I managed to create a backup blog on WordPress. I have no idea how to enable comments yet. It looks like the future of Xanga will be a cliffhanger. In case we don’t get to Xanga 2.0, here’s where you can find me:
http://NocturnalTwins.wordpress.com/
I will see you soon.
Finally, I want to thank all of you for the support, the kind words of encouragement, your prayers and keeping my dad in your thoughts. It means a lot to me and I’m grateful to all of you.
Take care everyone.
Dear Lord,
I know you’re busy trying to heal the sick, eliminate poverty, stop wars and preventing humans from being the worst enemies to themselves. Could you just squeeze in one more thing on your agenda? If I could just ask you to get the crazy drivers off the road, I would be eternally grateful. Yeah, I know I speed a bit here and there but for the most part, I am pretty careful. But yesterday I drove behind the slowest BMW M3 driver in the world. He almost succeeded in getting my blood pressure to a record high. On the way home, I almost got clipped by a van. The driver was on my left lane and I was in the middle lane. But she was so nervous driving so close to the retaining wall that part of her van was in my lane. When I honked at her, she decided to just dive into my lane instead. Even F1 drivers have better road manners. I honked loudly but refrain from saying any nasty words.
So if you could just throw some lightning bolts on those crazy drivers, that would make me real happy.
Finally, and I know I’m pushing my luck; if you could give the Xanga 2.0 fundraising a gentle nudge, that would be great. A lot of folks would be happy. You can even disregard my earlier plea about crazy drivers. I’m willing to make a sacrifice.
Matt
We’re just over the halfway point for donations in the Xanga Fundraising Campaign (link). Yet, aside from a couple of posts from the Xanga Team, the level of communication is less than what I had expected. I can only conclude that they are overwhelmed with the work before them and simply don’t have the cycles execute a coherent communication plan. As with any corporation or organization going through a significant change, you need a solid change management plan which includes a communication plan.
With less than 3 weeks to go, I hope the Xanga team really step up the communication.
1. Take advantage of the Front Page. Feature the Fundraising Campaign more prominently in the Front Page.
2. Send out mass message. I’m not the first to suggest this. Jose mentioned this the other day.
3. Change the login so that when people log in, they get a reminder about the Xanga fundraiser and the link to it.
4. Move out the top blogs so that @Edlives, @RoadLessTaken, @Saintvi and anyone else who is actively helping get permanently featured there until we meet our goals.
5. Ask the community for help in executing your communication plan.
Many members of our the community who have jumped in. Joel (Edlives) has done a good job of describing Xanga 2.0 and how it will be radically different than we see today. Alex has spent quite a bit of time hosting a radio show on www.blogtalkradio.com/roadlesstaken with Xangans (past and present). One of my favorite bloggers (Chris) will be on this Thursday June 27th at 8:30PM EST. Check Alex’s blog for the schedule. There’s been so many good ideas expressed on that show. Saintvi has a fundraising campaign. Many others have offered suggestions on fundraising and alternate pricing models. I hope Xanga is listening.
Despite my concerns about the need for more communication from the Xanga team, I still have faith in the next version of Xanga. I’ve pledged some time ago and will stay to see what the future looks like. I’ve gotten a lot of support from my subscribers both past and present. I’ve grown and learned a lot here. I started my Xanga simply as an online journal. But it’s more than a journal now. I have no idea who will be here with me. I know some of you are moving on and I’ll find a way to stay in touch with you. For those of you who are still on the fence, I hope you’ll make a donation.
Pledge Here: https://xanga.crowdhoster.com/relaunch-xanga
corrected tag for Alex / Roadlesstaken & Joel / Edlives
I just read this entry: Relaunching Xanga a Fundraiser . I would be heartbroken if this community doesn’t exist anymore. But I also confused on this free vs paid membership. Maybe we’ll find out more in the weeks to come. I think if Xanga charges a membership fee, 90% of the people will just go elsewhere or stop blogging.
What do you folks think?
There’s this Xangan who lives in my neighbourhood. But I have never seen him around. When he told me he goes to the same supermarkets I go to, I’ve always been on alert. Every Asian guy gets extra scrutiny. I’ve even mistaken a couple of non Asians for him because I’m so jumpy. I always joke with him that he’ll never find me and I’ll always spot him. He actually thought he spotted me once but it wasn’t me. But he told me that if I see him, I should introduce myself. I said of course I will. But I figured I have better odds of bumping into Jay Chou.
Today I was meeting my brother and my dad for another one of dad’s appointments. As I was heading to the exit at a subway station, I saw him walking towards me. I took a closer look and it was him! By then he had almost walked past me. Should I say hi or should I just keep walking? I decided to call out his name. He stopped and looked at me. I walked over introduced myself. He looked surprised. I’m sure my big Charlie Brown head must have startled him. But I think I may have surprised myself as well. I just went with my gut feeling and it felt right. Besides, he’s been one of my longest subscriber and vice versa. Our conversation was short because we were both in a hurry. But he is as nice in person as he is in his blog.
I just wished I had my elevator speech prepared as I probably sounded like a babbling mime. But another brick has fallen from my wall. I’ll have to find some more disguises.
Sheldon aka @Brooklyn2028, it was great bumping into you today!
Believe it or not, I met up with another Xangan recently. He also blogs anonymously although he hasn’t updated much recently. I was surprised when he contacted me. He was in town visiting relatives and for some sightseeing. I was able to find some time to meet him for lunch before he flew back home. So some of you may wonder – what do anonymous blogger do when they meet? We chatted for quite some time over lunch. It was mostly about family, work and catching up on what we’ve been up to. Although I think I asked more questions since he hasn’t updated recently. The conversation was easy and the time flew by much too quickly. I am glad I had a chance to meet him in real life.
When I got back to work, I took off my fake mustache, coloured contact lens, wig and make up. Just kidding…
It’s funny when I started this blog that I had no intention of turning it into any type of interaction (virtual or real). It was just a place for an online journal. But little by little – that’s changed.
p.s. in case you were wondering no one took pictures. But I didn’t check if he had a spy camera in his eye glass (yikes!).
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.
I feel as if I got a nice little coffee shop here in Xanga. Some days I’m open for business and people drop in. Of course, I’ll be the guy in the back room, with sunglasses and a disguise. After all, I’m anonymous. Most days (especially lately), the shop is closed but people still wander by to see if I’m around. They will knock at the door, peer through the windows and wonder what is going on.
It’s a nice community here. When I need support, you don’t hesitate to give me encouragement, advice, a gentle nudge, a prayer or two, a pat in the back, a hug and a supporting shoulder to lean on. Sometimes when I’m not blogging, I’ll get a message or email asking if things are ok. It’s a wonderful and supportive gang here at Xanga.
Despite not knowing who I am, you don’t hesitate to cheer me on. I don’t know what to make of it sometimes. I have nothing to compare it to in real life. Sometimes in the middle of the day, I’ll stop and wonder about certain folks in Xanga – especially if they are going through some tough times. I wonder if they are coping with the challenges from life. We know life can be unfair.
Work has eased up just a bit. After working almost 7 days a week for a few weeks, I’m starting to reduce my weekend hours. The pressure at work continues. Any mistakes that people make get amplified and distorted. The culture of fear and pessimism is getting a foothold. I try not to let it get to me but inevitably it does.
But it’s nice to know I have a lot of support here. I’m thankful and grateful. 
Xanga: Matt, I read your last blog. Are you leaving me?
Moi: No but I can’t really commit to a long term relationship with you.
Xanga: Was it something I did?
Me: No, it’s not you, it’s me.
Xanga: $#^#@^ I hear that line so many times! So it’s not me but do you know how many people have dumped me in the past few years?
Matt: Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I guess it hasn’t been easy for you to form long term relationship with bloggers.
Xanga: So many of you have left. You guys don’t like to blog anymore? Have I not been good to you?
Mateo: It’s just that there are so many pressures on my time. I feel like I’m pulled in so many directions.
Xanga: What about the support and feedback from the community? Didn’t you enjoy that?
Mats: I did and still do.
Xanga: I know I know… we’re not physically here so it’s easier to dump us.
Mathias: No no… I’m not dumping you. I just don’t know if I’m able to blog regularly. It’s does require some form of a commitment not just to write but to read and comment. It’s the joys of fully participating that requires more of a commitment. It’s an hour here and an hour there, it adds up.
Xanga: 
Matti: Stop that, you know I don’t like you to use guilt to manipulate me.
Xanga: After all these years, you’ve found some one else haven’t you? Is it that corporate, high flying WordPress? Or have you gone goo goo for Blogger? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen from trampy tumblr! Is it that effing Facebook? Have you decided to just tweet instead? Surely it’s not LJ?
Mattie: No, I’m not seeing anyone of them at all… honest.
Xanga: Hmm… so what do you want to do? Is this it? Is this your last entry? Should I shut down your account?
マシュー: No, it’s nothing like that. I’m just trying to find some balance in my life. You’re a key part of it. I just don’t think I can be here daily. Maybe I can still be here on a semi regular basis.
Xanga: You have a commitment problem don’t you? After all these years, you’ve never even got Lifetime Premium. I should have suspected this about you. You teased me when you got your True badge. I should get that back from you.
Mattias: Seriously… I have my own health to worry about, work sucks and has sucked for awhile, I got to spend a bit more time with my dad and… why I am telling you this? I’ve already blogged about this!
Xanga: I just feel like this loyal friend who gets dumped all the time. You go off and enjoy your life.
wehttaM: You still have a lot of folks who are loyal to you. I have faith that this new Product Council will help you carve a stronger and well defined segment out there. Xanga Mobile looks like it’ll help keep more of your bloggers too.
Xanga: You’ll still be around?
Matman: yes, I’ll still be around.
Xanga: So many of you have left, it’s not easy. I always thought I would hang on to all of you for a long time. Some of you have been here since high school and have graduated from college already. I’ve always thought it would be neat to keep a blogger from high school to retirement.
Ματθαίος: People do change. I think there will always be a core group of bloggers that will remain. But I do admit, I miss a lot of the old gang.
Xanga: When will your next entry be? tomorrow?
M: I don’t know, maybe before the end of the week.
Xanga: Ok – no pressures. *sniff*
Onetonman: *hugs*
(ed. note: I can never figure out Matt.)
I read with interest and fascination at the recent NYC Xanga Meet that Alex and others coordinated. It looked like everyone had a fun time and it seemed that most people got to make new friends. From what I can tell, most of these folks don’t blog anonymously like I do. So if there is a Xanga meet up and most of my subscribers and the people I subscribe to attended – would I go? After all, it’s my Xanga world. But what would an anonymous blogger like me do? I used to joke I would attend in a disguise or maybe send someone over in my place. But I think some of you might eventually clue in.
My imagination runs wild just thinking what folks might say.
“OMG – you do have a really big head.”
“Your head isn’t that big. Your ego is.”
“You’re shorter / taller / bigger / smaller than I imagined.”
“You’re older / younger than I thought.”
“You look more Korean / Japanese / Thai / Filipino / Malaysian / Indonesian than Chinese.”
“Matt, you really look awful in that Cheongsam – especially with the slit coming up to your hips.”
What would people ask me?
“So Matt, you wrote recently that you stalked folks online – did you stalk me?”
“Yes I did.”
“You creep.”
“I mean, I was joking.”
“You sick man, so you lied?”
As with any Xanga get togethers, there would be many pictures taken. It would be my new workout routine – ducking, bobbing, jumping and trying to avoid those fast prime lenses. Of course someone will inevitably take my picture. “Mattie… how much will you pay me not to post your picture in my blog?” Well folks, I pay in Canadian dollars which is worth a bit more than the US dollar right now. I might go broke…
Maybe I’ll just have a meet up for Xangans that blog anonymously. We’ll all sit in a room with our laptops. But we won’t introduce ourselves to each other in person. We would all blog like crazy and try to guess who was who. The only way we would chat is with that Xanga Meebo chat. Oddly enough, this appeals to the geeky side of me.
I think I need some sleep.
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