Thursday, October 14, 2010

Blogs of ages past

The decision of the BitchPhD bloggers and BitchPhD herself to close up shop has a number of current bloggers like Roxie's World and Dr. Crazy and AnnieEm thinking about blogs that have shut down and the nature of blogging. (AnnieEm says that Berube's quitting, too, but he quit before for a year or two and then came back, so here's hoping.)

Like the moms at Roxie's World, I used to read BitchPhD in the early days when it seemed like one earnest, passionate voice, and I sort of trailed off when it became a group blog, not because the group bloggers were less earnest but because I missed that original voice. If I think about what draws me into reading blogs, it's the voice of the blogger.

Now, at BitchPhD, I found a lot of good stuff, although sometimes I felt as though I were being told the One Best Way to be a feminist. Sometimes I agreed, and sometimes I didn't. But that's the point, with a blog: if a blogger doesn't care about what he or she is writing, what's the point of blogging? I'm not talking about writers' blogs that are really press releases (here's my itinerary for the latest press junket, and here's a picture of my book with a convenient link), but blogs written primarily not for commercial purposes. You can disagree, but you don't doubt that the person cares.

There are a lot of great new blogs now (see blogroll!), but I'm thinking of blogs that have shut down over the past few years whose voices I miss. Mel at In Favor of Thinking would be one, especially her post on grading championships. MaggieMay (and her stories) would be one, and JustTenured would be another. Dr. Brazen Hussy just shut down recently, which leaves entirely open the Angry Bird Banding section of the blogosphere, among other things. There are others, too, whose blog titles I can't remember but whose voices I can.

I guess if this were a banquet, I'd raise a virtual glass to those bloggers.

11 comments:

Dr. Koshary said...

I also miss MaggieMay! It kind of broke my heart when she quit her blog. I'm not a literature scholar, so once such bloggers quit the scene, I'm unlikely ever to run into them, or even learn their names. Another aspect of internet ephemerality.

Research Centered said...

Psstt... you may find a somewhat familiar voice over here:
http://researchcentered.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

Cin cin to old bloggy voices, especially those who return again in a new persona: reincarnation, bloggy style!

Dame Eleanor Hull said...

I was just thinking yesterday about some of the blogs I miss, MaggieMay's among them. And Hilaire. And some that went password protected, like Professor Me, Russian Violets, Jane Dark. Oh, and Jane in the Academy. Anyway, you read my mind. Here's to 'em.

Anonymous said...

Raising my glass with you, Undine.

Horace said...

Oh, and you know: Mel's on board with ProfHacker. I think you'll be able to figure her out pretty quickly over there.

undine said...

Dr. Koshary, I wouldn't know their names even if I ran into them, so you're not alone. Now I'm starting to wonder: do all bloggers (except me) know who the other bloggers are in real life?

Thanks, Research Centered! I will check it out.

Annieem, I do like that idea of bloggy reincarnation.

Dame Eleanor, I remember those going behind the password protection wall, too, which with my luck with passwords, meant that they went dark.

Thanks, Dr. Crazy!

Horace--thanks. I did not know that! I guess I really am the only person who doesn't know who anybody is in real life.

Anonymous said...

Toasting bloggers who make us thing. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Um...THINK.

Anonymous said...

I've come out of hiding.

undine said...

Glad to hear it, profacero!