Man, I love Xanga. The community I've built here is quite awesome. But lately, I've been reconsidering. Am I just settling? Do I love Xanga like a dog loves the owner that maltreats it because it doesn't know anything else?
I've been dong some dabbling. Honestly, it didn't feel as much like "cheating" in my blogging relationship with Xanga. Maybe because I've already had a few different xanga sites running for a few different purposes. I have a blogspot site. I have a wordpress site. I have an open salon site. They've all got their ups and downs.
But Xanga has always been my home. I obsessed over TRUE membership at one point. I have a lifetime membership (which I'm becoming less and less proud about.) I have my own url. Pretty schnazzy, eh?
Here's why I want to leave. (Those of you who have left already, well, maybe you knew better.)
1.
The stupid top toolbar. I've already harped on Xanga about this. If you want to help,
harp with me.
I don't pay for anything at Wordpress, and yet they leave me a clear, no-top-toolbar (on the public site) and a simple "Blog at Wordpress" in italics at the bottom. At Xanga, we have this toolbar that they've coded so as to not let the links be the same color as the background. Their xanga banner is prominent at the top right corner. They've arranged html so as not to delete it. They have a bottom toolbar. They have a side panel that asks the same questions (blog? subscribe? join xanga? please? join xanga? please?)
2. Threaded comments. Granted, Xanga has made it easier to "reply" to comments. But for those of you who have experienced this option, you get a message that shows you everyone else the person replied to. The reply is not below the original comment. It is not set off from the margin. It sucks.
3. Ads. I'm a forever member who has paid for everything, and yet I still have run-ins with ads. I also have run-ins with stupid sexually implicit pictures on the xanga homepage (which I now avoid by going directly to my homepage.) Their ads on their frontpage also have pictures I wouldn't want my 2-year-old nephew to see. Let alone a 16-year-old student. Where are they getting their ads from? Filter, anyone? Not that I don't understand the need for ads. But when I see people (real or cartoony) wrapped around each other bouncing on my screen, that's enough.
4. The Frontpage. Xanga has been experiencing trouble with this for a while. The frontpage just looks juvenile. Their icon is juvenile. All this I will accept.
5. The Homepage. Xanga has a homepage that is almost as juvenile as their frontpage. Better, but not great. I will accept this too. (Considering feedback seems futile.) Wordpress has a nice homepage. I would not be embarrassed by its icon or its homepage. It has a dashboard that shows you (graphically!) your stats. It is clean and understated. It doesn't beg for attention. And yet it does its job. Top blogs, growing blogs, etc.
5. The stupid top toolbar. It's a simple request. Allow paid members and/or people with personal URLs to delete the top toolbar. You don't see headers on the "Huffington Post" do you? Or on "Gladwell.com"? Or on ANY LEGITIMATE BLOG-BASED SITE? Or on a WORDPRESS site made by a 9-year-old?? All nice blogs don't need to have that. Especially for paying members. Bah, Humbug!
Really, I am not a big complainer. But I am upset. If I can find a way to move myself over, I think I would. I have a nice template set up, which is clean, clear, and doesn't force me to promote Wordpress in a way that negatively alters my site. It is mature looking without needless icons jumping around. It's clear about what I have used for the site, but it's not overwhelming about it.
I am otherwise happy at my home here.
Anyone have something you want to add? Are you happy at Xanga otherwise? Will you follow me if I leave? (hehe.) I will follow you via RSS. Have you tried other sites? Do you like them better? What have you tried, if any?
Comments (12)
None of those things bug me particularly at all, but I voted for your idea and agree with it. Especially if you pay for a lifetime use you should be able to do next to near anything to your site. I would pay lifetime membership for that. Heck, I'm still considering lifetime membership still. I don't think I'll ever leave xanga unless something comparable to it comes along. Which hasn't happened yet and I wonder if it ever will.
I LOVE xangas built in community as crazy and as declined as it is. I have seen many friends go and do their own site, but just lose interest in it as others don't check it or comment too often at all. If someone wants to write a journal to themselves and a few others who check in rarely to comment than I guess those other places are fine, but I like the balance on xanga between serious blog and social network.
I am sad by those who leave, but I understand. To each their own. I've been on this thing since 2003 and seen a lot leave, comback, leave or never comeback or just leave their blog in limbo. And some who are so faithful and I love to visit them regularly. Like old friends.
@vangelicmonk - I agree totally with what you said. And I do love the Xanga community. But now, with RSS feeds and the google reader, it all comes together. Community is all over. But I've built some 'friends' here and I do like it. I just wish they'd take better care, you know?
I've been here for a while, too. I don't remember when, but I"m sure it's been more than six years.
@jensa07 - yeah, understandable. xanga could definitely do more. RSS and Google reader does help, but I don't use it that much personally and I wonder how much others use it who aren't really that tech savvy? I think it is helping, but not yet at that point to make it more common to more internet users. Sadly I've told my other friends that since they are off xanga I probably won't read their blog that much which is sad to me but just true for me personally. =[ Plus, when I check their blog not that much comments. Which makes me sad.
On xanga there is a sense to many that hey if I comment and like your blog and you comment back to me there is this cool interaction and feedback. More than just some twitter or facebook status interaction of some deeper thoughts and responses. Just saying its a bit easier to build community on xanga, but not impossible with other blogs just takes a bit more effort.
So I hope you stay, but xanga should do more to give people options on what they want to do with their blog. Give them more freedom.
I'm thinking of migrating to wordpress too. The thing I don't know how to do is import my old entries into wordpress. not exactly obvious. do you have that option if you're a paying member?
the discussion w/ 'monk' above speaks far more articulately than i have the energy to do...i agree that i have tended to lose contact w/ folks who have migrated - and my 'fear' is that by nec. if xanga implements the changes they may do so to the exclusion of the current format that i (many?) have become accustomed to - we all know how much folks love forced change...- i personally like/need the ability to not have an rss feed and have some control over tracking who i share my blog w/
i use the old private home page for my site and never visit the frontpage or xanga homepage - and your site looks plenty clean and classy here - the ads you speak of - i do come across them occassionally -but i've never seen it as a problem - then - i don't really have concerns about 'who' (very young folks) may come to my page thereby offending sensibilities -
in line w/ the 'energy' thing above - i guess i just am not as serious about 'the blog thing' as i once was - i paid fot the lifetime a while back - i guess if serious changes were made and i could no longer 'do things the way i am accustomed to' i would be miffed but the way it is..? meh, not so bad...
i'm not so sure i understand what i'm voting for.. "the top toolbar on the public site" do you mean the thingy w/ my username/blognow/credits/sign out - at the top of this page? cuz.. tho i see no real need for it there -there ARE times when .. i have 'looked for it' just because of the short cuts it offers - cannot really recall when that was and it wasn't there...but yeah - if this is the only place it appears - when i'm at someones site commenting....pretty useless
@pamilvr - yes, the top toolbar is what I'm talking about, where it (on someone else's site) says things like, "subscribe" or something. It'll still be there on your private page, but when someone (let's say outside of xanga) visits, it just won't be there. It's a small change, but it makes a difference.
Thanks for your comments, and your support. I do understand the community, and I appreciate that a lot about this place. This is a big enough deal for me, though, for some reason. I guess it's not so much about the looks but that Xanga really seems to be striving for marketing at the expense of a lot of other things.
@gpspacey - I don't think so. Xanga is getting better at a lot of things, but wordpress just seems so much more... mature. You know?
hi. i have a wordpress site and i really like it. i came to xanga to blog privately, and have recently tried to branch out here. the interesting thing is i keep hearing all this talk abt xanga's community, but i find that for myself, it has been rather hard to break in to.
anyway, having had the opportunity to blog on both blogspot, tumblr, and wordpress, i find it really interesting that the community setup here, also seems to be one of its greatest downfalls. i cannot believe how meanspirited and disrespectful many commenters are; not to mention the almost daily dramas.
in that sense, i really do prefer the quietness of my wordpress and tumblr accounts. i'm not sure i agree with your other commenters that it would be harder to build community elsewhere. in fact, i would probably say the opposite and state that it's been easier for me to have consistent readers on my other sites; and as far as the professional appearance goes, i agree with you. hope you make a decision that is right for you.
@thegirlxfiles - Yes, I've found that community here is difficult but the ones you get are pretty stable. Unfortunately, the really consistent ones were the subscribers I've had for years, vs a steady stream. It seems that early on, Xanga had this "unwritten code" which most people abided by; we networked, surfed each others' blogs, and if one commented, the other would comment, and if one subscribed, so would the other. Now... there's less of that, although I still try. Things are not as mean and weird as they are now.
I haven't tried tumblr... I appreciate wordpress and as you mention, it's quietness. I know if I moved, many of my friends who use RSS or google reader would have no trouble following me.
At this point, the only thing keeping me here is the community I've already built and the fact that I've pumped enough money into this. Oh well. Thanks for your comments. I'll see you on your site. =) (That's hard to do when you've got friends lock though!)
@jensa07 - you are k am too??? yay! the only connection i have to nyc is that a friend of mine grew up in ny. she is married now and lives in north carolina. are you a native of new york or just have friends there?
thanks for coming over and commenting. i guess i'm from a different generation where responding to people is considered polite. but, i can see how that would be difficult in today's technological age, where you are bombarded with information and have more followers than you have time for. sigh. we are too busy in today's world, i think.
@thegirlxfiles - I grew up in NY, and have now moved to the hills of Virginia. It's a big change, although my moves in between helped soften the blow a little. :) Where do you live?
I agree that we're too busy. The things that we would never do to a normal human being on the street is ok with online communities, even though there are people behind each comment. There are an inordinate number of K-Ams here too, for some reason. It's my suspicion that this is why Xanga does so well. :) We tend to make things work somehow.
haha. i like you! we DO make things work! you have taken the words right out of my mouth about the whole "we would never do to a normal human being on the street" idea. in fact, i've written whole blogs about this, i got so passionate about it (and still do).
i live in washington state. i've traveled a lot and lived in other states, but i always come back to the northwest. this is fun. thanks for the little chats. :)