I love the Great Whatsit. Have loved it since its first post, way back in January of 2006. Have loved it since Dr. Cedric revealed the medical dilemmas that came through his door. Since Farrell and Trixie revealed the details of their home renovations. Since before the East Coasters and West Coasters met at the great Philly New Year’s Eve. It’s one of the first sites I go to every morning, and I go to it repeatedly throughout the day.
But it’s feeling a little wheezy these days, no? Some regular posters / commenters have fallen away, busy with other things. New faces have come and already gone – Annie W, where are you? – and the site’s giddy getting-to-know-you heyday has settled into a more staid, five-or-six-comments-a-day rhythm. There’s still plenty of great insight and some wonderful writing. But it feels like we’re in a bit of a lull.
On the plus side, we’ve gained some active new writers / commenters – hello, Modesto Kid and Rogan! – who’ve added much to the site. Many of our stalwarts are as active as ever. And let’s have a hat tip to Dave and Jeremy for their ongoing, uncompensated editorial efforts.
But perhaps it’s time to revisit that age-old question: Whither TGW?
For those who still read regularly: should we keep on going as we have been? Do you enjoy it as much as you always have? Or is there something you’d like to see more or less of?
For those who used to read more, but now visit only occasionally (can we pass this link on to a few of our former regulars? Anyone?), how’d we lose you? Any chance you’d like to rejoin the conversation? We miss you.
I feel a little silly even asking these questions, as a blog is an evolving thing and people will read what they have time to read. And by any measurement, we’ve done really well to keep this thing going — almost three years now! Almost 800 posts and more than 12,500 comments! Pretty incredible for what started out, and continues to be, a community endeavor among a loosely organized group of friends.
What do you guys think? Shall we continue on as always, and hope the momentum continues to carry us? Or is it time for something a little different? And what would that be? For reference, here are links to a couple of earlier discussions on this same topic.
Silence. Excellent.
I looked at the stats yesterday for the first time in a while, and while November was a slow month, the preceding months were about on track with our historical average. Web stats are confusing, so I have no idea how many people visit the site each day, but it’s no more or less than visited a year ago, or two years ago.
uncompensated
?
i imagine the emotional compensations of editorship to be almost limitless.
You have no idea.
I enjoy reading the site quite a bit. But maybe I read it mostly for the posts, less for the conversation in comments? If I were reading for the conversation it wouldn’t seem like much of a blog to me. But posters seem to put a great deal of effort and eloquence into what they write, and I love the posts whether or not I’m commenting. So please keep doing it! (If it’s satisfying for you I mean. I’ve been blogging and putting a great deal of energy into my site for 5 years now, on and off, and it’s the exception for anybody to post a comment over there — I keep doing it because I enjoy the writing but if I were mainly in it for the conversation, I would have quit a long time ago.)
So, this is a difficult thing to say, but, how long does anything go on?
As to the whole uncompensated effort thing, Dave are you sick of running this website?
Are you afraid that “retiring” the site will be a big disappointment to all of your friends that have had fun with it these several years?
Life’s been busier than normal the last couple months, so I haven’t commented as much, but here are my thoughts:
Along with PostSecret, TGW is the only site that I read regularly. If it’s too much work/time for editor(s), how about cutting back, but not eliminating TGW? It’s just my opinion, but I really like the posts which are more personal, when I come away getting to know the writer a little better (even though the only person on the site that I know is the former Bryan Waterman (and I met Pandora once…) I’ve often thought about writing a column, but weekly is just too often for my schedule, and more importantly there are so many great writers that I fear my post would be inferior. The reason I’ve brought this up, is that it would be cool to read posts from the other “lurkers and commenters”, they may have interesting posts to add. That being said, since I don’t really know ya’ll, maybe you don’t want to hear from me, but I’ve felt included in the TGW family.
what? Marley? aren’t you from Wanatchee? (or however you spell that)
You know me, and Adriana, and . . . don’t you know Dave?
I’ve thought about writing a post about this very subject; frankly, my own inactivity, ironically, has prevented me…
I love TGW, of course, but one of the reasons I wanted to join in the first place was to have daily interactions with friends whom I don’t get to see that often–East Coast friends like Bryan and Trixie and Farrell and Cedric (who all used to post regularly, as most of you know), not to mention regular commenters like ssw and g-lock (who seem to comment less and less, perhaps because their significant others post less and less… or not at all). Of course, I post less and less, too (I am thankful in this holiday season for S. Godfree for keeping Wednesdays going).
Anyway, I’d like to hear from some of our erstwhile contributors (if they still read)–are any of them coming back? And, Dave, I figured we’d talk about all of this when I came out at New Year’s, but yeah, I’m curious as well–how are you feeling these days about keeping all of this afloat?
Btw, next month will be our three-year anniversary.
Marleyfan, I would LOVE to read a post of yours! As someone who has only written for the site a handful of times, I completely understand your concern about “inferior” material. But do it anyway! We need new voices. If you post, I promise I will, too, OK?
It would be a shame to see TGW go. Let’s shake up the formula. Let’s try some new stuff. As for the good old stuff–I really enjoyed reading music reviews (of both shows and recordings), which have been pretty thin lately. I also dig local color, insights into people’s professions (especially beyond academia), and political Deep Thoughts.
Vive le Whatsit!
Rachel, I want to put this to you.
I think your enthusiasm is great, would you be willing to take over as the daily editor?
I know Dave, (and Jeremy and BW used to help out on this) put a lot of effort in to making this run. As I’m sure we all know, there is a lot more to keeping this up than just writing the posts.
I don’t think i have the technical chops, quite frankly. Dave has had to dig me out of many a cyber-hole.
ok, i’ll give this a serious response.
i like reading/ commenting/ occasionally writing for the whatsit, feel that it’s relevant, etc. i don’t know what the workload is like to maintain the site and am grateful to those who have started and grown it (though, come on, if Jeremy can do it…)
as to a lull, i don’t know, have we really jumped the shark? choose your favorite analogy-are we like snl between stars/a band without a key member or will we look back and point toward the various high points during this supposedly fallow period? i know that personally the election cycle was an exciting but exhausting time. maybe now i can use much of the energy that i spent tracking polls (the georgia runoff is today and the minnesota recount continues, by the way) to being slightly more engaged with the whatsit.
on the other hand, i’ve got a fantasy basketabll league to contend with so my plate is rather full.
i’ll throw this out there-what would be of assistance to the powers that be? more contributors? more comments? better (i say that advisedly, of course) posts? posts that take more chances? (i do feel we can all be a bit safe and censored at times) shared editorial duties? the whatsit has been a great deal of fun (much more than that in some cases) and i hope it can go on, let me know what i can do to help.
As a lurker, I find myself reading far more often than I comment. I have read almost everyday for quite a while now, and I would be incredibly sad to see it go, and I agree with Literacy. Things have slowed down quite a bit. Personally, my favorite posts have always been the more anecdotal pieces. There is something about sitting down and reading a good article on TGW….it almost reminds me of something taken straight out of This American Life. I would also like to hear from more voices, just to keep things fresh.
Well Demosthenes,
Let me keep leading the charge that I seem to be on. Why don’t you become more directly involved? Write a post.
Or even better get a dozen friends involved.
I know this is tricky. I for one had some post ideas way back in the day. But then I got engaged in the actual task of writing, and it made me realize I’m not a writer. But more to the point, what ever it was I wanted to try in writing, I had done.
So I’ve tried to throw in some photographs and keep commenting (which is really just a distraction while watching paint dry) but “hearing from more voices” is hard. At this moment when seemingly everyone has their own outlet, it’s hard to find people who can commit to something like this.
I don’t really get the desire for new voices I guess. I think of TGW as having a core group of voices and I enjoy watching the interplay among them on the front page, and secondarily in comments. I guess if you folks who do the work of writing and editing are not enjoying it, that’s a good reason to stop; but I don’t see how adding to the group would change that. Especially given that it seems like one of the principal characteristics of the site is that the core group of voices mostly know each other IRL from before the site went up. Added voices will dilute that quality further.
It’s funny — everyone knew someone, but nobody knew everybody when this started. West Coast started as a one-day-per-week filler because Jeremy didn’t want to write every week, IIRC, and now Stella and I are the only two regular posters left on the East Coast.
wait, i though farrell knew every one of the original writers.
Yes, Farrell knew everyone initially. He even wrote a post about it…
And, FTR, Lane and I used to share Wednesdays before it became too much for both of us…
So, Dave, do you ever consider packing it all in? Sometimes I feel taxed trying to get people to write (so that I won’t have to), especially since most of our West Coasters are such infrequent contributors (Scotty excepted, of course), but then I think about the other 4 days a week that you have to ensure are covered…
As a regular reader, a once-frequent commenter, and sometime contributor, I would hate to see TGW go away. I still read it every day, but have been commenting much less of late due to time constraints.
Of course, I’ve noticed the lull in comments, but think that the quality of posts is still really high. Also, remember that for the first six months or so, 10 comments on a post was huge.
Perhaps it’s time for a little shake-up. I can’t imagine the amount of work that Jeremy and especially Dave have had to do over the years here. I’d certainly be eager for some help and fresh blood if I were at their keyboards.
However, I don’t really have a “hey-kids-let’s-all-pitch-in-and-help-‘save’-TGW” idea (if indeed TGW needs ‘saving’), nor can I volunteer time to editing and writing. I’ve already expressed to Jeremy that I just don’t have the time to write posts these days, which, believe me, makes me sad.
My take is that we’re in a period of change here that will to some degree sort itself out and to some degree need proactive work on the part of reader-contributors (and perhaps some lurkers). As Lane has suggested, if you have a little time and feel inspired to help out, dear reader, maybe you should step forward: write to Dave or Jeremy and get involved. I know that I would appreciate it, and I think others who read this site would, too.
I think it’s hard to tell when something merely is in a periodic lull and when it’s beginning to flag in a more serious way. Hard to know with TGW: As Literacy says, the quality of posts is quite high, though there does seem to be something missing with so many original contributors having cut back. It’s interesting to look at the “About” page and see how many original contributors haven’t written in a while.
As for regular readers / commenters who feel somehow intimidated — please don’t! I too would love to read a Marleyfan post, or a Demosthenes post. For the days without a regular lineup — Wednesdays and Thursdays, but apparently also the occasional Monday (I just threw something on the page yesterday when I woke to find no new post) — I’m sure both Dave and Jeremy would appreciate having a new voice step in.
Long live TGW!
BTW, the website that brought me out to LA two summers ago has now gone belly-up: the funder has pulled the plug on new paid content (and I doubt its user-generated content will keep it going for long). Thank goodness I got in and out, both in the nick of time.
TGW: Outliving websites started with huge cash infusions and announcements in the New York Times.
I would definitely like to write something. I have a lot of ideas already.
Quick! Give that man a quill!
Like maybe a fair number of other Lurkers, I too feel a bit intimidated in suggesting I could write an occassional post. For 2 reasons: 1) The general quality of TGW posts (ya’ll are purt-darn smart), and 2) I think I understand Modesto Kid’s questioning whether the TGW audience is really looking for new voices, diluting the core, etc.
So I’m not sure if more posts/post-ers is truly desirable, but if so, I’m willing to help. Unfortunately, I lack the know-how, I’m afraid, to be of much use as a blog editor.
I really enjoy TGW. Being in the Army, stuck in Utah, blah, blah, as I am, I find TGW really does give a glimpse into a bigger, different world than my own. Thanks indeed to past and present post-ers and their editors.
I’m also in the camp of love-the-posts-but-seldom-feel-moved-to-comment. And the camp of I’d-be-interested-in-submitting-a-post-myself-if-I-weren’t-so-intimidated-by-editors-and-technology.
In an effort to prove to my sister that “whatsit” was not spelled “what’s it,” I came across this website. I’ve been a lurker for many months now, and reading TGW has become a staple in my daily routine. I, for one, would be sad to see it go.
I can understand the hardships of having to write a new post every week, but I believe that if something is truly important to someone, he/she will make time to do it. From what I have been able to gather, you all seem to care a lot about TGW and about writing in general. Maybe this is just a lull. Every great thing has a lull at some point, right? Bell-bottoms…Family Guy…the economy?
But if you DO decide to retire TGW, I would sincerely miss the posts and the comments and the people I feel like I know. I would also hold a moment of silence at my computer every day (for the first couple weeks, at least).
ooh. a potential TGW moment of silence. is this the TGW’s Prufrock moment? is the site currently like a patient etherized upon a table? have we become disillusioned?
one thing that amazes me is that, to my memory, i have never checked this site to see a post-less TGW day. never a blank page– always a word or an image (or three). what would that be like, really?
as an extremely infrequent poster (who needs to sorely update my bio), i have to add my voice to the chorus that i’m hearing here: given that i sweat and stress even more than usual the week before i post (due to the additional writing task to my normally jam-packed schedule), i can’t imagine what it would be like to be dave, jeremy, and– at one time– bryan. i think these voices count most.
and i don’t feel it’s fair for me to keep waving the TGW flag without consciously helping it to survive. and right now, i’m just unable to do that. however,for what it’s worth, i myself am NOT disillusioned with TGW.
Perhaps we could consider changing up the format a bit? Instead of a daily thing, we could post in a more ad hoc fashion? Several times a day when there are many posters, and infrequently when there isn’t much to talk about? There’s no harm in trying various formats out.
I’d be sad to see TGW go away, but I’d be sadder if we kept on just to keep on. That’s my thought anyway…
well, farrell fawcett and i have been following this conversation all day, and i think that we have both arrived at the same opinion: we will both continue to comment (however infrequently, and in my case, frivolously). and farrell says that he will make a resolution to post more in the new year. oh hell, i will too.
i personally can’t imagine a world without TGW. it is one of the first blogs i check each AM while my patients toil away in their waiting rooms (i’m KIDDING, jeez…) and the last one (obvs) that we look at before heading to bed. we love complaining about lane’s comments (just kidding!!! of course) and having too much wine and making embarrassing comments ourselves (see our comments regarding the prop 8 debate).
anyway, we love TGW.
that said, i do believe that there is a lifetime for any living thing. if it’s time, it’s time.
but we hope this site has many years to come, as it has been a source of joy for the both of us.
ps. where the fuck is matt coats?
p.p.s. erstwhile brookie, you are cute.
Hey, Dave: you should use this opportunity to post that piece I wrote months ago for you. It’s been sitting in your inbox, being flooded over by everything else. It’s still fresh, though. I don’t think anything is in there that’s time-sensitive.
TGW remains in my Bookmarks Toolbar. I drop by and comment whenever I feel like I have something to say. I like the idea of guest posters who don’t have a place on the Bio Page. I want to see Demosthenes write something.
I think one of the hang-ups–and one of the hooks\–is that this blog doesn’t really have a purpose. No one’s being paid to do this, it doesn’t center around one theme (like food or design or cars or humor or biography or My Kids), and the people who post here are all linked by one rather fascinating, if not weak, tie: they’re all friends with someone else here. It took me months to figure out this hook. I first started reading because I thought this was a gathering of the ghostwriting company Adriana used to work for.
I still wonder about what first started this blog. What conversation first sparked its life and its title? Who drew the header for this? Who did the recruiting?
Maybe this should be a continuation of friendship. I’m here because I have relatives here. I’ve sparked more friendships here because of that. Lurkers were drawn here for various reasons, but maybe this should be enlarged to include more friends. Friends who want to contribute material to something larger. Like me.
I also think the Bio page should be updated. There are too many bios of people who no longer post, even though they still read. If we put a bio in over everyone who read, Dave would be run into the ground.
26: “Bell-bottoms…Family Guy…the economy?” Let’s hope the economy will come back just as strongly as bell bottoms did. To everyone’s enduring surprise.
Welcome, Jane! Though I guess you’ve been here a while already. So, belated welcome! And thanks for sticking around.
Dave, Jeremy?
As a Lurker, or rather, a daily-reader-never-a-poster-seldem-a-commenter, I’m more than happy to pay you both for your time in exchange for what TGW offers. Ah shoot, that’s how much I appreciate what you do. I know, I know, introduce money and the thing becomes a damn machine. Still. Is there a way for you two to receive a bit of recompense for your time? (Obv., not your efforts. . . .) Any others willing to he’p out a bit? I don’t know. I just would hate to see TGW go away. . . .
I love how I keep getting mentioned in the same breaths as Dave here… (who, by the way, is a total rock star, IMHO).
I can’t imagine better payment than regular comments, to be perfectly honest.
FTR, I’d be very sad to see TGW go away also. I don’t think it’s time for TGW to be taken out back and shot, but I do think it’s time to shake things up somehow…
I vow to comment on every post (even if it’s belated) if TGW decides to stick around. That’s easy payment, and I feel like we would all be making out like bandits.
And thanks for the welcome, LP.
TGW is like a big family- When someone needs a little help.
Marleyfan vows to finish a post he started a while back. And keep them coming (at least) on a quarterly basis. And, don’t you just love it when people refer to themselves in the third person?
LONGLIVETHEGREATWHATSIT!
And Kudos, a big thanks, and all that jazz to Dave and associate editors for the countless hours of work. If TGW were a magazine, I’d subscribe. And that means a lot, as the only ongoing subscription I’ve ever maintained was to Sunstone.
“we love complaining about lane’s comments”
so nice to hear. (just kidding . . . of course!)
but seriously, LT gets it right when she notes there has never been a post-less day, maybe ONE, IN THREE YEARS!
that’s amazing, but also a lot of work to make sure it happens. i was talking with dave once about writing something and i was obsessing over it’s quality and dave said “ehh? (as dave is prone to say) don’t worry about it so much.”
so now i just try to throw something in when i can. like lisa’s thing on monday, i loved that. i ended up reading out eva braun and adolph hitler because of that post. and she put it up on a moments notice (with all the j-pegs sized to the style guide!)
so anyway, to you that have never posted, post!
I have a couple of thoughts.
First, a little more than a decade ago I volunteered to write a bit for a BYU paper many here know, and for which Waterman was a recent editor. Though all of the post-Waterman contributors were earnest and skillful, the paper only published a handful of issues in the post-Waterman years. We were a sea of Garfunkels to his Paul Simon. Lucky for us, TGW has several anchors (Dave being the one I know best), and so it will live on, but the fact is Bryan was a major contributor of excellent regular content and commentary. The lull began with his departure, no? Without him the character of the site is fundamentally different.
Second, I second Lane’s words in 38. Some of the posters on this site are intimidating, what with their elitist grammar and their smug spelling capabilities and the way they use words as some ivy-league know-it-all probably intended for them to be used. Well screw that, man. Let the rise of the Garfunkels begin! All of the limp-wristed-Dave-I-think-I’m-Ira-Glass types can just kiss our collective Garfunkel asses. This isn’t The Atlantic. Hell, we aren’t even The New Yorker. To help move us in the right direction, I’m going to write my next piece about balls. You heard it, a post about testicles.
Third, format change, as suggested by Erstwhile Brookie in 28, might not hurt. I like having a scheduled feature post, but there have also been times when I have wanted to contribute something outside of my monthly effort, and thread-jacking someone’s work by posting unrelated material in comments seemed impolite. If there were some way to have both a featured post, but also the impromptu musings of the wider Whatsit community in a more official format than comments, that might work out. I realize that is a bit more Bulletin Board-ie and less WordPress, but who knows? It might also be a good way to grow the community. It might relieve the intimidation factor, since on any given day, a mediocre post will not feel like such a spectacular failure if there are other things going on.
Anyhow, long live TGW!
I’ve long been tempted to do the kind of format change you suggest, Rogan. We could have two sections on the main page — “Features,” which are the scheduled, usually-more-thought-out posts, and “Quickies” (we would find better names), which any of the writers could post at any time, more like a regular blog.
Many people have said, when I’ve proposed this kind of thing in the past, that what makes TGW unique is the scheduled posts, and that’s why they like writing for it and/or reading it. But maybe the additional content is what we need to bring some more energy to the site.
Also, too, FTR, I would like to point out that I was responsible for that one day of silence on TGW. And a dark day it was! Long live TGW!
re: 39, point 2: How evocative of a Nixon quote posted in the Daily Dish today:
“The Ivy League presidents? Why, I’ll never let those sons-of-bitches in the White House again. Never, never, never. They’re finished. The Ivy League schools are finished … Henry, I would never have had them in. Don’t do that again … They came out against us when it was tough … Don’t ever go to an Ivy League school again, ever. Never, never, never.”
For my part, I’ll take limp-wristed, elitist musings of the kind that have kept us all coming back or three years over a post on testicles any day. But hey, that’s just me. Long live diversity on TGW. But let’s not burn the house down, shall we?
42. You just wait LP! My testicle post is going to be a barnburner. As for ‘limp-wristed,’ I try to use that term to describe Dave whenever I can, because I love him so.
I shall write a post about my limp wrists. There’s a story there, of course. With the proper background music and a moral at the end, it could be on This American Life.
Since we’re on the subject of just what TGW means to all of us, i thought that if you haven’t seen it already, you might enjoy the “how much is my blog worth” calculator. hours of fun checking out the dollar value of all your favorite blogs. If we sold off TGW, atleast we’d all make out with enough money to throw an excellent party. er, rather, dave, could throw an excellent party.
Not to derail the thread or anything but look over there!
46. Derail away my friend. That is a classy diversion!
39. Balls to the wall baby!
So TGW is worth $7,339.02?
Wow, Unfogged is worth $173,313.78. We have some catching up to do.
Well, if Rogan has his way we’ll probably attract a bunch of links from porn sites. Maybe that will raise our value. Monetarily, anyway.
50: Man, you guys are doing fine. readin.com is worth €0.00. (The best thing about this figure is that it’s very easy to convert into foreign currencies.
wow and adriana’s blog, what i made for dinner. blogspot .com is worth 7,903.56.
so adriana, on her own, has generated $565 more net worth than all of us combined?
Good God people when are we going to let this thing DIE!
Wow – you go to Cincinnati a few hundred times and just look at what goes on –
I have been in retail hell and am just coming up for breath – I am late but here are my thoughts:
I like the idea of playing with the format a bit but still keeping the essay quality of the main postings – that is what has always made me so proud to suggest it to friends. Big words be damned – a collective of smart people thinking about all sorts of things is a rare thing in the world. I wonder if we could expand the west coast wed idea – maybe a group of people “own” certain days and then schedule among themselves who will write when. Another idea might be to keep a shared calendar of sorts and sign ourselves up for open days. I am not sure of the technical logistics but it can’t be that out there, right? For the record – I sort of love the every other week thing and would recommend it to anyone – you feel like you are writing regularly without having a part-time “job.” Also we talked a while back about theme weeks – I still like that idea. Look at how fun Thursdays got when we mixed that up?? Review week! Love week! Save the world week! Think of the possiblities.
Anyway – I like us. But I think change is good. let’s shake it up.
And Lane, I personally count a Lane comment as a post well done – even when you diss Bowie which makes me want to punch you but in a good way. oxoxox
Now go buy stuff like good Americans please.
BTW, I do like the idea of a quick-hits sidebar, for people who want to post short interesting things on the fly, apart from the daily essay.
53: i wasn’t kidding.
It’s funny, when I showed TGW to my English teacher and in, some sense, my mentor, she said that going this way TGW is not going to last: and there it is…
56: . . . um, i . . . wish we could talk more . . .
i’m just goofing off.
Natasha! Where you been? Welcome back!
Ask your English teacher if it’s spelled “cliched” or “clicheed”; she’s already suspect, and this way we’ll learn if she’s really worth her salt. Also, ask if she ever uses actual cliches like that one.
60: you tell your English teacher that your previous two English teachers who write for this site may beg to differ!
#60 That’s kind of what I told her and therefore was a bit disappointed to see a link to this post in my mail box.
Thanks Lisa! I’ll ask her that. I have loved TGW ever since my friend told me about it for the work it gave my brain and the new intellectual breakthroughs. I have a passion for writing and a good discussion and loved those wonderful Dave’s, Brooke’s, and Scotty’s posts, not to mention Bryan’s and yours astounding work. But I realized that it was more of a gathering of friends, who know each other and might not necessary want others to be a part of this blog, so I left. I think that’s why others might have left too.
Well, we are admittedly rather insider-y, which is one of the site’s greatest and not-so-great features at once. But speaking for myself, anyway, I’m glad you’re back and do enjoy hearing from other voices.
Seriously Natasha for any creative effort to endure it has to continually suck people in.
LIKE A DEN OF VAMPIRES!!!!!
Would you like to write a post? : )
I’ll bet you could do something great with that crazy car accident thing!
57: I’m still wondering what “going this way” means.
63. Exactly! Structurally I think TGW should have a group of scheduled contributors, a larger group of registered ‘bloggers,’ and then have the comments section be a free-for-all. This would give our vampires coven the structure for people to contribute more, at their own pace, but still feel cozy.
Lane, I would love to write a post :)
64: :) Please, allow me to elude further interpretation…
RF, it would also be great to e-mail everyone (the commenters and the contributors) on TGW about some good posts of the month. Although everyone is busy, they still check their e-mails and would probably log on a lot more often; possibly, even make an e-subscription option for everyday posts, for those who are interested, to drive the people who generally do not comment but read.
e-subscription option
How would this be different from the rss feed?
Although web feeds are in some ways better than e-subscriptions (you don’t have to disclose you e-mail address or unsubscribe), from my experience of marketing my own business, I learned that many customers were not very RSS-feed-friendly and often didn’t even know how to use it. People generally tend to stick with what they know best, that is probably why many websites have both features.
wow. stella turns her back for a couple of hectic days and finds her very existence is in question. very sartre-esque.
Can we reach 100 comments? I think TGW editors are just messin’ with us to solicit comments. It worked! Maybe if we had some nude pictures, we would get more hits? Who wants to volunteer first? Ok, maybe not.
Who wants to volunteer
I nominate LHD.
Natasha, as someone coming to this project as an outside observer, could I recommend that you talk with Dave directly about your observations.
As an inside member of this community (and a non-writer) it is hard for me to accurately gauge what needs to be done to keep this thing alive.
Intuitively, I think that what any media project needs is content, posts, in any form. just to survive.
That you care at all is great.
Thanks for caring.
do i hear day number 2 . . . ?
Kate the Great, got anything?
Kate has a manuscript in editing process, actually.
Yeah I remember.
With all this talk about where this is going, I started writing a “piece” but like a lot of the other people here, I’m not a writer and I get really fussy and bogged down with it all. So . . . I’ll keep working on that thing and it will be ready for a day like this.
Oh that we were all as clever as . . . a number of people here. To write without fear.
Quick and well.
75. I’m not a writer and I get really fussy and bogged down with it all.
Lane, this is why I post my work without much editing. It isn’t that I don’t take pride in my work. I just feel like I could read and edit a piece fifty times and it would still be full of spelling and grammar errors. To a non-writer, that just isn’t a very good use of time. So I just post and hope there is some value in the work that our resident wordsmiths will appreciate in spite of the errors. Then later, I will read a post out loud to Susan and catch a few mistakes and fix them, which is bad blog form (right? Aren’t edits supposed to be made with a strike-through? All of the official netiquette developed when I wasn’t looking). Oh well.
i don’t really know about strike-throughs. but i do like the word “netiquette”
But form, yes, style, that’s what it’s all about.
Like last night on 60 minutes. Morley Safir, ran this really flattering piece on Julian Schnabel, the 5 rank “painter” 2 rank “conceptual artist’ and 1 rank Film Director.
Mr. Safir asked him about Robert Hughes, the now retired art critic from Time Magazine. Back in the day, when people gave a shit about Time Magazine and Robert Hughes, Hughes HATED Schnabel. And there was some risk that Hughes would win. But it hasn’t turned out that way. Schnabel has won. So now 20 years on there really isn’t anything at stake in the issue.
But Schnabel’s reaction was embarrassingly unstylish. He got mad, like really really mad. Like Morley was busting him for pedophilia.
So yeah, form, keeping good form. After all, you never know who’s looking.
77. Interesting. I watched the Schnabel piece too and had quite the opposite reaction. To me, the whole piece seemed like a missed opportunity where Safir was just going through the motions of being a reporter. On the one had you have Schnabel, whose work and incite into art and its making are part of a singular lifelong project. On the other hand you have Safir, who wants to talk about gimmicks (plate painting!) money (how much does that one sell for?) gossip (Robert Hughes) and EGO (How big is your ego?). What did we learn about Schnabel’s ‘project?’ Not much. “Were you a doper yourself?” Safir really cares if Schnabel smokes/smoked weed? Agghh!
Schnabel’s reaction was embarrassingly unstylish? I thought he was pretty cool. Hey Safir, do you have a big ego? “No, not me…” The final cut of THIS interview suggests otherwise.
Oops! I missed your link. Funny place to put it, on the word ‘pedophilia.’