Recently, I scrolled through the rather long list of blogs on my "Reading List" on this website and found that many of the blogs on that list had not had a new post in quite some time, some of them for even a few years. When a blog and blogger go that long without any new content it is safe to assume the blog is now defunct. But why do they become defunct? I'm not even sure I know all the answers but a lot of possible answers are seemingly obvious. Some of the bloggers simply die. Other bloggers might find new interests which they enjoy more and simply quit blogging. Others could even have found themselves in prison. Who knows? I have published this blog since April 15, 2011, and it has grown steadily both in the amount of posts I have created and in the number of people who have become interested in it. In the nearly 10 years I have written this blog, it has slowly grown from a few dozen followers to more than 150 followers. But, I have no way of knowing how many of those followers actually actively follow the blog to the degree that they read most of my posts, read some of my posts when they are bored, or simply return at irregular times to see if I have posted anything in which they are interested.
Over the last couple or three years though, this blog has ballooned from about 50 followers to more than 150. This blog averages about 3,000 page views a month and has had a little over 362,000 page views in the ten years it has been active. But, interestingly, the two highest months in page views came in September 2014 and March 2015 when it received 18,917 page views and 20,917 page views respectively. At that time, I probably had less than 30 followers. I have no idea why the blog received such high numbers in those two months. The roughly one year period from February 2014 to March 2015 had consistently higher numbers than the blog average. January 2015 was the lowest month in that period with 5,262 page views. I repeat that I have no idea why the numbers ran so high for that period and why now, with at least three times as many followers, I usually get lower page views. If any of you readers can explain why, I would love to hear it.
Now, to discuss the reason which prompted me to write about this in the first place. Over the years, I have added 32 blogs of fairly varied subject matter to my reading list and have not ever deleted one from that list. My primary areas of interest have consistently been Appalachian Studies, Auctioneering, Travel, and Disability Issues since my wife, Candice has been in a wheelchair for more than twenty years. Of the blogs on my list, I clearly know less than half a dozen of the creators and have only ever met one of them in person. I have probably corresponded with a dozen or so either via e-mail or the comments sections on either my blog or theirs. The one person I know, have met, correspond with regularly, and expect to see again in the future is Mike Brandly who is an auctioneer, real estate broker, auctioneer trainer, and expert witness in matters of auction law. His blog is called Mike Brandly, Auctioneer Blog, and has had more then 1.4million page views due to his national prominence as a multi-faceted auctioneer. I have actually taken my required continuing education for my auctioneer license from Mike and we are Facebook friends. We have a couple of Facebook groups in common, two of which Mike runs and one run by a friend of mine to which I referred Mike.
I also know, in a less personal way without any face to face contact, a woman named Heather Johnson who writes a wonderful blog called Paralyzed With Joy and has done so since November 2009. Heather is a full quadriplegic due to a horrible car accident, not her fault, when she was 17 years old. If she can maintain a blog for 12 years, anybody can. And her is one of the most interesting blogs I read. Heather, one of her sisters, and I are all Facebook friends.
Another blogger with whom I have had extensive contact beyond his blog is known to the world as either Greenbrier Jim or Wayfarin' Stranger which is also the name of his blog which he operated regularly from February 2011, to March 2014, and then ceased to produce it which is a damn shame since it is a wonderful blog of both his own high quality photography and Appalachian History. Jim grew up in Morehead, Kentucky, where I attended Morehead State University years after he left town. I suspect that Jim may be having health issues which have kept him from continuing. But his blog is still worth exploring for the quality of his work in both areas.
Another blog and blogger which I appreciated a great deal was called Dave's Cupboard and focused on unusual foods. Dave, who I do not know from Adam, ran his blog consistently from January 2, 2006, until June 26, 2015. I suspect that Dave might have either passed away or suddenly suffered a major health crisis. His daughter was listed as a co-author on the blog and I sent a message of inquiry but never got an answer. I love odd, unusual, even strange foods, and I miss Dave's blog a lot. It is also worth visiting for the past reflections on many things a lot of people claim they never eat.
Only two or three blogs on my Reading List can be said to still be active with posts having been created in the last few months at the latest. I miss the work of every one of the authors who created those blogs and wish they were still active. And I have to repeat, I have no idea why some of them stopped.
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