Sunday 29 July 2012

The land of the abandoned blog...

When I have a spare second away from that whole mothering thing I sometimes find myself wandering through the lovely land of blogs.  I like it there, it is a bright and interesting place to visit.  You can wander to a friendly corner and find chatter and natter, gossip and fun.  Or if you go off in the another direction you might find yourself involved in an interesting and lively debate.  Sometimes if you are really lucky you can happen upon a fab competition or a super easy, 5 minute, mummy brain proof fool proof recipe for that thing you've been dying to make but could never be bothered to do before!  I could happily while away the hours exploring this fantastic and varied world.  However, sometimes I take a wrong turn and stumble into a very curious and very saddening part of blog land. The land of abandoned blogs...



All too frequently I'll stumble across a blog that has been abandoned.  Some for months, many for years.  I read these blogs with great interest.  The blogs are usually great, the bloggers personality leaping from the page.  Their passion, intellect and personality shining through each and every word, and then...NOTHING.  More often than not there is no mention, or even hint that they plan to leave blog land behind.  Nothing in their blog to say so.  I tend to overthink a lot of stuff in life, and I have to say that when I find an abandoned blog it sets me to thinking...What has become of the blogger?  Are they ok? What could cause them to abandon a blog they had clearly crafted with so much love and spent so much time on?  It makes me sad to think about it.

In truth, I have thought many times of scrapping my blog, walking away, but I actually don't know if I could.  Or if I did, could I stay away for good?  It's true that lately I've had a bit of a mental block, and it constantly crosses my mind that I have nothing really of interest to blog about (although I still think that).   I'm glad I didn't bin my blog though, it's nice to know it's there.  A place for me to say exactly what I want.  Who cares if it isn't everybody's cup of tea!

Since I started blogging I've only known one other blogger who went MIA, they started around the same time as me with a cracking good blog.  With posts and ideas I could only dream of.  A wonderfully friendly presence in blog land and twitter, then one day I noticed they had gone.  No indication, no warning, just gone.  I often wonder about where they went and why...not that it's my business and I didn't know them well either (not even their real name). Perhaps I should have tried to stay in contact? 

So there you have it.  What do you think about abandoned blogs?  Do you know of any?  Would you try to contact the blogger (even if you didn't know them) to find out what happened or check they were ok?

8 comments:

Molly @ Mother's Always Right said...

I think it's a fact of life and blogs that people change and sometimes blogging ends up taking a back seat - or getting chucked out of the car altogether. One of my favourite bloggers recently gave up her blog, saying it was no longer themed about what she wanted to write about. She needed a break and to take her writing in a new direction. And I know she'll be back and just as great as before, but with a different blog. I guess they can't live forever - unless we want them to. The thought of my blog sliding into oblivion though, makes me sad too.

Marilynn said...

Thanks for reading. I'm glad your blogging friend isn't giving up blogging permanently. I just wish I knew when people were having doubts about their blog, after they go it makes me wish I'd been more supportive or vocal about how brilliant I thought their blog was! Even if it didn't stop them leaving blog land, I still think it would be nice for them to know that all their efforts were appreciated and that their presence would be missed. Also, just popped over to your blog for a wee nosey around and I must say, it's a lovely corner of blog land to visit!

A Strong Coffee said...

I love my blog, but it takes up a lot of time, so I can understand that blogs get abandoned. I tweeted a girl who was going to scrap hers as I enjoyed reading it - she deleted it and then came back. Her issue was that people she knew read her blog and therefore she couldn't write whatever she wanted - and I totally understand this. I have lots of things I would like to say but it would upset family and friends if I wrote it. I started blogging as a record for my boys and didn't realise what it would hold - but do sometimes wish that I hadn't told anyone I know about it!

Marilynn said...

I totally understand that myself. My blog isn't very anonymous and I also find myself wishing sometimes that it was. Often there are things I'd like to write about but I don't. I'm very aware of the risk of either upsetting or potentially embarrassing people I know. Or being embarrassed myself by sharing something about me that normally I would keep private. If I started over I probably would do it anonymously, but now I've put so much work into this blog I don't want to ditch it! I have toyed with the idea of a second, anonymous blog but I don't know how I'd find them time!

Jennifer Jain said...

It fascinates me too, I used to follow a blog which was updated daily and then suddenly stopped. I was too shy to get in contact and see if everything was okay, although I did track the author down on Facebook and saw that she was still posting there!

Marilynn said...

That is good that you found her and she was doing fine! I think it is good that the majority of bloggers have social media like FB and Twitter, so even if they stop blogging they usually keep using the other accounts and you can still keep up with them.

You really feel you get to know someone through their blog, so if they disappear all together it is more upsetting that you think it is going to be. You don't often realise how much you like a blog until it's gone (I think anyway)! Like so much in life I suppose!

SarahMummy said...

Interesting post! There was one lady who started at similar time to me and was first stranger I got into a twitter conversation with. She vanished, I worried, she came back briefly and she vanished again. I hope she's OK. The blog is a huge commitment. I always say it only takes 20 minutes to write a post, but it's all the networking that takes time. I can't ever imagine abandoning it, though. I discovered you through Jennifer BTW - and myself! Complete surprise to find me there.

Marilynn said...

Thank you! By what everyone has been saying in the comments it seems this happens quite a lot. I wonder what percentage of bloggers give up after a while? I wonder if anyone has actually researched it? I did a quick Google search before writing this post and couldn't find any info or figures on it at all so I'm guessing not.

You are right about all the networking. I have loads of social network accounts and it seems there are more and more I need to join every other week! I tend to focus my efforts mainly on Twitter though as I feel it gives me the widest audience. I figure if I don't have much time it is better to put as much effort into one than half hearted efforts into many!

Jennifer is lovely, was surprised and very,very pleased to get a mention on her blog! I don't often get mentions so when I do they are much appreciated!

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