As if I would sink to that level. Pffft.
I simply hate having to jump on the blacklisting ‘Ish’ sites bandwagon, but I cannot stand idly by as the multitude of excellent writing talent goes ignored. It’s funny, though, because ‘Ish’ sites are known to take the works of other Xangans in order to promote traffic to their website. This, of course, seldom happens because we leave our two cents on the page and continue on browsing the slew of unnecessary jargon posted on there.
And the world is forever changed by the Cutest Couple, Who Wore It Better, Why You Are A Lardass and No One Will Ever Love You, and Megan Fox.
If you post an intellectual response you will be thrown into the sea of trolls like an appendage to piranhas. They will eat choo up, mofucka! I sigh deeply at this revelation.
We need to promote traffic to actual Xangan pages. If you are somebody with a multitude of subscribers (and you know exactly who you are) recommend good material! Don’t be a jerkface. There are exceptional writers on this website well worth the attention and yet receive a grand total of six to ten commenters. Meanwhile, ridiculous posts are being recycled over at the ‘Ish’ websites, most of which go on to be featured on the front page. Yes, I am talking about the posts in regards to which Hollywood skank wore the most make up and how so and so lost this much weight by doing this and that.
Hello, High School? I’d like to re-enlist.
What about the beautiful poetry written by such extensively talented minds? What about the disheartening stories shared? What about the hard truths of reality? What about the debates executed about real issues? Why must be continue to adorn the front page with bubble gum stories about unutterable bullshit that is as dissolving to the mind as toilet paper is to water?
And you are wondering why Xanga is going down the tubes. We are one notch above tabloid magazines and PerezHilton.Com in terms of actual substantial writing (as seen on the front page)
Sad.
What are your thoughts on this?
Comments (78)
Most of the Ish sites are garbage, and I stay away from them.
IReallyLikeFood, however, is worth it's weight in GOLD!
Right?
yeah i get annoyed of ish sites.
@theacematt2 - you are one of the people I know that is rec happy. I appreciate that.
I do find it odd how a lot of times, most of the featured weblogs are from Ish sites. Blogging sites should be about the bloggers' experiences and thoughts, and from their site. I've read the Ish sites sometime, and sometimes I find interesting posts. But I'd much rather hear about a specific blogger's thoughts, and usually they're way above Hollywood garbage.
It's pretty sad because there are really some good quality Xangan writers out there. I rarely use the front page anymore. Just read recs of those whose taste I trust.
I'm just here for the naked pictures, which I'm dissapointed I do not see. Yea, I'm kidding.
It would be nice if the Xanga front page was used for linking us all to good blogs, but I suppose since nothing seems to be changing, we just have to work harder searching for them. Shame, but what can we do other than try and form a mass boycott of those pages?
Speaking of rec'ing, ::clicks::
That being said, this is an observation I have made as well. At risk of sounding old, as someone who has been a Xanga member for six years, I've seen the front page go though a number of iterations. Used to be that certain members with lots of subscribers dominated the front page. While I grew tired of seeing the same people over and over, many of them had that many subscribers because they wrote very interesting stuff. Blogrings and groups (such as the Featured Grownups site) were started so that more varied content could make it to the front, rather than just the people with a ton of subscribers. Then came the ish sites, their dominance of the front page, and the repetitious drivel. I go to them mostly in hopes of seeing an interesting comment and following it to an interesting Xangan. But I figure for most, especially seeing many of the comments there, most Xangas half read the article, post their two cents, and move on.
Amen.
Thank you for saying this! A bajillion people read what you write, so hopefully other people will start to 'get it' as well. The great thing about Xanga (as compared to other blog hosting services) is the real 'community' that we have here...but it's up to us to keep that going. We have to actually interact with each other. We have to comment on each other's posts...we have to rec stuff....we need to pulse about good posts that we've read...blah, blah, blah.
@everlastte - I completely agree.
@lonelywanderer2 - exactly! I do the same if I really enjoyed reading the post.
@Dargon - the comments are more interesting than the content. That should say something about the quality of the works posted.
@TheRiverIsEverywhere - nothing, unfortunately. I doubt that Xanga is the epitome of creativity and eloquent blogging material. At least not from a gander at the front page.
Big props for this post....yeayeah!
6-10 comments huh? Been spilling the inner working of my mind for some 5 years here on Xanga and I think I've yet to gross that many comments on a single post (including my replies to comments). Perhaps I have nothing of public interest to share and in fact that is why I lack a community of readers. Then again, maybe it has something to do with my typical post being near novel length. I don't fancy myself a skilled writers by any stretch but nor are a majority of fellow Xangans. Silly as it may sound I'm not bitter over this matter. There was a time and place for useless emotional response to lack of online appreciation but, these days I have bigger fish to fry (as many of my recent bloggings will dictate).
Reguardless of my own standings on Xanga (bottom 2 percentile I imagine) I agree with what you've said here.
In addition, many of the Xanga residents I enjoy reading don't actually posess fine technical writing skills. Rather, they write as they speak and don't feel the overwhelming need to finish every post with a question mark assuming their writings themselves haven't inspired. That being said, I think I ended my last post with a question mark... oops.
@DessertHer - I end with a question in order to acquire involvement. If people have a question to answer, they are more likely to participate and voice their opinions. I am fascinated by other peoples' views and outlooks.
I totally agree, especially with how posts are used so the Ish sites get traffic to THEIR site. I wish they would link the post directly to the xanga site, so that people comment on the original blog. I no longer look at the front page, rather I stick to my subscriptions :)
I long to see quality work on the front page. Quality of many forms, whether it be poetic, or a well-written social commentary. The fluff that fills the front page is just shameful.
@Manstration - That wasn't directed at you simply because your posts actually contain value previous to the question mark while most only have interest it that final line of questioning. I think the 2, 3 sentence, paragraphs followed by question roughly encapsulating the entire dry post is the main requirment for ish submissions isn't it? Or maybe I've jumped to conclusions (that happens to be a habit of mine). Sometimes people need a little provoking as you've expressed but it seems that many of the popular posts and ish posts rely completly on a catchy title and envoking final question. In those cases there isn't any reason for comment besides listening to yourself talk. Something I'm also guilty of. Isn't it sad when the comments are more thought provoking and a better read than the post they are about! You seemed to have picked up on that quite easily. Kudos!
and thank you for having pity and recommending
. Unlike many, I won't scoff at pity!
Xanga needs to be rescued.
Regarding the Ish sites, never go there. Haven't found one that doesn't make me want to gag. I left Junior High a long time ago and have zero desire to go back, even for a visit. I won't get into the garbage that can hit the front page thanks to the ishes. I don't even like going TO the homepage anymore.
SWEETCHEEKS!!!!!
This was wonderful!
Yes the front page is the domain of cut and paste Ish articles and watered down garbages. Whoever picks the front page stuff needs to grow a pair.
And creative writers . . .sorry guys I love you but you are totally ignored here. Maybe no one has noticed but that talented group who was pushing to get a place for creative writers on xanga. They left a few months ago.
I am a lardass and to tell you the truth,some guys love a lardass....it gets smacked a lot...
but back to the real question....There are some mighty fine writers on here and I love to rec a good story pic or poem.