When I read this article on GHOST BLOGS, I couldn't help nodding my head.
I'm talking about those strange spaces on the Internet that haven't been closed; they remain up, abandoned, their owners disappearing into the ether. There is no final post at the top announcing the cessation of the project. On the contrary, the most recent post (which is sometimes years old) usually gives no sense that the blog is coming to an end. It's like walking into a house and finding the table fully set with a warm meal but devoid of people.
I'm never sure what to do with these blogs on either the enormous blogroll I keep or in my personal blog reader. I usually leave them up on the blogroll because I figure the archives could still be helpful to someone seeking information. I also usually leave them in my Google Reader because there have been a handful of times that the person has -- years later -- popped back on (and, let's face it, I'm too lazy to prune my Reader).
Personally I have over 800 blogs in my reader, though more than half of them are ghosts. There are some that I take personal. Bloggers that I really liked, I thought we had a connection, or maybe were writing a series and just abandoned them. I'll list some of them below.
- QMoney of Discovery for women, only recently updated after 6months.
- Solomon Sydelle, finally replied my twitter message yesterday, but her blog?
- Naijadaydreamer is AWOL, she mentioned a tasking job, but still! And she owes me a story, and a book.
- Betrayed Naija Wife, I want to assume it is well with her life now
- September to Andrea on my life, hope she and family are doing well.
- Let me not even talk of the really old timers...Where is Baroque, Nolimits, Mancee, Kay9, etc...
What about you? Do you miss any blogs? Why do you think owners abandon their blogs?
I understand. At least something to hint your readers that you're well but maybe just too occupied or sth.
ReplyDeleteChances are that your readers may not only miss your updates but are just basically worried about you the writer.
I have thoughts on why they are abandoned. My reality excuses are- They couldn't get the internet anymore, they got sick and have yet to recover, they passed away. My alternate reality excuses are: The Sock monsters stole their connections, Fairies dusted them into fairyland, or perhaps aliens invaded.
ReplyDeleteI also miss betrayed Naija wife, I just want to know all is well with her.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I don't have any old blog I miss yet. But I think it has something to do with age, block, or work. Whatever it is, I wish them well.
ReplyDeleteaah! I closed my blog recently but I closed it with a post...now I have everything under one roof, earlier all blogs had different themes and it was difficult. now i have one blog and it's nicely put with different labels, themes etc. i tend to browse, follow, unfollow if people do not update or respond...
ReplyDeleteI made a blog a long time ago but I totally abandoned it because I didn't like the way it was set up LOL... I didn't actually take the time to delete it. I think the reason is that people get bored because they don't get a lot of followers, or they find something more interesting to blog about. That's what happened to me.
ReplyDeleteAwww
ReplyDeleteAlmost like a classmate one likes moving to another school - without letting one know :(((
I do wonder if Betrayed NW is okay. I wish her the best.
I wont say anything because I might just be an 'abandoned blog' one day. Hope not though
Being the worrier that I am, when i stumble upon abandoned blogs, i automatically assume that something awful has happened. (God forbid bad thing)
ReplyDeleteAnywho, being under 1 year old in this blogging game, i haven't seen any of my fave blogs gone on too long of a hiatus yet (though there are a few that haven't updated in months which makes me sad lol)
Some of the saddest abandoned blogs that I have come across belong to people who lived in Japan and just stopped posting after the horrific Tsunami earlier this year. I hope against hope that they are abandoned due to lack of resources, rather than the rather more horrific conclusions!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post
Lx
I honestly cannot think why people abandon their blogs for years without letting their readers know. The only reason I can think of is that life happened to them, but even that is not a sufficient reason because "life was happening" to them while they were actively blogging...I don't know. I just hope I don't fall into that category...EVER! I don't really have blogs I miss, since I am still new here :-)
ReplyDeleteI will really want to know how things ended with Betrayed Naija Wife. That is one blog I have refused to remove from my list
ReplyDeleteSome days I feel like abandoning my blog. lol. It's impossible. I always come back day after day even while sick. I haven't run into any "Ghost" blogs. It's possible some of these bloggers are having life problems.
ReplyDeleteHey never come across Ghost blogs. For me,I opened my blog in 2008 and for almost a year I was off it. I hope I don't go AWOL anytime soon save... for some reasons beyond me!
ReplyDeleteNaijadaydreamer left me hanging!! I went back sooooo many times looking for the final finale of The Northern Prince. That story was too interesting to be left uncompleted. That said, there are blogs that are still running but don't give as much as they used to before. I miss the old tariere. I loved her "weekend in words and pictures". Maybe that's just my nosy part craving someone else's gist. Oh well...
ReplyDeletehmmmmmmm....
ReplyDeleteI have long since learn not to take it personal. People start something and often they get tired and fed up with it, some have fallen to illness and there is no one to put an update or inform readers. Things happens, people change their minds.
I was and still am on a deeper level like to stay connected however with the rash of as you say "abandoned" blog i don't invest quite so much of myself anymore. Often people communicate via blogs but don't really know the person behind the blog in terms of real name, contact information etc., so you have to take it for the most part as face value, if it gets deeper great, if not you chuck it up to life and move on. Sad but it is what it is.
There are a few on my blogroll that haven't updated on in a year. Paprika hasn't in 2yrs. I doubt i'd remove them tho'...can't be bothered to i guess.
ReplyDeleteLife happens, people move on to other things. I don't if i'll announce if/when i decide to bow out tho'...we'll see.
i was just talking to a friend about this earlier today! a blog (which i love) and has been abandoned is Miss Definitely Maybe's! wish she would come back already. its been over a year. i still go back to read some old posts.
ReplyDeletewell,I have no comments coz I might also abandon my blog someday,so many things could make someone despise his or her blog without a notice,something sudden could come up and i totally understand,I don't know who Betrayed NW is but seeing she's been mentioned I wish her the best and I so so miss Naija fine boy,I used to read his blog and actually LMAOOOOO,i even checked him out on twitter,no way,please whoever knows his whereabouts should kindly tell me,that guy used t have over 200 comments and people still read his blog till today,yea I know coz I check it,when I'm bored I revisit his blog,and to tell you how good he was,I still laugh at something I read before.
ReplyDeleteOh betrayed naija wife! I also want to assume that all is right with her world now, at least that is what I wish for her.....You are right on the idea that the archives can be of help.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I don't think you can pin it down to any particular reason, things happen and people move on to other things. However, blogging requires commitment in writing/posting articles and also following other people. Some people I guess just get overwhelmed over time and perhaps just give it up completely.
ReplyDeleteMany of the bloggers I met in blogville have left. It would be interesting to find out why they left or stopped but there is possibly a variety of reasons - all of them unique to the individuals concerned.
ReplyDeleteI think blogs are abandoned when people tell themselves "I'll do it later" and then later becomes the summer, the year and so on.
ReplyDeleteBlogging does take fortitude. You have to post and be interesting about it.
Also, 800 blogs? Wow. That must be a record :)
Yes o QMoney, Solomon, and Betrayed just went MIA...some of my favorite bloggers *sigh*
ReplyDeleteNaijadaydreamer, Bukky, is in Nigeria. I do check on her on twitter. She recently updated her blog asking we followers not to abandon her; and that when she's able to see through the NLS, she'd be back fully.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Nolimits is usually on twitter o... lol
- LDP
i sent Andrea a mail and she responded dont know why she deleted her posts and went MIA. Q has just been busy with her baby and all but like you said she put up an update last week.
ReplyDeleteThe others hmm
#I remember risquediva who just took off like that and naija chikito who put up one post after 2 years and took off again
and dear seun, do you remember her? the Tinuke girl that lost her muslim boyfriend. i often wonder how stuff ended with the new guy that loved her that she kept comparing with Seun.
ReplyDeleteProcrastination! That is the word. When we procrastinate, we might be guilty of abandoning our blogs.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the Betrayed Naija Wife,i felt so sorry for her.I hope it's all well with her now though.
ReplyDeleteHope i dont become an abandoned blog too.Though i must confess, i have an abandoned wordpress site. I should get back to it, or at least close it formally..
ReplyDeleteI certainly Miss Solomon Sydelle. I think she was the first blog I read and followed. I loved her stories about her boys and their palava. I do understand people not updating anymore, blogging sometimes serves a purpose for a season...but its good to say goodbye at least.
ReplyDeleteI miss Carlang o! d guy culd spin angels stories en, very funny guy but seems he's still active on 234 next. he should get back to blogging tho. Miz Cynic too has hibernated. school is probably keeping her busy but she shuld probably let us know wats going on. Ibiluv is another blogger that i miss. she has not given us anything since her blog turned 4. hope she's alright tho.
ReplyDeleteI hope i don't turn into one of them ghost bloggers tho cos i just started blogging this year
i miss atutu, carlang, unnaked, kimpossible, dairy of a g, shirak, henglish, princesa, sasuke and a dozen more. bloggers i thought i had 'a connection' with lol. some of em i keep in touch with on fb, but i miss that part of em...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this. And that's what happens when the relationship between the blogger and the blog is poor. The blogger thinks the blog exists only because of her, forgetting that he/she built up, along the way, a series of readers and friends who really would want to know what's going on, even if they are only 'virtual' friends.
ReplyDeleteAs a follower & dedicated reader of many blogs I find myself building a rapport with fellow bloggers and to have one abandoned is like a betrayal.
ReplyDeleteI hope nothing catastrophic has happened to the blogger and at the same time hope we just haven't been left high and dry. I have plan for my blog. If I die unexpectedly my username and password are in my safe with instructions for my closest family to post an update. If I choose to move onto other projects, I'll be sure to phase out & say a proper "Tula bonana junza." (see you later)
@MissBwalya, you actually gave me an idea. Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteWell said Myne..i miss some..like ZEL {her father passed away}...then SHOE-VIRGO..(no word at all after several messages}..what of EVE? {banker...no much time }... just hope they are doing fine.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I feel guilty reading this?
ReplyDeleteI really hope this doesn't happen to me.
I think it's very sweet how readers are caring about their favorite bloggers and just want to know that they are o.k.
ReplyDelete@Micheal, I doubt that, see you soon. :)
ReplyDelete@Christy, right?
I am really glad you addressed this, Myne! I go through a pretty regular "blogroll sweep" because I don't like having TOO many blogs to keep up with and if I get over 50 or so I feel really overwhelmed and I end up not reading or keeping up with most of them.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I think most people who abandon their blogs are just too busy to keep updating and they're too embarrassed or ashamed to admit that they want to (and/or are going to) quit.
~TRA
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
Half my blogroll doesn't move and I'm so sad because they were the people that had me running to the internet. I also wonder what happens to them from time to time. I fight very hard not to abadon my blog but life comes up and makes it all but impossible to write the way you used to. I thnak God for you and Vera shah. It's not easy to write frequently. I'm four years now and it gets harder every year but I love it so :)
ReplyDelete