June 29, 2013
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Time Here Grows Short
It’s already at the end of the month and Xanga 1.0 has only 2 weeks left of existence.
Reality is setting in that I only have a handful of blogs left to say here…
The last few weeks have made it easier to “let go” because so many people have already vacated the premises. If Xanga was a small town, it’s now become a smaller village. Making Xanga 2.0 a “pay only” model did tremendous damage to the brand and managed to do what previously could not be done – empty the place of many of the longtime users.
The one thing I didn’t like about Xanga the last few years has been the shrinking net volume, which is what prompted me to try out other higher traffic sites years ago. I think most folks had a problem with that. And now Xanga 2.0 is being offered as a walled garden that stands to make the small village we have now seem like a metropolis by comparison. What’s surprising is some people are shocked at the resulting mass exodus.
To Do List – Blogs to be done in remaining time:
1) Short alternative sites review – what I learned about other blogging sites I checked out2) My new location decision/announcement
3) Last Wall Street rant (Haha)
4) Last trading update
Comments (13)
If the current state of xanga is any indication of what Xanga 2 will be like, then why bother? What are we trying to save?
i guess it is safe to say xanga has had its run.. not that I blogged much over the past few years but i used to like coming to check in on people.. Definitely have to come stop by to read the wall street rant.
there are no solutions, this is the end. we just need to move on…
@coolmonkey - Even worse Xanga 2.0 “pay only” will be even worse than the current state. I’m hoping against hope that John makes some big announcement to reverse course on Sunday.
@Pre_K - Yeah, it looks like its time has come. Thanks – it should be a good rant.
@rxglasshalffull - Well, there are many solutions, the biggest and most obvious one is for Xanga to end this “pay only” nonsense. Barring that, I agree it’s time to vamoose.
@SoullFire - are you going to move on to wordpress or another site?
Ok soulfire im counting on you to give updates to zee new home when youve decided where to settle in.
It will be hard to reflext on written entries without your input on the matter.
Share where you will be blogging from in the future, please. I tried Word Press the other day and I am “shocked” how easy it was to transfer my files over. And why would I pay 48 bucks then? *haha*
Volunteers get to blog for free, along with giving away free blogging to others.
There’s also on the table after the transition to 2.0 several discussions on free trial (like netflix and hulu) along with even a ‘lite’ version that could be offered for free. However, we can’t approach those options until we even reach 2.0 being launched.
Let’s just deal with the transition first – then we as a community can help make it what we want it to be.
@edlives - No offense, but do you honestly think that those that really can’t afford to pay to blog have the time to ”volunteer” their time when they have real jobs, families, and school to take care of? See, when I volunteered my time at places, I didn’t do so because I got a ”tax break” or got offered something for free when the rest of everyone else had to pay. I did it because I had the time to and earned a spot to. If Xanga was truly willing to offer volunteer positions – you’d see the entire community scrambling to volunteer simply to be able to avoid paying (then Xanga would not be making any ‘income’). And if they only offered a few limited volunteer positions then the point is dead in the water already. And this will not be the situation for the majority of people who are leaving Xanga now — they cannot afford time or money to a situation that should of been handled by the management long ago. The reasons for volunteer-to-blog-free-blackmail and pay-to-blog blackmail are the same — and they will not offer an appropriate solution that the individuals who are sadly leaving this community are looking for.
@SoullFire - It really is quite sad what happened to this place isn’t it? I get rather skeptical of ‘buy now and see later *maybe* + pay additional costs to even use our service’ concepts. I can’t think of many companies that offer a type of disorganized ’investment’ to a community like this. Any other company.. and you’d be laughed out of the boardroom for pitching such an idea. Paywall schemes simply do not work and are falling out of favour.
@Cagey - I understand and respect your opinion, however – I disagree. Let’s leave it at that.
@rxglasshalffull- @juslitome - @beowulf222 - I’ll my posting my new location in a day or two. =)
@edlives - My biggest concern isn’t about my prospects of “free blogging” as it is on the effect of whose willing to remain and the likelihood of attracting new users. Assuming Xanga 2.0 makes it’s debut, I think you will see first hand what I mean with the drop in activity/traffic/blogging. On the bright side, everyone remaining will be guaranteed top blog status ala Andy Warhols prediction.
@Cagey - I think this is one of those cases where they have to “see it for themselves” what the real challenges with this model are. After that I think there will be more “motivation” to pursue alternative/additional routes.