June 29, 2013
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Why a community?
I’ve been blogging on Xanga since 2007. Before that I blogged at another community called Gather. I enjoy writing within a community and I find the idea of blogging in general cyberspace with WordPress or Blogger to be a fairly lonely experience. It seems to take forever to build a following and you don’t know where to begin following people. Yet Gather has done poorly and so too has Xanga. Few people are still around from when I started.
I’ve been pondering a lot lately – what is it that is so enjoyable about a community such as Xanga and why doesn’t that appeal appear to be more universal. What do you think?
Comments (16)
I agree blogging is a lonely experience if the feeling of community is not there, and hope that a significant number of people end up finding a place where we can continue to have that.
A community provides an identity for people to relate to. We build communities everywhere and within everything we do. It’s about creating bonds and connecting with people; that’s what makes life bearable. The internet is vastly anonymous, so places of community like this can’t thrive. There’s too much of everything, and too many options to find that one place you can call home. I don’t know, I’m really just throwing my own crazy opinion out there. I’m gonna miss this place when it’s gone, because even if Xanga raises the money they need, the way this place is right now, it won’t be the same.
Perhaps people are looking for the quick enjoyment, like the instant message, the rapid gratification. For a community to develop, as xanga has, there is that core with which you bond. That takes time, which unfortunately our society today frowns upon.
i think it’s because for the most part our society is looking for differences instead of samenesses. the very best part of xanga was the community. i didn’t expect that when i joined, but i totally fell in love with that right away.
Personally, I think a community can happen wherever you make it. I didn’t think I would like it on WordPress until most of the people I really enjoy interacting with got there and started blogging. It has been great. I agree with soltero alma, most people don’t want to take the time to really get to know people in real life, they definitely aren’t go to do it in the cyberworld.
Personally I enjoy the insights I’m given and the ideas that can be shared among a community. I’ve had other blogs but never put in the effort that i have with xanga. I thing the community inspires me and pushes me to try and put myself out there in ways i never would anywhere else.
I share your feelings about blogging and community. I personally think Xanga went down when being Featured, or on Top blogs became a joke. I blame teens, but mostly the Xanga management.
I remember being number 2 on Top Blogs, and number one was some teenage chick who wrote “I love you” 750 times, nothing else, just those three words. I had put some time into my blog and it was a good funny one, yet I fell second to this teenage twit.
The other problem was spammers, from China, Nigeria, wherever…The Chinese were the ones that bugged the shit out of me. The Xanga team didn’t seem to do anything about it.
So, good writers started to leave because it wasn’t as gratifying here as it used to be. A pity really.
I have copied your post on how to stay in touch with you…I plan to.
The friends I have made through Xanga are pretty much my only friends. I only have two or three local friends and even then I wouldn’t consider them close or anything. Here I have actually felt loved and welcome.
It’s pretty lonely on Blogger. I know that it takes a while to build up followers/subscribers, and I’m so used to what I have here on Xanga.
I like the collaborative nature of online communities. The ability to be able to connect with other people of similar and different interests, and obtain insights that I would’ve never thought before.
This is inspiring in and of itself.
The challenge, I think, of any website – is to provide the tools that could enhance a community. Some sites do well at that, others don’t.
This post is inspiring me to think about the technical side of websites and how that helps a community thrive. (writing it and will go live an a bit.)
Thanks for sharing your thought… very cool.
@edlives - @Marica0701 - @Bricker59 - @wyckdstorm - @Erika_Steele - @promisesunshine - @soltero_alma - @MyHomeIsWriting - @lonelywanderer2 - All good and thoughtful comments. We will definitely keep in touch Marica. And I certainly want to keep in touch with you too Brick. I’ve been thinking about writing about my friends on Xanga but the list is long. Maybe I still will.
I share your feelings about Xanga…you’ve expressed this so well!
Sadly many of my first friends here, are no longer blogging on Xanga…but gladly many of them still keep in touch with me via phone, text, e-mail, IMing, WordPress and on other sites.
I think it’s the individuals that make up the community…and Xanga has some varied, creative, kind, talented, fun, wise people!
That they accepted me (when I first got on here I ONLY wrote about sex 
), and accepted my weird sense of humor and read my drivel has always meant the world to me! 
A lot of the Xangans who have always supported me are already on WordPress…so I will start blogging there full time soon.
HUGS!!!
I’m still around and I will miss Xanga if it closes. Now if they start charging, I’ll understand, but I may not be able to partake. I have your e-mail Rush so don’t worry, you’ll know how to reach me and I you if ever I decide to publish my stories.
That’s a good question. My thought is that Xanga seems to attract people who are very thoughtful people. I don’t mean thoughtful in terms of considerate of others, although that is true of many of them, but in terms of being introspective people who consider the world, their beliefs, and the beliefs of others with great care.
I believe that Xanga has given me the direction towards writing better and I have developed such great friendships here. I honestly do not think I can find such camaraderie in other blogs. I am going to stick here till the fat lady sings.
I think Xanga to me is almost like a support system that is there. It’s so easy to connect with new people. They tell a story and you try to understand them. I have new friendships and very old ones here. Some dating back to 2002 others very recent. Yet, I have them on whatsapp and facebook now. But to me, it was Xanga that brought us together and for that I am so thankful. I have no idea why Xanga does not appeal to many more people but I wish it did!
Good question. I think the Xanga community is comprised of many friends because we share so much more on Xanga than we do on other sites (at least I do.) For instance, when I saw you on the FB, I was happy because I feel that you are someone I know. What I have no answer to is why that appeal is not universal.