June 16, 2013

• Happy weblogging

  Now that Xanga is at risk of shutting down, it’s time for me to say a few words on what it has meant to me.

  Looking back, I completed many a long survey and a good amount of online quizzes. For example, I posted for the world to know which Jewel song I resembled, what flavor I was, and even my omniosity quotient (404 Page Not Found). Eprops, Xanga’s currency to show one’s appreciation for a post, weren’t taken for granted then. I once gave a blogger 0 eProps to express my ire with his post –that will show ‘em! Another intriguing concept were Blogrings. I selected those that would reflect my blogging habits.

  The Xanga community is one of the reasons TheXangaTeam hopes Xangans will support a WordPress relaunch, but it was just as important a sustaining factor then. I subscribed to people I knew in real life. We ranted about teachers we disliked, talked about characters in our favorite movies, and reminisced about our weekend hangouts.

  To me, Xanga was always a place to write things I might not say out loud. It invited people to get to know me through my written thoughts. I valued what others shared and wouldn’t have minded if it continued indefinitely.

  By the time I entered college, however, fewer and fewer people were updating. Luckily, I found others at college who did. I stopped public posting for 8 months at one point, but never stopped reading and commenting. Commenting was my way of cheering someone on or to respond to a particularly irresistible question.¹

  It’s been 4124 days since I joined Xanga. I suppose I could head over to Weebly, Blogger, or WordPress.

  But I miss the vintage smileys already.

  ¹ See TheTheologiansCafe

  • 1:20 am
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