Navel-Gazing About t-Blog & ShoutPost & Stuff
I read Nick’s latest post on ShoutPost.
I get the understanding that Nick and Rocky still consider us to be their kids. We’re the Black Sheep. Make that the 900-pound Black Sheep, hanging around freeloading and complaining, eating up the bandwidth and playing videos and otherwise contributing little to the wellbeing of the family enterprise. I’m afraid one of these days Papa and Papa II are going to get tired and kick us out.
I can picture the scene even now….
The nerdy t-Blogger (PastorDave) is adjusting his bifocals, nibbling from a bowl of Cheetos, and attempting to write another inane post about another quasi-interesting subject. Room is a mess. Half-eaten sandwiches and dirty clothes compose the dingy scenery, silhouetting a glowing computer monitor.
Papa Nick walks in after a 20-hour workshift. t-Blogger looks up and blinks, and with a blank stare listens to the latest tirade:
“Son, you know we love you. But, you’re 51, and still living here free. Don’t you think it is about time for you to do something constructive…like attract advertisers?”
"But, dad-"
About that time, Papa Rocky walks through the door. Shirt is freshly starched, tie looks nice, and beard impeccably trimmed. He gives Nick an affectionate peck upon the cheek, then looks with his steely eyes upon his slob of a son. I quickly gaze away.
“Boy. You’ve been doing this t-Blog thing for over two years. You’re not making any money. All you’re doing is wasting ours. Look- Shoutpost is next door. It’s nice and shiny. Why don’t you give it a try?”
There’s a sigh, and a look downward of utter frustration. Then, a tired smile and glance at Nick, accompanied with a pat upon his shoulder.
“Look, son. We’ve been patient. But it’s time for a change.”
I turn back to the monitor. There’s a grimace to my face, and a mist in my eyes. I know my dads care. I know they are right.
It’s just that I….I love t-Blog! How could they understand?
I reach for a sip of Diet Coke. It steadies my nerves. I hear the door shut, and begin anew to write the next post.
07.16.07 (9:43 pm) [
edit]
posted by:
chanter (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (7:28 pm)
Wow! Very nice post PastorDave! Juz great^.^ But..... as a one of your younger sisters, I can't juz leave tblog either. I love it here. This is my very first blog, and this is where I've created my dreams.. I can't juz let it gooo... like you *sob* Your post is very touching..
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (7:40 pm)
I am speechless. I don't know what to think or what to do.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (7:43 pm)
Reply to: chanter
They closed t-Blog to new accounts several months ago. Yet, it appears, we continue to go strong. There is a great loyalty and connection among the bloggers on this site, something I think would be hard to find anywhere else.
I don't know about the future of this site. But it looks like you and I will be hanging around as long as they let us. It's good to know you!
posted by:
chanter (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (8:07 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
Yeah.. I've tried to register for another tblog account, I think a month ago or so, and I can't, it was closed. But I really love it here. So yeah, We would stay as long as they let us. P.S. I still wonder whats wrong with tblog? I mean, there are many blog sites out here, also free to join and so far they are stable sites. So, hopw tblog founders can figure it out too. I would love to see tblog so much alive and healthy in the future days, and even years ^.^
posted by:
LadyG (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (8:08 pm)
PD I have given that nice new place shoutpost a try and I don't like it, there is just no place like home. I just hope that they continue to keep tblog.
I have one complaint, we use to pay for tblog according to the account that you had , I had finally decided to pay and three months after paying, everything changed. why did they stop that? I felt cheated.
posted by:
eraserhead667 (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (8:27 pm)
I have a new semi-anonymous blog on Blogger, which I'm quite fine with, but it doesn't offer the kind of interaction with fellow bloggers that tblog has. I hope this place keeps going.
posted by:
auntconi (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (8:55 pm)
I don't wanna leave ~ no I do not ~ I was 'told' I would be welcome here 'forever' ~ well, something like that!
You don't want me to have a tantrum right here do you ~ I didn't think so. Okay, I'll go get a diet coke and settle down a bit.
~ okay ... feel better now!
I have tried commenting on some of the other sites and they will not let you do it 'unless you have an account' ~ and I don't quite understand that ~ or am I not understanding something.
Is it correct, that tblog and shoutpost are both owned by the same people? If that is the case, why are they encouraging people (us and newbies) to go to shoutpost, rather than just keep this one going? How does that save money, or something ~ but maybe money isn't really the reason? Hmmmm!
I have thoroughly enjoyed everyone I have met here and would hate to lose this 'comaraderie'
~ so, I say we should 'PARTY' ~ right?
posted by:
auntconi (
reply)
post date:
07.16.07 (11:23 pm)
Doritos? Where are the Doritos?
No one said anything about Doritos! ~ figures ~ i'm always a day late an a dollar short!
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (4:16 am)
One think I've learned over the years is that when you try to run more than one business at a time is that eventually, your concentration goes to where you feel the potential profit is.
I suggest Kurt becomes the white knight, buy this site from Nick and Rocky and make it part of his new ministry.
As silly as it seems - and even though it too has fallen into disuse for the most part - I'm convinced that the tBlurt feature is almost entirely responsible for the sense of community this place has had over the years. I'm really surprised some of the other places haven't picked up on it, though I know it's a double edged sword.
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (4:30 am)
Reply to: surrogate
I agree that the tblurt is what keeps tBlog together.
I also like the fact that when you post a comment, the comment goes in the blog and to the person you are replying to which makes a blog what it should be.
At ShoutPost, posting responses to blog posts are non-exisitent and takes away from blog conversations.
I really like tBlog and the community, I hope things work out for us all.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (4:49 am)
Reply to: LadyG
I have my theory as to why Rocky & Nick decided to pour their resources into the new Shoutpost and abandon t-Blog. We have been around for three or four years, which on the internet translates to about 100 conventional years. It's easier, and generally more profitable, to start something new than to revive something old. However, I think there is still life and potential around here. Too bad they've closed off access to new accounts.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (4:56 am)
Reply to: eraserhead667
Yep. Where else could I go to find a profane hippie musician, with a sweet little girl, who will tolerate and sometimes even enjoy conversation with the likes of myself?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (5:01 am)
Reply to: auntconi
Are we like the musicians cheerily playing on the deck of the sinking Titanic?
I wish Rocky & Nick would find a way to make some money as they seek to keep us afloat. I'm ameniable to embedded advertising, fees, or whatever would be reasonable. Maybe a bake sale? Auntconi's Bake Sale- you do the brownies, and I'll grill the burgers.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (5:05 am)
Reply to: inkspector
Yeah, you're right about the comment responses... That had slipped my mind, but it's really important. I wonder why they don't include these features into shoutpost if they want us to move there permanently?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (5:09 am)
Reply to: kurtmaddox
I absolutely hate it when Nickster comes pounding upon the door at 2 p.m., demanding that I get out of bed and go look for a job. And he's started locking the cupboards. I need Doritos.
You're right. Free bandwidth and free blog maintainance will end sooner or later. But you could be the guy on the white horse! As surrogate has suggested, maybe you could combine t-Blog with your new minister? I'll be glad to serve as your equivalent to Chairman of Deacons, in cyberspace of course.
There are some ingredients here on t-Blog that make it uniquely superperior. t-Blurt. Notification of new comments and new posts. Innate decency on the part of fellow bloggers, with some exceptions. Surely that can be transferred to marketability?
Thanks, kurt.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (5:15 am)
Reply to: surrogate
I do resist change. I've become comfortable and happy here at t-Blog, and do not want to venture out to new and uncertain venues. But, change can be good. Like you said, it's time to back-up my posts and make a list of e-mail addresses of my friends around here, and get ready for the inevitable.
Any suggestion of another healthy and fun blogging community?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (5:18 am)
Reply to: inkspector
So, we ask of Rocky and Nick, why migrate over to Shoutpost if it is inferior to where we are now?
posted by:
auntconi (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (8:37 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
~ oh absolutely ~ I can do brownies, cookies, and banana bread! It would be like a party, and we might even make some money ~ then we can buy some Doritos!
posted by:
LadyG (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (9:11 am)
Reply to: PastorDave,
PD,tblog might be old but I think that it is still the best thing around.
I think that they should go back to a basic free site with ads and a premium site for a yearly fee
without ads.
I think that we should start a petition to keep tblog alive. Would you sign it?
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (9:32 am)
Reply to: surrogate
Nick said that too many people complained when they they changed things around here so they developed the new site with features they wanted to put here but members would have been resistant to.
I also think ShoutPost was designed with ad revenue in mind so they built the site to hold the ads in our control panel so we see them but regular visitors to our blogs (the blog URL) don't.
The problem is/was, you get people over there signing up and they then see all the limitations, especially no comments from non-members, you must be a member, you must see the ads! Well now the ads have vanished because the companies canned them (probably not too many clicks) so no income.
The ad thing is interesting though and the talk of the blog world. More and more free sites let people do it and then these people with the ads or PPP (pay per post) go and sign up on the blog sites that feature blog rotations. Is this fair to people like Rocky and Nick who are left with nothing and may be paying out of their own pocket because they lost the ad revenue?
I think we must all pay attention to this because a few blog sites who worked on this premise DIED in their youth.
One other feature the Digg buttons on each post in the main page frame is gone (for a while now). Most likely removed because not many people used it. It is difficult to use when you don't allow comments or all comments to the post are at Digg.
BlogoWogo is a nice feature (you get a hit and a rating if people want to leave it) also but if you can't have comments from visitors on your blog, it is silly to have. I would use it but I don't.
There are still bugs in the ShoutPost system.
One being that if you click on your archives, posts dated the 1-8th of the month don't show up.
If you post a lot, you will notice that. Makes people visiting looking for articles think they are crazy.
At a few other blog sites, they have volunteer donations through PayPal. Anything helps. Maybe this is what tBlog needs? A grassroots campaign but then again, as we lose people, there will only be a few of us left on the playground. Without new tBlog members, and if you don't have a blog that gets many off a search, it is difficult to build up readership. Look at all that have already left us! sniff sniff
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (9:46 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
I guess that the answer to your question is in the response to Surrogate.
Anyways, if people are coming on here and not understanding ShoutPost -- they can go to my blog here and click on Scribbles to go see one, if not the only one well developed blog at ShoutPost (not being a snob, but it is true). I also have links to the ShoutPost FAQ in my navigation bar. (My blog is The Ink Blotter, click on the Hot Blogs list, in the top 25 to visit.)
I am frustrated there because there are no real regular bloggers or if they do blog, sad to say, it is all venting personal problems (the venters don't last long, many left because they did not get the attention they felt they deserved). I would say there are less than 20 (generous) regular people there since they opened in January. I know my site gets a few thousand hits a week and the majority of that is not from members but from the search engines and BlogExplosion (lots of free advertising of Shoutpost with the visitors). Keeping people there could be a problem.
In order to work around the non-member posting issues, I put in an IM box. Most people who contact me complain they can't post and are frustrated.
There are many things I like about ShoutPost and a few things that really need to be fixed. Rocky and Nick have their work cut out for them but it is too bad they have to work so hard in addition to their day jobs they give up some of their personal time to work out the kinks with no money return.
posted by:
Lilliputian (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (10:08 am)
I'm fairly new to tBlog, I had my account for awhile, but had never used it til recently.
I've noticed that the community on here seemed small, but really cool! :)
I sure hope tBlog doesn't fold, they are my other favorite blog site, along with GJ.
posted by:
in-law (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (10:20 am)
what? i don't get it?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (10:42 am)
Reply to: in-law
This is inside-stuff. By way of info: The guys who keep t-Blog working are "Rocky" & "Nick". They've been working hard on this thing for about 3 years, and apparently have not found a way to make money with it. About 6 months ago they started ShoutPost, an alternative blog-site. In my humble opinion, it is not as good as t-Blog. Yet it now receives most of their attention, to the detriment of our little site. I'm not complaining too much, because of course they could pull the plug on us anytime.
So, what I've written here is a parody. t-Blog is like their wayward child, who just won't get out and make some money. Pretty creative, huh? .....Did you say stupid?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (10:44 am)
Reply to: Lilliputian
Sorry to be dense, but what is GJ?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (10:51 am)
Reply to: inkspector
Yeah, I remember some whining. But in my opinion Rocky & Nick chose to create ShoutPost too soon. Here's an idea: Incorporate all that is good about t-Blog- tBlurt, anonymous comments, alerts to new comments, developed community, etc. into ShoutPost or vice-versa, and combine the two into one strong blogging community. Most of us would not mind the ads, and other reasonable intrusions, if it helps to make some needed money for Rocky & Nick.
However, without t-Blurt and robust comment interaction, it would not be good.
What you say, Rocky & Nick?
posted by:
Lilliputian (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (11:00 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
Sorry, I should've clarified on that.
It's Greatest Journal :)
Thanks :)
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (11:21 am)
Reply to: Lilliputian
I thought I knew them all, I never heard of Greatest Journal.
tBlog is a great little community so welcome!
posted by:
chanter (
reply)
post date:
07.17.07 (2:32 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
[Any suggestion of another healthy and fun blogging community? ] Quoted
Hmnn.... Actually, this past few days, I've been signing up to other blogsites, trying on what blog site I can costumize my blog well like here on tblog, but all I did was to sign up, lolz. I haven't post anything to 2 of those blogs. But it doesn't feel like home. Theres no tblurt in those sites which I really like. I've signed up for a Xanga blog, which I am juz palnning to write down my dreams, Livejournal, which I can't stay in the sites, its kicking me out! ^.^ Also signed up on iblogme, wordpress, blogsavy,blogger.. lolz. but I would stay here. My tblog blog is the best. My t-blog was already submitted to search engines, blog directories,topsites, etc. it is juz hard for me to start all over again on another sites!
P.S. We(tbloggers) can all be together, juz in case that tblog.... would be gone.... waaaaaaaaa!!! There is a blogsite called 21publish. Free registration where we can create our community.. us again.
posted by:
Lilliputian (
reply)
post date:
07.20.07 (3:20 pm)
Reply to: inkspector
Thanks inkspector, I'm very glad to be here :D
posted by:
doeeyed (
reply)
post date:
08.13.07 (11:42 am)
Reply to: inkspector
"Anyways, if people are coming on here and not understanding ShoutPost -- they can go to my blog here and click on Scribbles to go see one, if not the only one well developed blog at ShoutPost (not being a snob, but it is true)."
Could you expand on this comment a bit?
There are usually more people online at Shoutpost than at tblog on any given day.
I like both Shoutpost and Tblog and hope they are both around for a long time to come.
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
08.15.07 (4:43 pm)
Reply to: doeeyed
Ok -- I think people think tBlog and ShoutPost are suppose to be the same, however, the confusion seems to be that at ShoutPost, you cannot respond to a comment in your blog, you must respond by doing the Shoutpost mail system.
I was directing people to my blog so they can read the FAQ and understand the difference between the two places.
Since tBlog cut off new members, this site was pokey and becoming Spartan like. However, they have opened up membership again. The tBlurt is what keeps this place going but at ShoutPost, it is hard to get regular ShoutPosters to visit and post and the down side is that you cannot have visitors/non-Shoutpost people post, nor, can you direct comments in your blog to those who have responded. I think there is too much private Shoutpost mailing there and not enough direct blogging interaction right on your blog.
A lot of my non-member visitors at ShoutPost complain about not being able to post directly on an entry.
posted by:
inkspector (
reply)
post date:
08.15.07 (4:45 pm)
Reply to: doeeyed
. . . Shoutpost mailing there and not enough direct blogging interaction right on your blog . . . (adding) to keep the conversation going.
