September 18, 2012
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The Missing Bloggers
Where do bloggers go when they stop blogging? How is it that life can get in the way of what once was a passion?
I miss your soul searching entries. Usually they were simple things about what you did today. It wasn’t terribly exciting but I got to see a wisp of what you do. I laughed when you shared a funny moment or a joke. Your wit & your dry sense of humour helped me unwind after a long day. Sometimes you don’t even mind if I laughed at you. I knew it was a good entry when I was still smiling after I commented on your entry.
It was always interesting to read about your travels, your love of food, travels, books, planes, photography, music & art. I loved how you carefully crafted an entry. Each word had a purpose. Your entries triggered memories, emotions and moods. I saw what you wrote. I felt what you felt. Your words carried me away to your mind. It was intimate and beautiful. Your video entries captivated me. So that’s what you look and sound like.
Sometimes though, you were angry or sad. The burdens of work and life took a toll on you. You poured your heart out when you had relationship issues. You were inconsolable. The worse was when darkness descended on your life. There wasn’t anything to do but to pray and hope.
I marvel how tough you are and how resilient you can be. I envied how some things can be so easy for you. How did you cook that dish? How did you write so well? Even with the same camera and same lens, I know I can’t capture images as well as you can. I cheered as you lost another pound, ran another mile or met someone new. It was heartening watching you conquer your fears or marking another milestone in life.
So why did you stop blogging? Or did you move elsewhere? Was it tumblr, Facebook, Blogger, WordPress or gasp… Twitter?
I wanted to let you know that I missed you and hope you are doing well.
Comments (35)
Sometimes I think bloggers who stopped blogging just found a life. Seriously, most likely they found a gf or bf or whatever pained them just stopped.
still come back to read your blogs……and update mine once in a ……longer while..because of laziness
I do get tired at times or maybe lazy in writing. I have to second all your wrote.
@beowulf222 - I agree
There are a lot of great blogs that haven’t been updated in months or years. In my own case, I have a fiancee and am gearing up for a lot of changes, so I don’t blog as much. I imagine that many of them have similar situations. But it is sad.
I stopped writing because Giuseppe reads my blogs and gets a bit hysterical when I write about stuff that’s not at all about him and he would think it is.
Blogging superficially just doesn’t get me very engaged…
Oh, I started reading stuff on reddit.
It’s quite anonymous
I know it’s pretty immature…but some stories are REALLY good.
Here is one:http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/lruh7/iama_guy_whose_bromance_has_turned_into_a_gay/c2v4j05?context=3
Had to follow his stories through comments, but he’s a pretty good writer.The sad thing is…a lot of great stories on there tend to have no ending.
@beowulf222 - ahaha whatever pained them just stop! haha nice. I hope I always blog regardless of how I am feeling
i wish that person, whoever that is, is well too…
Beautifully written. I do stray away, get lazy from time to time but I always come back to xanga. I feel home here.
@Manbeast – Ok, Ok. Not the best English. I am a foreigner, lah. LOL Seriously, however, when I read some abandoned blogs, these blogs were often started because something was happening in these bloggers’ lives that caused grief, etc.
@beowulf222 - @oxyGENE_08 - I think I should cause some deep emotinal pain in their lives. Maybe that’ll get all those missing bloggers to start writing again. j/k of course…
@agmhkg - well, I know you’re always flying here and there.
@Fatcat723 - I was thinking more about those that haven’t updated in months or years. At least you still update in the middle of a hurricane. Thanks for the rec.
@Roadkill_Spatula - those are very valid reasons. I think a lot of the bloggers I started to read have “grown up” and are dealing with bigger responsibilities, relationships and don’t have the time to blog regularly anymore.
@Wangium - you’re one of those that I miss reading. Maybe you can start an anonymous blog. I’ll check out that reddit link.
@Manbeast - good for you and thanks for visiting.
@maniacsicko - it wasn’t just one blogger. It was really directed a lot of those bloggers that I subscribed to and they have stopped. There’s probably about 150 to 200 of them on my subscriptions that are not active anymore.
@my_palimpsest - thank you for the comment. It is a nice community here and I also feel at home here too. I appreciate the rec too.
Brilliant post Mattie. Loved the intimacy, the personal touch and the beauty in each paragraph.
This is such a wonderful post dedicated to those bloggers who we all got to know and love, and who left. I miss a lot of them too who used to be here and who I have no idea where they went.
@Wangium - This sucks. I liked your writing.
@ElusiveWords - Oi, sounds like you’re sharpening your weapons: pencil and knife.
I’ve left and come back so many times I think I may have left my brain back on one of my old xangas.
Way to lay on the guilt!!
I would say that in my case, macro blogging has evolved to micro blogging; and that facebook and tumblr are better vehicles for what I do, which these days is mainly photos. I don’t really miss the writing, because I still do it for myself. I sometimes miss the feedback, but I get enough of that from my photos I guess. 
@ZSA_MD - thank you, as I wrote the entry, I started to remember a lot of those blogs that touched me. Thank you too for the rec.
@Grannys_Place - yeah, there’s no closure, they just stopped.
@Somefishytales - hahaha… I’ve left once and returned. Thank you for visiting.
@CareyGLY - Carey! tumblr is very tempting – it looks like a very easy platform for quick uploads – especially of photos. I love the many different themes and layouts. I wish there were more on Xanga. If guilt doesn’t work, I’ll have to find some other way to lure you back.
Aw…I’ll consider doing something about it soon. I gotta get these applications out first.
Many remain, and new flowers rise where old ones rest. Do not be afraid to mourn, but if you cry, do so with open eyes and a pen in your own hand.
great post, enough to drag this old geezer out of semi-retirement. I guess after a time the passion just fades.
love this post…i sometimes look at my sub list or those who havent posted in a while to see if i could have somehow missed a recent post of theirs, even though i know the blogs have been long abandoned…
@secade - yes, there are many good ones like you that remain.
@Rveblade - hahaha… thank you. I hope the passion returns.
@jace1982 - thanks Jason, it’s sad when I look at my sub list and see all those people whose blog I couldn’t wait to read that have stopped writing. I think writing keeps me sane.
People grow up, people grow out of their confusion and insecurities, people stopped having new thoughts or interesting things to say, people find new hobbies and other people to keep them entertained, people find attention and comfort in other mediums. Xanga is dying a slow death.
I actually find it very curious why posts like this one and mine about friendship is so popular… are people craving social interactions and comforting words so badly these days? Or am I just not a very sociable person, haha. It seems like the most popular posts on Xanga are posts about Xanga.
i’m still here, matt. and hope that you too will stick around for many more years to come.
Dear Matt,
Thank you for your recent visit to and comment on my blog. I just listened to Monsters Calling Home, and notice that you have more current entries. I may even have visited you before. I liked your photos of the planes in one of the entries below. Your bullet point entry about the folks in the neighborhood is really neat too.
But I thought I’d leave my comment here on this entry, and recommend it because it is “universal” and seems to be addressed to every blogger who just stopped.
I frequently visit those old friends and readers who stopped.
Sometimes they physically die.
Sometimes they move on.
Sometimes they use Xanga as a means to become more social, which spills over into real life.
I keep it fresh by going on frequent hiatuses.
I’ve been “here” for eight years, and don’t see myself quitting anytime soon.
Still too many people to meet.
Too many blogs to write.
Too much creativity to unleash on the internet.
Thanks again for the visit.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
Great post…I miss those that leave.
I think it comes and goes.. sometimes we need to read, sometimes we need to write, and sometimes we need to do things to write about!
I can think of two bloggers that I miss dearly. I wish they’d come back.
What a cute post. I used to have a lot more time to post but to be perfectly honest, I fell in the trap of “Oh it’s so much easier to post a quick picture and one liner to Facebook instead of writing, uploading, editing and composing a lengthly blog entry”. I have been trying to be “better” at posting more regularly though.
ugh… work sucks the soul of out bloggers, and they lie gasping by the wayside trying to recover, wondering where their minds, souls, and creativity have gone.
that, and facebook
@XtremePsionic - I’m not sure why – I guess these are common themes that strike a chord with a lot of folks. I took a peek back to some of my posts that get a lot of comments & views. Pictures of food (believe or not) get a lot of comments. Humour is another one. As for Xanga dying a slow death – that’s also my fear and I hope that won’t happen. I doubt it will ever regain it’s popularity again. But maybe it’ll find a nice niche and exploit that.
@rudyhou - I’m always glad that you and others from my Onetonman days are still here. (thanks for the rec too) *hugs*
@baldmike2004 - thank you for your wonderful comments and for the rec. I was reading your poem “The Constant Pallbearer” – it was sad and beautiful. By the way, you got 2 out of 3 right. I don’t think you’re a fool. Perhaps you play the role of a jester at times. But you don’t sound like a fool to me.
@crazy2love - yes, it’s kinda sad when I look at my subscription list and see all those blogs that have gone silent. Thanks for the comment and for the rec.
@BoulderChristina - hahaha – yes, that’s so true – especially the last part.
@gottobereal64 - same here, but unfortunately I know that’s not going to happen. So I guess we’ll have to find a way to move on.
@brooklyn2028 - I wonder if I’ll fall into that trap if I have a FB account. I think I’m part of that .1% of the world that doesn’t have Facebook. I do appreciate you trying to blog more often (I hope I’m not making you feel guilty).
@kunhuo42 - argh… FB. I hope work will ease up for you.
LOVED this! i love the way you write!! i know what you mean. i definitely miss some people, though i don’t know THAT many. life gets way too busy at times. but then at times, it’s just easier to not reflect or take responsibility so that i can live in numbed denial for a just a little while longer.
@caki730 - thank you, I’m glad you liked the entry. Life can be so hectic some days. It’s just brutal. For me writing helps but I need to carve time out to do it.