Thoughts on Having Nothing to Say
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Above is a screenshot from the archives page. If you notice, in 2004 we wrote 425 posts. In 2005, 190. And for the first half of 2006, 58. Then, if you look at 2006 alone, just about each consecutive month has fewer and fewer posts. In other words, come 2015, you should expect about a post a year around these parts. Moreno, Abogado (whatever happened to that guy?), and I are hardly alone in the trend. Often, after a week of not checking any of my “daily blogs” I guiltily update my feedreader only to find (feeling relieved, disappointed, and perplexed) that just a few people have written anything new. Why? Why, after such an intense outpouring of conversation, storytelling, and debating is there now so much silence? Mari, César, Alma, Wooj, Beckie, Julissa, and Seyd have stopped blogging altogether. Derek, Gustavo, Travis, Revaz, Chris, Daily Texican, Prentiss, and Elena now write at intervals only consistent in their inconsistency. And even old powerhouses like Cindylu, Karen, and HP (not that HP ever wrote anything himself anyway) have slowed down considerably. What does it all mean? Were the skeptics right? Was blogging just a fad, a novelty that would wear off like all novelties do? Or maybe it was never about the weblogs to begin with. Maybe the whole time we were trying to figure out the person behind the blog, not what he or she had to say. And now that we’ve “figured them out,” there’s no reason to continue the game. It could also be that we’re no longer blogging as much because the conversations are happening elsewhere: over email, IM, Myspace (¡qué horror!), phone calls, dinners. Perhaps we’re like your typical band that can never produce a followup album that matches the intensity of their first record: we’ve already shared our best stories, pet theories, and long-lasting reflections – there’s no need to repeat ourselves endlessly. Or else the blogosphere has gotten too big, too common, and we no longer feel like the important exception. Remember when we still had to explain to everyone what a weblog was? Now everyone and their mom (literally!) has one. Why add our feeble voices to the roaring noise of the echo chamber? Surely we’ve come to also realize the gravity of that little publish button. We regret some of what we wrote in the past and we know now that anything we write will stick with us forever. Plus, we go to parties and we’re introduced to complete strangers who say “oh, you’re the one with that blog huh?” We know nothing about them and they they could know everything about us. Whatever the reason, or reasons, that we have all slowed down, I think it’s far too early to call blogging a “fad.” A long time ago, when I first started to blog, when my friends constantly asked why I would invest so much time in something that nobody would ever read, I explained that a nice community had formed around this blog and others. I likened it to a big table at my local coffeehouse where near-strangers would gather each morning to drink lattés, talk city politics, and grumble about the newspaper. Since then, many new people have joined the table, a few have dropped off, and overall, we’ve quieted down quite a bit. But that sense of community still exists for me, is still important to me, and in the next couple days I will post a small ode to its short history. A bear hug to all, |
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The Carlsbad Marathon
It was about five o’clock in the morning when Cindylu, with her sweet little voice — all chamomile and honey — says, “Oso, you should probably put some vaseline in your butt crack.” That’s when I knew I was in
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Excellent post, I think all of the points are valid. Little bits chipping away at our collective motivation… It is mostly limited time and my magpie-ADD tendencies. For example, rather than writing I’m downloading the lightroom windows beta, and will probably kill a few days off with it.
When are we going to do lunch/cafe?
I was just thinking about that the other day. I found your blog and others just by accident. I am still very much intrigued by the way we live. And I always enjoy reading about your day-to-day adventures/thoughts. Although I miss my blog, I knew that I could no longer dedicate time into writing meaningful posts. I can’t say that I joined a “fad”, because I’m still here and I’m still reading. And I will always be here to support those that continue blogging.
So is it now cool not to post?
I am always so utterly clueless and behind in the latest trends.
Never mind me, though. I will just be off in my own little corner complaining about something.
excellent theories. perhaps we all need a little push, a little inspiration…like you, I like to read what’s going on in my little blogocomunidad. it’s strange because i catch myself thinking about it almost everyday, even if my blogging frequency doesn’t reflect it.
“A long time ago, when I first started to blog, when my friends constantly asked why I would invest so much time …….”
I’ve always wondered how much time do you spend writting your posts? An average of 4 hours p/post maybe? If you do, I can’t believe you spent so much time writting back in 2004. Let’s suppose that, besides a blogger spending 4 hrs/post, you were, back in 2004, a “normal” individual who needed an 8 hr/day (plus 1 for lunch, total 9 hrs) job to pay his bills. And an individual who needed to sleep his normal 8 hrs/day. If so, back in 2004, you spent ~38% of your annual hours available (9*365/24*365) working to pay bills, ~33% sleeping (8*365/24*365) and ~19% blogging (4*425/24*365). I wonder how did you spend the remaining 10% of time?
Anyway, as long as you and everybody else keep blogging something, there will be people like me who’ll gladly read it. So keep blogging whenever you can and feel like it!
I know my reason. Overall there are things I want to write about that I won’t ever publish (at least under my name) because they are too personal. Those conversations happen in person over tacos at a bench in La Jolla overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It’s not really that I’ve run out of topics though, I think I feel a pressure to be smart and witty and profound every single time I press the publish button.
I still enjoy writing and I think the community hasn’t slowed down. Even if César stopped blogging, he still pops up in my thoughts every time I hear the Cardigans and I still make sure to call both you and HP when I’m in San Diego. I know if I was in Austin, Dallas or Houston, I’d at least get to share a meal with the Tejas blogeros.
But yeah… why are there no bloggers in San Francisco? This hotel is so creepy. I’ll take pictures.
Un abrazo!
Maybe our blogging just evolves. Or we start getting too demanding of our posts, and a topic we would’ve written about before now seems too “light” and superficial. Struggling for depth we skip over the small details that made blogging fun… or funner. I still enjoy myself a bunch.
If a blogger now also posts in del.icio.us, flickr, updates different websites, writes articles that actually get paid and goes to conferences and global events, the time that used to be spend blogging filters off to other areas.
Then again, too many people in the community know who I am already, and sometimes there’s a post I wish to write about that can’t be written because it mentions other bloggers or friends of bloggers. In Costa Rica it sometimes seems everyone knows everyone else. Then I hush.
When I first started blogging I had a particular set of topics, but eventually those topics were exhausted and I started writing about drinking on the roof, driving a car, and eating. In other words I wrote about nothing and everything. Then I slowed down because the rest of the world took up my attention, and now I’m trying to find a balance. What I love about it though is that I know you, oso, and others through blogging. I often tell people that I know this guy on the west coast, well, I don’t actually know him, but I read his blog and he reads mine, and I think I know a lot about him… Meeting people this way and forming my own coffeehouse table has been the best part of it and is the one thing that keeps me writing.
I blame del.icio.us. Before I discovered that, I would post on every interesting link I would find. So my use of del.icio.us has cut down on my posts. Well, that and work. And the fact that my dad is now reading my blog. ACK!
My excuse is that there is just not many good new stuff to write (errr…i mean quote) about anymore…I need new material. Also, I’m kinda on this history phase lately, economics and politics seems so boring, so yesterday, for me history is now where the cool new stuff is.
But I still read everybody else, especially now that I am on summer break.
Awww. Community is still important to you, eh?
Hugs!
Blogging creates this monster that must be fed. Some days I’m just feeling too lazy, bored, paranoid or disinterested to feed it. But then suddenly something interesting happens and I can’t wait to throw it another bone.
I have slowed down A LOT. And I haven’t been reading. I guess my life has chanaged some and I also, like Cindy, don’t want to share too many personal things, when before I posted personal things without thinking. I am working on coming back…we all should be.
Consistently inconsistent eh? I like that. I think that it’s normal to have a slow-down period. Think of it as a baseball player that is in a hitting slump (like most of the LA Dodgers right now)…it will only last for a while and things will get better. Like most of the comments before, I dont think blogging is a fad…to the contrary I think it’s here to stay. I think that I still have a lot to write about…like a 90′s post, maybe write on the side for some Latin-American music blog,…or maybe even eventually write about some crazy ass blogger meetup in San Diego. I won’t say the valley cause its freaken hot as hell! I’m sweating as I write this!!
I can’t blog about what my interests are these days because it would turn people off.
Addendum: I don’t think I’m as confident in my views now as I once was. Either that, or I find it pointless and/or difficult to defend them.
Let’s call it a Blog 2.0 mentality.
And still: I still read everyone’s, but if everyone was like me there’d be nothing to read but del.icio.us links.
Xolo,
I must admit, when you got offered a job I was greatly concerned that you would have nothing to complain about and, hence, one of my favorite bloggers would retire. But then, fortunately, there was the misery of the apartment hunt. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the heat wave will keep up for the next few weeks at least … otherwise we’re dangerously close to you not being able to make a fuss about anything. (Just kidding!)
Tumbleweed,
Where did your blog go!!!?? I have a very important comment to leave on your last post about Sapporo beer and how I’m drinking one this very second because of you. How are we supposed to read about your trip to Seattle?
Rosario,
So much math! What are you, an industrial engineer or something? For the record, the actual amount of time it takes me to write a post is about 1 hour. But that’s because I pretty much already know what I’m going to write about. The ideas for the posts come to me when I’m stuck in traffic or riding my bike or swimming in the ocean. Meanwhile, [not counting the world cup], I watch 30 minutes of television each week, if that.
Cindylu,
Question: do you think you’ve become more private over the past year?
Medea,
I agree, our blogs are no longer the online headquarters they once were. I, for one, check Global Voices and Flickr way more than I do this blog.
HP,
Is that you being ironic? Because if it is, I love you for trying.
Rolando,
You always have the best and strangest links.
Derek,
Talk about an attention grabber. Come on, spill the beans. Is it S&M or did you go born-again? I kid. It’s inevitable that we’ll start yelling at each other in public spaces once the 2008 elections come around.
In all seriousness though, I concur 100% with:
And I think it’s a good thing.
I believe that one of the signs of the Apocalypse is the day that I stop complaining. Of course, if the Apocalypse was upon us, I probably would complain about that. So I am not sure how that would work.
Until then, no need to fret, Oso.
And by the way, that third room in our new apartment is reserved for you. Stop by anytime!
i blog so little as well that no one even remembers me around here.
Nunca digas nunca, pero really, blogging is so not cool anymore.
Wow! I almost missed this conversation. I thik it is matter of phases. You know that anything stays as a constant but changes along the time. Don’t ever get discouraged because if someone drop off or quit, there will be always another one who is looking for a chance to get in.
I still waiting to write in GV. Be cool!
i think blogs will always be around but i think some people have started to realize that the things they have to say really are not all that important, and the ones who do have interesting things to say don’t have time to write it all out because they’re out doing and saying interesting things.
Oso, I’d like to see a chart that shows how many posts on other peoples’ blogs you’ve posted on, in relation to your own posting. Half of the interesting blogs I come across already have several comments from you. I come across something on Flickr and lo-and-behold, already has a comment from the freckly bear. My guess is that perhaps you’ve become a bit more selfless in terms of encouraging and nurturing your online community rather than your own world.
since the world cup ended, i stopped blogging. hahaha. i feel overwhelmed. drafts galore, but no hitting of the “publish” button. anyway, whats the haps Oso. how’s life?
sorry This other one
it’s probably jsut something in the air. lol. . nah who knows. It picks up in the winter.
but you’re probably write, it’s probably just a fad.
Personally, my reason for not blogging is that i’m too busy living life to write about it. . .or read about it. I feel guilty though, for not writing or reading. . don’t worry, the guilt will pass.