Nothing stays the same except impermanence.
Here at "Yorkshire Pudding" I have seen bloggers come and go. Once favoured blog buddies suddenly dry up and you wonder where they have gone when their once regular outputs shrink to nothing - often without explanation. Maybe they just get bored with the whole blogging show. It can happen.
Over at Geograph, I have been contributing images of the fabulous British Isles for over sixteen years. On that marvellous site, I have witnessed several unexplained departures. Members who contributed pictures just about every week suddenly ceased and we heard no more from them. I know that death has been the reason in several instances but often the disappearances have been unexplained.
It's just the same.
I know that it might sound ridiculous to non-bloggers but in the blogosphere you build up affection for and loyalty to other bloggers. They become like real friends but without the face-to-face familiarity or physical presence.
Here I regularly corresponded with bloggers that you might never have heard of... Daphne Franks in Leeds, Alkelda the Gleeful and Brad the Gorilla in Seattle and the troubled authoress of "Friday's Web" in North Carolina. They were special people but then they went away. I am sure that other long term bloggers have witnessed similar departures.
Now on to the present day and I look at my blog sidebar where thirty two other blogs are listed. But not all of them are active and it gets tiresome clicking on the links to discover that nothing has changed. These blogs are effectively frozen in time. And I often worry about the authors. Are they okay?
Sometimes the silent blogs will spark up again - but usually not for long. In the meantime, previously unseen blogs may have caught my interest without yet gaining a coveted place in the Yorkshire Pudding sidebar.
Anyway, today is the day for some blog housekeeping to happen. Though it saddens me to say this, I shall later remove:-
"A Yorkshire Memoir" - Tasker Dunham has not blogged since January 1st and this may be down to his challenging health battles. If you are reading this Tasker, I wish you all the best my friend.
"Arctic Fox" - Jason has not blogged since December 20th. Previously he had a ten year absence.
"Crafty Cats Corner" - Sweet Briony has not blogged since November 3rd.
"The Last Visible Dog" - Lovely Kate Steeds in New Zealand has not published since March of last year.
And the only blogs I intend to add to the sidebar today are:-
"To Baldly Go" - created by Kirt in another part of Sheffield - though we have never met.
"House Dust and Wander Lust" - from Diaday in Dayton, Ohio. This is a blog that I have only recently started to get into.
⦿
To Tasker, Jason, Briony and Kate - can I just say that if you decide to return to the blogging fold, please give me a nod so that I can reinstate you.
Before I began blogging in 2004, I was already reading some, and occasionally commenting. So many have have gone, and at times something will trigger my memory of someone and their long gone blog. There were quite a few younger bloggers in the earlier days, and now it seems barely anyone under fifty, or sixty even, which is quite sad, although who I read now have become treasured people in my life. Yes, all very thought provoking. I think blogging is as good a method to avoid dementia than any mind puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThe blogosphere has a revolving door in constant motion.
ReplyDeleteOthers have written about the disappearance of bloggers. I notice the same thing. I should look at my list and delete some blogger who've disappeared.
ReplyDeleteI have left instructions with my daughter "no-one" to open my blog and leave a goodbye message if I should one day be unable to continue for any reason. If I know that day is coming I may leave the goodbye message myself.
ReplyDeleteThis is a post I can very much relate to. I have been blogging since 2004, around the same time you started. Over past several years, bloggers have come and gone. It's a bit sad when that happens, especially those with whom you have been regularly communicating and sharing thoughts via the comments section.
ReplyDeleteI have seen your comments on some blogs which I regular visit. That's how I landed up here. I didn't have much time for the blogosphere earlier; but now that I have retired, I have more time.
Looking forward to your posts!
Debra, as others have observed, it's not such a revolving door these days. Blogging has been in decline as people's online involvement has generally migrated from their desks to their phones. There aren't so many new blogs and around about the smart phone plus twitter moment readership for blogs really fell off a cliff.
ReplyDeleteWell I had a similar discussion with Debby about this the other day. It is so sad to see Tasker disappear and I hope things are not too bad for him at the moment. I carry the names of departed blogs still in my list of blogs on the understanding that because they are there they are not forgotten we carry them on. But perhaps a 'legacy' (I think they do it on F/B) where someone can shut down your blog if you so wish.
ReplyDeleteYou don‘t need to click on the links in your side bar to find out whether there is a new post - it‘s all on your dash board for those blogs you follow.
ReplyDeleteI like reliability and continuity, and when people who have been blogging more or less regularly for years suddenly stop, I worry about them. As you say, these fellow bloggers become our friends even though we may never meet them in the offline world.
I've been blogging, on and off, since 2010. Mostly I'm quite frequent, but sometimes I can leave for several months. Depends on real life really. Having just recently found you, I'm hoping not to go away any time too soon.
ReplyDeleteI remove them from my sidebar, but I do keep following just in case, Briony did make a couple of post after a bit of a break.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I think we all have (well at least I do) blogs we read that are just ‘hanging around doing nothing’. Friko (Friko’s World) hasn’t posted anything since July……we know she has been unwell but has she succumbed to the dreaded disease? Same with Joanne (Cup on the Bus) not heard from since August…..is she still with us?
ReplyDeleteI think posts from Briony may pop up now and again but she is still grieving and life is still raw
I started blogging back in 2008 when Wife in the North used to put very amusing posts about a Londoner living in Northumberland. I gathered quite a lot of readers on my blog, as well as reading theirs. Many have dropped off the radar and it is, as you say, worrying, when you don't know why they have suddenly stopped. I have kept quite a lot on in case they should reappear again. My "following" list always updates to show when someone has put a new post on, so you don't have to click on older ones to see if they have posted, or delete them. I just post every Sunday nowadays, as I don't have much of interest to write about.
ReplyDeleteI can report that Kate Steeds is still among the living even if not keeping up her blog. We're also friends on Facebook since many years. She doesn't write a whole lot there either now but still posts photos now and then.
ReplyDeleteI do adjust the links list in my sidebar now and then, but have also kept links to a few old ones, just because I don't want to forget them.
I sometimes worry about bloggers who just stop, without explanation. I have seen a few post a farewell message, explaining that blogging just didn't fit for them any longer. We have had a couple of deaths in the blogging community. But other's simply disappeared without a trace. Many bloggers are virtual acquaintances, some are friends, some are dear friends. Over the years I have met a dozen or so in person. If you are ever in the DC area, let me know.
ReplyDeleteI do that myself from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI have, however, kept the blogs From My Brain to My Mouth and ArTeeGee up on my blog as they were a dear sweet couple [Anne Marie and Todd] who passed away and I like to stop by every so often and reread their posts.
Good morning and wow...thank you! I discovered your blog via David at The Adventures of Travel Penguin. I so enjoy your blog - your mixture of life in Sheffield, your hikes, your poetry (can't wait for your Stanage Edge poem's completion), your sweet grandchildren, your health journey, your comments and observations on American politics - all the various ingredients that go into making Yorkshire Pudding. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteI have bookmarked the blogs I read. Some have not posted for a while but I'll check them every now and then to make sure. I was looking at your list and see that I read 14 of the bloggers that you have listed. I do not have my own blog and don't want to.
ReplyDeleteWe do have to purge the sidebar now and then. The last time I did it I removed the blogs of some people I knew had died, but I felt guilty so I put them back again, even though I know they're dormant forever. I'm not ready to give up on Tasker or Briony yet. The other two you mentioned I don't know. I probably should do some tidying myself.
ReplyDeleteA digital friendship ?
ReplyDeleteWe get to know bloggers and commenters as we do favourite writers.
It cannot be friendship. It can be friendly discourse, quite different.
Blogging is healthy as long as boundaries are understood and maintained.
I NEVER MET MY BEST FRIEND IN PERSON.
Jessica Clencin Henriquez. Oprah Daily.
*For over a decade, we'd witnessed each other's world without ever entering it.*
Graham Greene made a financial arrangement with Muriel Spark that would
enable her to go on writing. He gave her an allowance because he admired her writing so much. There was just one condition.
Greene stipulated that they must never meet in person.
I must respectfully disagree, Haggarty - I count several real friendships among bloggers I have known. We communicate offline, not just through comments. It is much more than friendly discourse. I think it comes down to how open you are willing to be with each other.
DeleteI was expecting to see my blog in your "delete" list, YP. Thanks for not giving up on me quite yet. I've had my reasons for not blogging but do hope to get back to somewhat more frequent writing.
ReplyDeleteI am always very reluctant to delete any blogger from my list, just in case they post again. I also keep the one's who have left this life. I had wanted to go back to one, Rummuser, and read more of his posts but the blog was deleted after his death.
ReplyDeleteI've been a bad blogger too but I hope to mend my ways in the near future,
ReplyDeleteSo honoured to make your list. Just incase you (or anyone else) is wondering why I haven't posted for a bit it's because I'm dealing with a bit of stress but am already planning a new post ready for next week. Thank you YP.
ReplyDelete