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Long-form blogging a la Xanga & LJ

I used to frequent Xanga a lot back in 2005-2009 or so. I loved looking at others' blogs as a window into their soul. When my friends made blogs, I loved reading their writing and getting to know them better.Β 


Nowadays, if you look up "blogging" you get results for creating a 'profitable' blog that lives by SEO guidelines - which is basically guidelines for clickbait: Top 10 ways to cope with hating your job. 5 ways to become rich online. You won't believe this ONE trick...!

The closest (questionably?) active platform we have for this is Tumblr. LJ is still around, as is dreamwidth but their userbase is small and it's hard to make connections.

Do you miss blogging? Would you blog again if another site like LJ or Xanga came out and it became active again? What did you like to blog about back in the day?

I had blogs for personal journaling, poetry/writing, roleplay, music reviews, and probably a bunch of other stuff I forget.


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Reply by SWH (Punk Jesus)

posted

I occasionally blog on here, sometimes just talking about my music, other times chatting random shit. I'm aiming to be a little more consistent with it, talking about cool games, stuff I like, and the occasional life story. I think the blogs on here are more akin to what I enjoyed back in the early to mid 00's.Β 


I kinda stopped reading many blogs as they were a little too self depricating, or they were just rants. There's only so much ranting I can read before I check out.


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Reply by Elohimless πŸ€˜πŸ‡΅πŸ‡·

posted

I miss Xanga! . . .I never really "blogged" on there, I just shared pictures of stuff I was interested in . . .I thought Tumblr died when they removed (most) of the XXX stuff from there?


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Reply by amma

posted

i also love looking at other people's blogs and i wish i was around for some of these blogging sites. i sometimes blog on here, but not as often.Β 


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Reply by Eamon

posted

Wish I blogged more on those sites when I had the chance. Although I suppose I am getting a second chance with this website. Don't really care for tumblr and the toxicity it attracts.


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Reply by vergil

posted

Well, there are options out there if you wanna get back to the good ol days of blogging (and honestly THE best platforms for blogging IMO). You have stuff like insanejournal and dreamwidth which are literally LJ clones by design and the best ones out there.Β 


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Reply by sakon

posted

Dreamwidth! It's fun and all, but it's hard making friends on there.


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Reply by Latasha

posted

Yes! LJ was my first Internet love. I've thought about starting a blog again, but it seems like all of the advice I read about blogging is very $$$ driven. I just want to blog for fun! To fill this void, I started a "just for fun" podcast, but I do really miss writing.


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Reply by unrestedjade

posted

Oh man, I had so much fun in lj comms back in the day, and met some really awesome people who are still good friends today. I have a dreamwidth, but I'm ashamed to say I never use. I'm part of the problem! :V

I really do still love that kind of...ecosystem? Threaded comment sections you can read and revisit where whole huge convos unfold, etc. Picking out the perfect icon to accompany your comment or post was such an odd thing in retrospect, but it was so fun. People made/make some really pretty ones, too.


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Reply by Liorah♥

posted

Yeah, only one I know of is Dreamwidth, which I'm actually super active on, lol. I enjoy it. It's not as chaotic as my tumblr, and I can vent about things and feel like people are actually listening.


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Reply by maryam gueye

posted

YES I LOVE BLOGGING


https://maryamsweridcave.blogspot.com/?m=0


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