On blogging

Regular browsers will note that things have gone very quiet here over the past few weeks. Truth be told, I'm a little burned out with the whole blogging thing and need time to re-evaluate and decide whether this is something I want to keep doing (either here at Scienceblogs or elsewhere). Hopefully, I'll figure things out sooner rather than later.

More like this

I'm giving up reading blogs for Lent. The proximate cause of this is Bora's latest blame-the-media post, which is just deja vu all over again, because I'm pretty sure this exact conversation has gone on ten times before (the fact that scientists find other scientists compelling speakers does not…
So, I'm looking at the couple-dozen tabs I have open in Chrome for stuff that I think would be worth blogging about, and the slides for this afternoon's lecture that need revising, and the student poster that needs to be completed before tomorrow, and the committee stuff that I ought to be doing,…
The title pretty much says it all. One of the reasons I wanted to get the Ten Years Before the Blog series done was that I'm incredibly burned out on everything right now, and I need to step away from the Internet for a while. There are too many things that aren't getting done, and I just can't…
It's that time of the year again, the time to complete the end of year blog meme. Here is last year's entry. Rules are simple - post the first line of the first post for every month. I've omitted my Monday Mustelid, Today In Science and Friday Poem (semi-)regular posts, so it actually means this is…

It's time for a summer vacation for a lot of us, methinks....

A man's gotta do........

Suspend your blog, and wait till something either pisses you off or inspires you enough to write about it.

I do enjoy the Arizona flavor of this blog tho.

Yeah, I was really feeling the burn a couple of weeks ago. A break improved things a bit, but I'm still a little less enthused than I'd like to be.

I've got a feeling we're starting to discover the 1/2 life for bloggers.

Oh, no!
Don't tell me the flame in the Arizona beacon is dying out!

I'm basically new to the blogging scene, although some years back I used to write in forums a lot, but became a little burnt out by it. So I pace myself as far as this blogging thing goes.

Personally, I enjoy your writing, the varied topics you write about and your perspective. I drop by here daily to see what's happening. This blog is an opportunity for you to share and teach a wider audience. Thank you for taking the time to create this blog and I hope you decide to continue.

oh, please don't stop...I do enjoy your writing, even if I don't comment a lot...

yours is one of the few scienceblogs I have bookmarked and visit regularly...

By CanadianChick (not verified) on 06 Jul 2008 #permalink

Running a good blog takes a lot of work, especially if done by one person. (One of several reasons why I don't.)

You might consider acquiring at least one and preferably several other people interested in similar topics. From watching a lot of blogs it seems that small team efforts keep interest going with less likelihood of burnout. A few individuals manage to keep high quality blogs going a long time, including actually responding to comments and keeping trolls down ... But it's obviously hard and time consuming for anyone with a real job.

At the other extreme, if there are too many owners and posters a blog can get so diluted. As to not be useful.

By John Mashey (not verified) on 07 Jul 2008 #permalink

I know just how you feel. My solution has been to dial back the amount of posting I do, and to not worry so much every time the visitation stats take a dip. I hope you'll decide to keep blogging.

Why not leave the site active and just blog when you feel like it? I stop by here regularly and will continue to do so as long as the URL is alive.

Also I second John Mashey's comment at #9.
How does PZ do it I wonder?

As many others have said, I've been there for a while John.

Bora, you're absolutely right. I've finally gotten to a place where I can blog (like I actually have the time) and the drive just isn't there at all.

Time to take a break without the guilt and see what the fall brings.

Permission requested and permission denied Dr. Lynch. Where else on earth shall I find my Monday mustelids?