Without OPH, Cassandra, Amelia, Frod, and a handful of others, it wouldn't have any content at all, and it makes me sad to go back even a year ago and see how much livelier it was.
It's been suggested here before by Ben, Cal, and others that the old blog model just doesn't carry the freight as it once did. Tech changes, you know, and Tweeter is probably dead already, too, but I feel empathy pains for poor Fab, who I suspect sits in between classes and checks for new posts that don't come.
Maybe I'm out of bounds, and I've even been blamed for damaging the page in the past, but maybe a shakeup is necessary.
Sorry if this navel-gazing is annoying to some.
Terry P.
What? But just as I got a new staple gun! It's TWICE as powerful as the old one! KER-POW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI vote for keeping it going. There are enough new posts, and I would prefer more than 140 characters. The decline of the site is kind of a puzzle though, isn't it? It's not like the problems we've been talking about have suddenly gone away or that we've all suddenly imbibed the student-centered, edu-biz cool-aid (or have we?). Maybe folks are increasingly just giving up.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice for the blog to still be alive on the 11th anniversary of RYS, November 3rd. There used to be a lot of original content. Just look in the archive. 180 posts in October 2010? And 28 so far this month? Everything runs its course. It's been a wonderful spot for me personally to witness the struggles of younger faculty.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I dislike the most about this page - and there is much to recommend it - is this endless whining about it. If it's such a chore, please stop doing it. Nobody is making you, and regardless of whether there's 5 or 50 people reading it, you should do it because you think it's important, not because you think you don't get enough visitors.
ReplyDeleteI really suspect that whoever has run it has run it all along and is driven solely by how popular it makes him - its always a him.
I love the interplay. But the moderator's paranoiac interruptions are always cloying and filled with: "Please tell me how important my page is to you, again; I need to hear it again. Why don't you love me as much as October 2010
or whatever.
Just my $0.02
I agree with Ed Yutane that 140 characters aren't enough. None of these great tales from the academic crypt could pack a punch if they had to be condensed that much.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know I'm only one reader, and not a frequent poster, but I'm not on Twitter and don't plan ever to be.
I am always surprised when this comes up again. I enjoy the blog. I enjoy reading it. I enjoy posting on it when I have time. I read blogs where just ONE person posts. This blog has many, and several of them are fairly frequent posters. There is lively discussion.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I hate twitter. I'd simply not read it. And yes, 150 characters is not enough to say anything.
Why is it so important for it to be huge? This blog has a more lively readership and posting schedule than many (also worthy) others.
If Fab is sick of it, or has no time, or just wants a break, then he should quit (and he and the rest of the mods will always have my undying gratitude). But I hope it would simply be because it is too much work and too much abuse that has to be absorbed, and not because the blog is perceived as a failure due to lower than expected hits or new posts.
Terry suggested the Twitter idea above and has in the past. Others have offered ideas to shake things up. I know the introspection about the page has been a problem, but it's not narcissism as suggested by one comment. I have always been disappointed in how we could not measure up to RYS numbers. Anyone who reads the page know that I am a bit nutty about the stats. I feel as though I have failed and because the audience here is just a tiny fraction of what we once had, I feel we are ruining any legacy we might have earned. I don't want bucking up or sympathy. I hate that this "navel-gazing" has come up again.
Delete