It is because the number of blogs have died tremendously. It is like a reappropriation of a Nas mixtape entitled, "Black Blogs are Dead".
Maybe it is more than that, more like, the good blogs shall inherit the internet domain. I mean dagggg, blogs are dropping faster than strippers' panties, and believe me folks, I am not one of them. I have just been absorbing this conundrum of life and have been writing offline in other important matters.
I asked myself, "Ecosoul, why have so many blogs died?" There are many ways to explain this Darwinian phenomenon of the dying black blogs.
Blogs are A LOT of work to manage; especially when you are doing them alone, without any pay, and feel like you are just writing out in space without little to no feedback. And when you are actually writing original pieces on original topics with your own thought, that even presents another labor that is done in love, and thanklessly.
Which leads to my other angle to the depreciation of blogs. Since people don't read at length anymore and want fast food notes that are about four sentences long including the title, a lot of people just recycle the same shit posted in 80% of gossip or gossip news without their own spin.
Like that Pac song, "Every other city I go, all on the video, no matter where I go, I see the same hoe." Excuse the misogynistic citation, but blogs have become some what of a news brothel. Stank nasty, overused snippets of fishy things that are recirculated on CNN and Fox every hour. For the last two years, the same blogs talk about the same shit, with the same tag lines and speaking points.
Plus, black blogs just don't get the funding or the love like they need to expand. You hear about these simple blogs that become these media giants, and they seem so innocent. There is the fantasy that is distributed that goes something like this "Peggy started with $10 and turned her shoe love into a million dollar online shopping Bonanza. And you can too! (gush, cheer and applause)"
Truth be told, those Cinderalla stories are far, far, far and few between, and take a lot of backing that we rarely, rarely see.
Lemme give you a little intel on the online/digital community, it takes a shitload of investment money and labor to position yourself as successful (meaning financially lucrative) in the digital community. And definitely time and labor for them to grow and thrive.
Finally, black blogs simply fall behind on the latest gadgets and online knowledge to expand and keep up, along with the time and work it takes to maintain them. Simply put, one way or another, you have to put dinero into the product to see it grow. Or you get burned out and die.
So what can the readers do to keep us motivated? Read, respond and encourage. Plus, if we have a product or an event, attend and support. It won't hurt, but will sincerely help black blogs thrive.
Blog on....EcoSoul
6 ish talking intellectuals holla at a sista:
Yep, Yep! I am with you. Black blogs are dropping faster than them...Nah I will stop right there...LOL.
You make a great point about people wanting microwave ish! I know of some bloggers that have all but left their pages to post garbage on FedBook! But, most of all I think George Dubya leaving office left a lot of black bloggers with nothing to say. Their whole postion was built on beating up on Dubya. Now that he is gone some Negus don't have a word to say. Not even if BeelzObama (that came from Sistar Deb over at the Lets Be Clear blog)has been just as bad or worse than Dubya.
I think also, that most people want to be fed the same ish year in and year out. They don't want progressive conscious information, they want to get their comfort info on...'Yeah, see what whitey is doing to us?'..Kinda thang they want to read all the time. I only drop ish on my blogs every now and then because what I wrote about in 2006 is not as relevent in 2013. Most people don't want to grow they want to stay stuck and my blog is not for the stuck.
Thanks for putting this out because I was feeling this and more.
Peace!
Your writing is life-giving and vital--necessary--and I thank you for choosing to do the work. It is priceless and yet, we who do it (or attempt to) know there's a high price. Of course, the price of NOT doing it is even higher.
Now then, onward to problem-solving: Why not consider consolidating, creating a blogging collective where multiple voices share the writing and promotional load? Crunk Feminist Collective (of which I'm not a part) seems to have done this very well...and they're not only alive, but 14K followers. I wonder at the silo approach when, as a people, it has been community--love-on-the-ground in the midst of death--that has kept us. Just a thought...and a prayer.
Count on me to continue to write
or maybe we complain about nothin'
The problem is that most Black people are watching so-called reality television with Black people acting ratchet.
I have had a blog since 2006. But, because I'm not spewing anger and hate 24/7/365, what I have to say isn't very interesting. I am a Black woman, to be certain. But to be filled with anger and hatred 24/7/365 doesn't work for me personally or professionally.
So, what is the solution? I do not know.
Thanks for posting this. We need to keep writing and keep looking out for one another.
I am also continuing to write, despite being unpaid, etc. (There used to be a word for working for no pay. What was it again?)
http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.co.uk/
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