An interesting article appeared in the Sunday Times newspaper the other day. A topic that I have been wanting to comment on; so it saves me having to write an article, great.
Here is the article
sundaytimes.co.za “The blog graveyard”.
Article seems derived from the original article at The Sunday Times, England – technology.timesonline.co.uk
What’s it about?
“Hey guys, I’m soooo sooo sorry I haven’t written in a while!!” she wrote.
It has been a long wait for any Lohan fans who may be hoping for an update. That entry was posted in October 2003. Lohan’s blog has since taken its place in the Internet’s fastest growing graveyard — of an estimated 200-million blogs that have been started, then abandoned.
The extraordinary failure rate of online diaries and claims that interest in blogging will soon begin a precipitous slide are sparking an intriguing debate about the future of self-expression on the Internet and whether blogs, once seen as revolutionary, are destined to become a footnote in the history of computing.
To the embarrassment of millions of Internet users — from Hollywood celebrities such as Lohan, Melanie Griffith and Barbra Streisand to countless ordinary parents, workers and would-be poets — the evidence of failed diary-keeping cannot be easily erased from search engines that continue to provide links to blogs that have lain dormant for years.
Some Internet analysts call them “ghost blogs”, lingering reminders of a cultish enthusiasm for self-expression that is rapidly wearing off. Others liken the abandonment of blogs to “the suicide of your virtual self”.
Why am I saying this?
Show me how many people have had an active personal’ish site for a few years? A few maybe? Good.
I reckon that if you have something to share…
If it is obtainable elsewhere (another site for example):
If you like it:
- Link to it or bookmark it online. Use del.icio.us bookmarks, some place that other users will be able to find it.
- Make suggestions or comments on what is lacking or can be improved. Or some praise even.
If you don’t like it:
- Make a suggestion to the creators of the site. Maybe something is missing, then you can complete it.
Can’t find it anywhere?
If the site/source is really bad and has no hope of being revived by the author or it isn’t possible to take over the management of the site/source/page, then you have some options:
- Add it to wikipedia – it’s maintained and will be around for a while. In contrast to your personal domain which ceases to exist when you get bored and stop paying the registration fee.
- Wikipedia not appropriate? Consider using a Google powered free hosting service like blogger.com or googlepages.com to power your new site/information.
- Need more tools? Try finding a site that provides or deals with similar information – can you maybe partner with the site or create a new section for it? Please don’t create another forum.. unless you really have to. Learn to search.
- Lastly, you could get your own domain name and hosting for your website and do as you please.
There are many options, no excuse to pollute the web.
Collaborate to make it better and cleaner. If we don’t do it, who will?
This isn’t specific to blogs, it’s the same for any site, website, forum, what ever you want to call it. A html site is a html site no matter what name you give it.