who has time to, anyway? Maybe I can, if I can slowly rebuild a community using this space. There are still people blogging out there (outside of #blogjune) – like Genevieve – and if I reduce the time I spend on social media and am a bit more intentional/purposeful about blogging, is it possible to get back into the habit?
11 Comments
I often try to work out how much of my memories of early social media is misty eyed nostalgia and how much was just that it was so much better.
I reckon it’s a bit of both. There was that sense of newness, added to which you got to meet other like-minded folks who were also learning and exploring… And it wasn’t just in the “web 2.0” space – I found it with online gaming too. I’ve not had similar experiences since.
I only ever blogged for #blogjune and never kept it up afterwards; but I still gained connections also. Perhaps it’s more about the sharing than the regularity,
Or sharing regularly? 😉
Con, you’re very kind. I think I’ve written three posts since last June! And I may only write another three in the next twelve months. But I’m okay with that.
They always used to say in the early days of “How To Blog” tutorials that a blog should have some kind of driver, some kind of purpose. But I’m not sure I agree with that any more.
I do struggle with the nakedness of blogging without a topic – I don’t really want to publish an online diary. But I quite like using it as a loosening up activity for other writing. And I am interested in some of the things Kathleen Fitzpatrick talked about in her presentation. I’d question whether people haven’t always used the online space in a performative manner. How performative is simply a matter of degree, as Insta and TikTok show us.
The fact that we miss blogging says a lot, I think. I’m not missing Twitter or Tumblr, and I dislike Facebook. It’s interesting to think about what we might have left behind us!
oh I see, it is a few more than three. Whoops. And I’m sounding a bit smug there about the “loosening up for other writing” – it is more truthful to say that I just like thinking out loud sometimes. But yes, it does feel funny if no one else is there I suppose.
I don’t even have categories on mine yet. WordPress is VERY complicated these days…
I wonder whether we could …maybe… gently start bringing back inter-commenting. We have feedly. We have a small set of blogs… maybe embers for something else?
My challenge is that some blogging platforms want me to log into some OTHER third-party service before it will let me comment. Turns me right off and makes me back away…
Ruth, you played a great part in one blogjune where you resolved to comment as much as possible and as often as possible. I have always rabbited on about blogging being not only about writing posts, but regular reading and commenting… and even .. THINKING! without any further performance of consumption or attention.
It’s clear we cannot have – and really do not want – what social media became before it really went off the rails (with Musk? With Cambridge Analytica? Brexit/Trump propaganda? ). So, maybe we can work toward fanning some embers?
Fanning embers. What a lovely image. Worth a try!
I can’t blog about libraries much any more as I let the chance of employment pass me by.
But I’m happy to read other people’s posts and comment when I can.
Had a great time tonight packing my feed reader with Substack reads and throwing out their email subscriptions. In a couple of weeks I might get around to the sad task of cleaning out the rest of the feeds as you have done, Con. That will be tough.
I’ve kept up the RSS reader habit ever since the Bloglines days (followed by Google Reader days, Feedly days, and now NewsBlur days). One of my great joys about that daily (sometimes, I hate to admit, hourly) ritual is seeing a formerly dormant blog spring back to life, even if only for a few posts. Even if folks are just posting for blogjune, I am happy beyond measure for the voices of librarians in media diet (including those librarians who have moved on to other things).