As bloggers, do we have an obligation to the people who stop by and read our posts everyday? Is it ok to just vanish off the face of the earth and never explain it to those same people? What about a long, unexplained hiatus? Is that ok to do?
I don’t think it is… even though I have done it before. Of course, my previous blog was some silly dribble written in a semi-anonymous fashion with close to no comments. But I could never imagine doing it now. I would feel like total shit. I have opened up myself far too much and actually become friends with a lot of the people who used to just lurk across these pages.
Not too long ago I went to do my daily visit of a blog I absolutely adored and it was gone. Deleted. As if it had never existed and I was pissed. I felt cheated, and in many ways betrayed. She had shared so much of herself and her life… her struggles and family issues and then POOF, it was all gone.
I stopped and thought about the possibilities that maybe just maybe her candid posts had offended someone close to her, but even that did not excuse deleting the blog. Why not just delete the posts, write a little blurb saying good bye and then leave. That way we the readers would at least know something.
I know that sometimes life can grab us and distract us from blogging. I also know sometimes we just don’t feel like doing it. Blogging can become boring after awhile and I get that… I get bored too! But blogging is kind of like a job; we just can’t take off and not be accountable to someone. Or can we?
I suppose you can if don’t give two shits about your readers… and if that’s the case, what the hell are you blogging for?
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Its happened a few times to me now and I still wonder about them now.
In the event of an accident my sisters have been informed that they must post something on my blog, it was said jest at first, but I think I will remind them of it.
Claires last blog post..CDoodle Creations
I’ve had so many ‘leave’ me in this fashion, I don’t even think about it anymore. That’s the thing about having a ‘fragile heart’, you build walls and all sorts of safety precautions to make sure your heart isn’t shattered into a million pieces like last time… heh Sorry, didn’t mean to share so much. I’ve gone away myself, and come back, and gone away and come back again. Hopefully, you’ll find that person again… and hopefully they’re have a good explanation for you. {{{hugs}}}
OT: You’ve been tagged. MUahahahahaha
Wow, I hadn’t thought of that! I would definitely wonder and wish to know what happened if someone stopped blogging suddenly.
And Claire, I think I’ll adopt your plan and have my sister take over my blog if something happens to me. I always worry about my cat, since i live alone, but I guess the blog needs to be fed too!
chat blancs last blog post..Ode to a Triscuit
I think we as bloggers definitely have a responsibility to let our readers know if the blog is going away. People learn from and contribute to your blog and it almost becomes a part of their lives.
You definitely hit the nail on the head here. If we don’t care about our readers, what are we writing for? (but you said it way more gangsta)
Rahsheens last blog post..Cross-Posting Etiquette: The Evils of Ping.fm and HelloTxt
Blogging is a community activity. It is so important to let readers know you are quitting. I have been blogging seriously for a year. A few of my blog friends have just stopped posting (most likely on free platforms) or taken down their sites. I only have known of one blogger who quit the right way, letting readers know what was going on.
Tina Kubalas last blog post..Picture of Overtime: Self Portrait Sunday
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I would feel ripped off if I spent time getting to know a blogger and then suddenly they disappear for no reason.
Granted sometimes this does occur due to a webhost going under or the like but still you should try to get it back up within a few days.
Interesting point to ponder… how long would you want your blog to stay after you pass away?
Stuart
Stuarts last blog post..Erin is blogging – Fungabbie
My blog is an extension of me and all rights and priveleges that apply to me in the real world apply to my blog. I reserve the right to switch off without explanation to anyone. Nobody pays my Bills.
Alfred Saforos last blog post..Google Should Pay Blogger’s And Other Content Developers.
Blogging is a slippery slope. Depending on what is revealed, the readers feel they come to really “know” the blogger. And then for it to disappear, particularly during a stressful time, can leave the readers hanging.
I tend to be a black and white thinker, and if I was going to hang it up for some amount of time, or forever, I think I would at least write an end post explaining why I was no longer writing.
I have read a few people who announced they were locking up and would share the password with readers, should they email them. That’s been helpful.
But I’ve also read people who were here one day and gone the next.
cardiogirls last blog post..Even the cat found it annoying
I wonder sometimes if the here today gone tomorrow was intentional on the blogger’s part.
I had a free wordpress.com account once that disappeared. Nothing could be done to get it back either. There have been quite a number of DOS attacks on different hosting services that have caused chaos in the ranks, too.
Most blogs just get abandoned.You see a post that looks like they’re going to come back from a weekend or week’s vacation, then nothing and nothing and nothing. You wonder if something happened to them while they were away. Did they run away? Did they get killed? Are they in a coma in the hospital? It’s a crazy world we live in, so anything could have happened!
Total disappearances I take to be mechanical issues such as didn’t renew hosting/domain name or issues with the server, not so much stuff with the writer.
Just my .02 which along with another $5.98 will buy you Starbucks.
ê¿ê
Margarets last blog post..Padraig Wins the PGA Championship
Hey Miss, Please don’t do it with this or any other blog which you would have. It is very difficult to find blogs of our own choice and they are just like best friends so please let us know if you will have some operating issues and we can contribute.
Ive been doing this for 2 years now, and Ive seen a lot of blogs just up and vanish like a fart in the wind. I think its awful when they do not at least write a goodbye post. Or send out an email. Something.
I agree with you…if you don’t give a shit about your readers why the hell are you blogging?
meleah rebeccahs last blog post..So Happy Together…
I have freaked out and worried about people who have done that… It’s not right.
I have become attached to some blogs just to have them up and disappear and even though it gave me cause to pause I also know that it is the writers choice and option.
I blog without obligation, I don’t blog for my readers, I blog for me! If people happen to read it and like it that is fine, if people don’t read it that is fine also.
I don’t believe bloggers should feel obligated to have to continue if they don’t want to and I don’t believe they owe me or anyone an explanation about what they do or don’t do.
Of course if you are paid to blog that is totally different!!
reginas last blog post..Pray For Rain????
I have it on my to-do list to write my final post to be published in the event of my death. Everything will be in an envelope, my passwords, everything and my husband is instructed to mail it to a good friend if the worst happens and she will publish it. At least this way my readers will know what happened to me, and it’ll give me one last chance to tell them how I valued their readership and friendship while I blogged. I owe them that.
Kathys last blog post..This Will Be Me in 40 Years
I just assume they’re dead, sadly. I just hope the person is alright….considering I don’t know what really happened or the reason behind their disappearance. Sometimes in life we don’t get to say good-bye.
It happened to me and in my mind, the person was dead, she was resurrected 5 months later and started blogging again. lol
Yes, people should inform their readers that they are leaving, (it would be nice) but most people don’t plan for death…like my very last post is not written yet and nobody knows how to get into my account. I need to write my last post, soon.
If someone is writing a blog that is in the form of a personal diary, I wouldn’t think they are doing it for their audience. So if a reason comes up (offending family or someone you’ve written about) and they need to delete it…then delete it. I wouldn’t worry about putting off people as it wasn’t originally intended for entertainment.
Now if your intention was to entertain people and you built up a readership base, you owe to your readers to let them know you’re on hiatus or deleting it all together. It would be like reading a book and the last chapter is missing from it. That isn’t cool. Readers need some closure.
Sir Robbie Robs last blog post..Lyrics That Make You Go HMMM
Interesting, I never thought about this before, but I guess writing a final good-bye post would be appropriate. If something happened to me though and I couldn’t do it, I doubt if my husband would–he just isn’t too knowledgeable about posting. He even asks me to do his email replies for him. He will surf his sites that he likes to read, but doesn’t participate in forums unless I do the actually typing for him. I think I’d have as much success getting him to do a final post for me as I would having my cats do it! Although they both have blogs, I do the actual typing for them too. (Oops, the secret’s out!)
Though I don’t write a personal diary style blog, but I would feel that I let my readers down if I quit without any notice.
Life can throw some difficulties into our path when we are unable to blog, but leaving without a notice just don’t feel right to me.
Moreover if the blog is on a free hosting space (blogger, blogspot, etc), so deleting it doesn’t happen because of costs or such.
As many of you said before me, blogging is a community activity, that means the communication is 2 sided. Don’t write a blog, or disable comments if you want a one-person show.
Bingoladys last blog post..Olympics Bingo Games
I think it depends with people aswell, you know — if you are blogging seriously and love what you do then i think you feel obligated to let your readers know what happen and not just vanished in the face of the blogging world, but if you are a blogger who’s wearing mask, pretending that you care and then all of the sudden gone that probably one of the reason among the rest which like you offended someone and become a treat or become more so personal (Which i read somewhere it happened to some blogger) and they need to delete there blog.
There are many reason. It’s good to know thought, for some to let your readers know what happen, just like letting your brothers or family to post for you and let your readers know what happen, why you can ‘t post because if you have loyal readers then that means they care of what happen to you aswell.
Great Post!
iriss last blog post..Removing the Firefox Dotted Links
I guess there are some people who move on to a new phase in their lives, and to them dropping/deleting the old blog might be like shedding skin. I don’t know.
As for me, I’d feel tremendous guilt letting my blog go dormant after all this time, and I feel horror at the thought that it might just disappear someday. If I die suddenly and don’t get a chance to say goodbye on the blog, I certainly hope that someone will do that for me. I guess I should make provisions for that.
haleyhughess last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: Rita
It is sad when someone disappears. I had a friend (through blogging) who did that. Her blog was taken down. I emailed her and she told me she was doing something else and didn’t want to have the personal blog going too. I kept track of her awhile and eventually found she had started a new personal blog. Soon after that she didn’t update for ages and then when she did she made it for friends only (registered people only). Was kind of sad and yet I wonder if she wanted to get rid of me. So far I haven’t tried to email her. She hadn’t added me to the list of people allowed to see her blog.
Lauras last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: The Sims
I am new to blogging and I am somewhat confused! I found out recently that somehow my yahoo account was displaying my blogs to everyone on my “messenger list” including the guys I have been dating and blogging about. Oops! My BAD!! So I had to ask myself what my real motives where in blogging to begin with. Do I want it private or semi-private? Do I care if anyone reads it at all?
I do follow one of my friends blogs. If he were to disappear I wouldn’t be crushed more curious than anything. Apparently I need to get plugged in to some great blogs….It sounds like I am missing out!
Missys last blog post..I like me some Boy Shorts!
In my own defense, Laura, I didn’t purposely not invite you. No one was invited, not even Walker. I had to hide it real quick, because someone had found it that wasn’t supposed to see it. The link to your site was never removed from the blog.
My name is Skye Trueheart, and I’m a deleter.
But you would have to be inside my head to understand why.
skyes last blog post..peaches
I recently wrote a will, for reasons that are too complicated to go into here, and the only thing I had of value was my blogs and other pieces of writing. I gave instructions on how to update my social networking sites and blogs to let everyone know what happened. Even if they are “just online friends” they will wonder what happened if someone just disappears. More likely than anything it will be a natural cause, like “done with this s***” but every time you wonder what was it that really happened.
I know people who would not feel obligated to tell anything to anyone. People who don’t really see online friends as real friends, or sometimes it seems, not even real people. I don’t get that at all, but that’s the way some of my dear friends are.
I totally understand how you feel, for people to keep coming back and taking time to view it means they obviously care, the least you could do is place a goodbye note. The other day my site was down through no control of my own for a couple of days and I was so pissed that I wasnt able to place a note saying ‘will be back’
QueenB.Ds last blog post..Don’t You Just Wanna….
A friend of mine (hunii.wordpress.com) faced a dilemma last year when she had a very popular blog, but also had a terminal illness. She wrote a post that was post-dated and appeared sometime after her death.
It’s an interesting question you raise though of the blogger’s responsibility to their audience.
I did that before. Back in 2006. I’d been blogging on the same blog for about 2 ½ years prior to my disappearance and the blog was kind of picking up some steam. Then BOOM! I was out of there. I then became Jennyjinx and made my way to my current blog (after two more blogs were canned). I ended up going to webarchive and retrieving some of the posts from my old blog and put them on Fab Jinxed (you can tell too, because some of the links in my old posts still point to webarchive spots…lol).
Then this past year I changed my email to my old username (did you wonder why it was so strange?) and went to comment on some old blogs. People even remembered me! Can you believe it?
So, now that I’ve written a blog post of my own I’ve completely forgotten the point I was trying to make. Lovely huh?
P.S.
If I ever decide to delete Fab Jinxed I’ll email you first. ;P
P.S.S.
Please consider LiveComment Preview as I have NO IDEA if my html is going to work here. Smoochies.
Very interesting topic and discussion. I deleted my blog content in April 2006, I didn’t explain it all at first but as the dust settle people got the idea, I had left a 7 yr relationship and just didn’t want that past online anymore. So I started over. I know it made a few people worry at first, because like you note, readers become used to you being there.
Barbara Doduks last blog post..TT29: 13 Girls Names I Like
Kathy, You have done the right thing and I often think about that. What will happen if s famous blogger with some very good blogs dies? We should have something similar to our will. I think majority of bloggers are alone i.e there is nobody at home who can manage all the ventures after death. What will happen with all those successful ventures? I always find myself in lost world whenever I think about it.
Please don’t delete your blog.
By the way, where did you learn to do your css customization?
Minnesota real estates last blog post..Five Bedroom Mayer MN Home for Sale
Kathy…
I got cut off while submitting this post, so I hope you are not getting a duplicate.
Please don’t delete your blog, or I will have to threaten to delete mine. That’s called Mutual Assured Destruction.
By the way, where did you learn to do the css customization for your site?
Minnesota real estates last blog post..Five Bedroom Mayer MN Home for Sale
Hi Monique,
This was a great post. I never deleted my blog but I did stop caring at one point… and didn’t post for four months. I thought my life was too much of a mess to try to make any sense of it through writing. A couple of friends asked me what happened and I simply joked about it, which is my way to avoid questions I don’t want to answer. Then I read this post a couple of days ago and it turned a little switch in my head. It made me think that my readers might perceive me as not being serious about the blog, while it’s quite the opposite. It’s kind of my baby and I do cherish it a lot. So I put my “no inspiration” excuses aside and started working to compensate my readers for the silent time.
So I’ve been rambling for a while and all I really needed to say was, thanks!
Jules’s last blog post..Letting your art roam free?