It’s A Blog’s Life: 17-Apr-2023

17 April 2008.  Our first blog post.  Followed by fifteen years of blogging in one form or another.  To date, 1,292 unique posts – 839 on WordPress plus another 453 on the Oregon Hikers forum (BB code).  No post ever more than some images and words about the outdoor stuff we love doing. And have actually done – no phoning it in. And all written by real people. Truly authentic. 😊

And nothing particularly (or intentionally) literary or philosophical or political or controversial – we always figured there’s plenty of that already out there.  Just a fun follow-up to most of our outdoor experiences. Keeping the brain active with some writing and editing and figuring out the latest “upgrade” to some software (that often worked just fine as it was). 🙄

After fifteen years, we got to wondering whether blogs have lifespans.  Like some faithful and beloved pet which charms and amuses and comforts for several years but eventually succumbs to the vicissitudes of time?

This question seems of interest to both data geeks and influencers – those who rely on social media to sell stuff or themselves.  Of all social media, blogs appear to last the longest, with a half-life (time to 50% of total engagement, as likes, shares, or comments) of, on average, two years.

Over the years, we’ve followed several personal blogs that seemed active and robust but then simply stopped posting.  A few came back; most didn’t.  One does wonder what happened.  Was it always meant to be a one-and-done thing – one summer hiking the PCT or a wedding or the trip of a lifetime?

Or did it succumb to an alteration in life’s circumstances – nothing more to say, unreciprocated aspirations (too few “likes”), too many trolls, loss of interest, alien abduction? 👽 Probably as many reasons as there are bloggers.

This blog has certainly survived well past two years.  Why?  We’d like to think it’s because it offers scintillating content and brilliant photography, combined with deft and sensitive insights into our current political and cultural zeitgeist.  Nice if this were true, but it’s almost certainly not. 😞

More likely it’s still going simply because we like doing it (which seems to be the best reason for maintaining a personal blog), we’re too thick to quit, and we take comfort in low expectations.  And a few other people seem to enjoy it from time to time (Thank you all!) – so good enough.

So, how much longer this blog?  Well, not forever, as we are not forever.  But it may outlive us in some distant server farm, at least, that is, until the annual fees go unpaid or the power grid fails or the Metaverse 🤔 arrives.

It’s certainly a goner if going outdoors becomes – for whatever reason – no longer possible. At that point, we’ll have nothing more to share and that will be that.

Otherwise, it’s hard to say.  We may just keep banging away indefinitely.  Or posting may simply become more of a burden than a joy.  Or wilting engagement numbers may “suggest” it’s time for us to give it up – ride (metaphorically) into the sunset with our heads held high and all that.

Whichever way things go, we’ll let you know what’s what when we get there. So, until the future arrives, thanks again for stopping by … 😁

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of declining engagement,
Or to take arms against a sea of bounced clicks,
And by opposing end them? To fold: to post;
No more; and by folding say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand missed “likes”
That blogs are heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d.

Our sincerest apologies to The Bard of Avon

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