June 30, 2013

• Last Day of June

  Last night I listened to @ShimmerBodyCream and @Lithium98. I also heard @VaneDave and @Cakalusa. I intended to listen to @MyxlDove and @GreekPhysique, which would have completed the series for me as far as bloggers I’ve read, commented or interacted with in some way on Xanga. Sadly we had a (hamster) death in the family and I got pulled away (LINK). 

  In some ways it was new generation/old generation, listening to @ShimmerBodyCream and @VaneDave. As far as I know, Shimmer came along after VaneDave’s zenith on Xanga. @VaneDave referred to himself as a Xangalebrity, a term I hadn’t heard in a few years, probably three or four years at least. I was completely out of touch during the Xangalebrity years. A blogger doesn’t really familiarize himself/herself with the front page or the idea of “popularity” as a blogger until he/she actually ends up with a post on the front page. Then suddenly Xanga turns out to be a whole lot bigger than you thought. This was the experience I had and one that @VaneDave also had, evidently. I was very amused to hear him say he felt that on any given day on Xanga he could write a post and it would be the best one out there. 

  Well, today that’s probably true, ha. But that’s only because it’s 15 days until Armageddon and everyone knows it.

  @ShimmerBodyCream, on the other hand, has made meaningful connections on Xanga with cool people who weren’t part of @VaneDave’s collection of Xangalebrities from circa 2008-2010.

  I agreed with a lot of the things @Lithium98 had to say. I can’t remember exactly what things. I just remember thinking, “yeah, I think that’s true.” I realize that’s not helpful if you’re not planning to listen yourself. Actually, I’m kinda wondering why I bothered to write it at all but now there it is so what the hell.

  @Cakalusa was pretty quiet, which seemed funny to me. Not funny strange, funny LOL.

  One person’s “content” is another person’s, “why on earth did that get featured?!” is another person’s, “man, Xanga has really gone downhill,” is yet another person’s, “this is the best post I’ve ever read!!!”

  Most interviewees expressed a wish that we could get back the old, hand-picked featured posts, as a way to highlight good content. Everyone agreed (without saying it) that number of views does not necessarily translate to best content. Featured Posts were varied and interesting and a way for new bloggers to find the sunshine. Interestingly, no one agreed on what kind of posts are the “best,” or should be consistently featured. Some people only like humor; some people only like short posts. Some like politics, some hate it; some prefer posts with tons of profanity and even flame wars with other Xangans while others like a zillion pics of skinny people taken off Tumblr. One can see how hard it would be for the Xanga Team (or really, even any team, made up of lesser beings than the Xanga gods) to please a base of users by picking and featuring content.

  The best thing about this radio show experience for me is it has been a way of wrapping up my Xanga experience over the past eight or ten years. It’s like listening in on podcasts for a support group for something. Everyone has expressed the same basic idea…they love Xanga, they’ll miss Xanga, they worry that Xanga risen from the ashes won’t be the same as the Xanga they know. Regardless of what happens to Xanga or how successfully they transition to a new model (or whether they do at all), it was a good experience to hear the reflections of so many different kinds of people.

  I’m looking forward to hearing what John has to say tonight, just to round out my Xangapocalypse experience. In keeping with this state of mind, I saw “This Is The End,” last night. I laughed my ass off. Seriously. It was hilarious. Almost as good as my most recent favorite movie, “The Other Guys.”

  • 3:46 pm
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