Friday, July 08, 2005

The Island of Lost Blogs

I like blogging (OK, I said was quitting, but I came back, no?), but there's an element to the whole scene I find just a little bit sad--namely, the blog not taken. Have you ever noticed how excited people are when they start one of these things? And how--very often--their first (or second) post is their last?

Months ago, I read that there were something like 15 million blogs. What's the number now? 20 million? More?

But what percentage of them have only one or two entries?

I started down this track the other day as I mulled over updating my profile. On my list of musical likes is the Fountains of Wayne. I clicked on the FoW link on my profile, which took me to all the other Blogger members who listed the band as a fave, looking to see what else, if anything, we had in common. Clicking around just the first couple of pages, I found:

Blog: Transmissions From the Space Heater
First post: April 26, 2004
Last post: April 26, 2004
Total posts: 2
Entry: This first transmission is the most dangerous, as it may give away my position, at which point it would ALL be over, my friends. Let's just hold our collective breath ("from birth to death, the only thing we share is breath"), and try to summon the courage to go on.

Blog: The Park in Tacoma
First post: May 10, 2004
Last Post: May 10, 2004
Total posts: 1
Entry: Well, here I am blogging to my blog's content. I am not sure exactly where this will eventually end up, but I will offer up some different themes I personally enjoy that may shape my blogging.

Blog: 10,000 Monkeys Can't All Be Wrong
First post: May 11, 2004
Last post: May 12, 2004
Total posts: 2
Entry: I've resisted writing a blog for a VERY long time. I mean...What's the point? Do you really want to know what kind of breakfast cereal I had? Or who cares if I was late for work?! So Why am I blogging.... I guess because I can...and who knows. Maybe someday somebody will read it.

Blog: Letters From a Distant Author
First post: May 24, 2004
Last post:May 24, 2004
Total posts: 1
Entry: While living in Morioka Japan, there's been many an opportunity to dwell on relationships. And like most who blog, I'm feeling pretty frustrated over the whole thing.

Blog: NedsdeN
First post: June 4, 2004
Last post: June 4, 2004
Total posts: 2
Entry: Hey there. My name is Ned ... I've been reading Blogs for a while and thought I would try it out and jot some of my thoughts down. Today I'm just listening to some music (Nickelback-Figured You Out), working, and trying to puzzle through an issue with Mpegs.

Blog: Vinny's Place in Space
First post: June 4, 2004
Last post: June 4, 2004
Total posts: 1
Entry: I was inspired by one of my coworker's Blogger sweatshirts (thanks Viv) to create my own Blog. I figured this might be an exciting time to start up something new. We'll see how well it goes :O) Welcome to my Blog yo, hopefully it turns out to be a fun and interesting place

Blog: Orange Post-it Note
First post: June 7, 2004
Last post: June 8, 2004
Total posts: 2
Entry: Hey, all potential blog-readers (all two of you)! I'm Laura, and I'll be your stewardess today. If you look to your left, you'll see a random blonde girl bouncing a basketball and shouting the words to 'Bright Future In Sales' [a brilliant song by Fountains of Wayne. I am lobbying to make it our national anthem.]. On her feet are fuzzy blue slippers, and surrounding her are some black mice. They worship her. If you look to your right, you'll see all of her weird friends...

Blog: Jennifer's Daily Thoughts
First post: June 8, 2004
Last post: June 10, 2004
Total posts: 2
Entry: I'm gonna try this journal thing again... hehe. If you don't know, I had one a long time ago and now I can't find it! Oh well. Nothing really exciting has happened today...


I'm not sure what to make of this. Perhaps Fountains of Wayne fans are just really shitty at follow-through.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've stumbled onto the cybertown of "Blogadoon." These people only appear to blog for one day every 100 years.

John said...

Sure it may seem like these people just abdandoned their blogs, but what if it turned out that NedsdeN was kidnapped by the Symionese Liberation Army or died of malaria or something? Bet you'd feel pretty bad about making jokes at their expense then, huh?

NYPinTA said...

What's funny is how upbeat they sound about starting a blog in the first place... and then they just disappear.
Kinda spooky too.

Jim Donahue said...

I do find it a bit spooky, actually (and my intent really wasn't to make fun of them--well, maybe a little bit). It takes work and enthusiasm to pick a template, get your profile set up, etc.--and then to desert it right away?

The idea of "Blogadoon" is starting to make more and more sense.

Anonymous said...

Makes me want to sing the song from Rudolph, "This Is The Island of Misfit Toys".