Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

December 27, 2009

What If the Social Web Froze Over and No One Came?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 11:00 am

cooltext443860173_ive-been-thinking about communities and harbors online and off.

I like watching the harbor out our window change. A recent snowfall covered it. The foggy diffused sunlight softens it, and tricks my eyes into thinking the whole world has gone black and white. A faint shimmer on the icy snow calls back to last spring when sailors filled it with life.

winter_harbor_2009


I suppose few sailors who keep their boats in the harbor ever have a chance to see the harbor this quiet way. I wonder how it might change their experience next spring if they were looking at the lonely, frozen-over beauty I see out my window today.

The harbor is a community. I watch it as the boats come to take their places each season. I see the people with so much and so little in common take their places and have conversations. I see other people sail and watch without saying much of anything.

Can’t help but wonder what a sailor or two might do if when they returned next spring to find the harbor somehow was forever frozen over and empty.

Then this morning I read this morning that Yahoo! Will Kill MyBlogLog Next Month.

What if the social web froze over and no one came? Would you read and blog anyway? Would you just visit your harbors offline?

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8 Comments to “What If the Social Web Froze Over and No One Came?”

  1. December 27th, 2009 at 11:49 am
    Henri @ Wake Up Cloud said

    I would most definitely keep blogging, because I’m extremely passionate about what write about. If I would be blogging for money mostly, I’d probably stop ;)

  2. December 27th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Henri!
    I’d still be blogging too. I’d miss the people, but I love to write — the same way some sailors would still sail. :)

  3. December 27th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
    James Ball said

    I’d absolutely quit blogging. Instead, I’d build the best bonfires in town…and be the best story-teller!

  4. December 27th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi James,
    What a good idea! You’ve conquered the world of the townsquare why not take it off line? Brilliant idea!!
    You’re not a stranger anymore!

  5. December 27th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
    9th Life said

    I can somewhat relate to your thoughts. Having done a photo blog for over 6 years now. I saw the community I was a part of change dramatically over time. I still participate and feel that I’m part of it, but the days of true socialization there are pretty much long gone. As Fotolog developed into a mostly south american MySpace kind of experience consisting primarily of self-absorbed, spamming attention seekers, and most all my “friends” moved on to Flickr, there is that empty frozen harbor feel to my existence there anymore. I still push on though, for various reasons. But most of all, I found that the experience could not be duplicated in the real world, and it was never really about any tangible interaction. The artistry of creation and momentum of my craft there are a self serving thing that seems to exist in a vacuum of sorts. It never really mattered if anybody else was there or not. It just took me several years to figure that out.

  6. December 27th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Ah, 9th Life,
    You are a true creator and content producer. Like me, it seems you can’t NOT. It took me a while to understand that people move in and out of our lives online the same way they do off, but here we can still find them so it seems more personal in some way. I’ve kept writing and new people like you come. That’s good. :)
    Thank you. You’re not a stranger anymore.

  7. December 29th, 2009 at 8:42 am
    Hugh Briss said

    Assuming that I’m reading correctly and by “no one came” you mean that there would be no one to read my blog, I’d stop blogging. What would be the point of talking to myself? I’d find another way to be creative and express myself.

  8. December 29th, 2009 at 9:26 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Hugh!
    I appears you’re an extrovert …eh? An introvert or a writer might keep writing to organize and capture his or her thoughts to review them later. I’d love to know what new venue you might explore to be creative and express yourself.

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