On August 6th 2003 I launched this blog with (in retrospect) a cringeworthy post. Ah well, I only had an audience of one and didn't have a clue what I really wanted to write about but nevertheless knew I should be writing.
Writing. It's all about the writing. And the format, whether long form blogging, micro-blogging (Twitter), Facebooking, Jaiku-ing, Google+ing, Tumbling, etc., etc., is besides the point. As long as you're writing and sharing your thoughts (however much they make you cringe a decade later).
In these times of ecomomic austerity the Corbett household has been trimming the excess and I've come to realize I'm just not blogging here enough to justify the ongoing cost of TyepPad hosting. I was wishfully thinking for more than a year that I'd spend less of my time on Twitter and more back here but.... hey, it's all about the writing.
It's a coincidence that I've come to this conclusion just as two people who've long been an influence on my blogging are having an intense debate about the 'common web'. My heart is with Winer but my head (and budget) is with Scoble. And micro-blogging is what suits me right now.
I've archived 4 years of Eirepreneur over to Wordpress (that was all I could import). And I may turn to there on the very odd occasion that I can't express it elsewhere. But more likely I'll be posting it to our MissionV blog where most of my energy is focussed these days.
Ah shame. You already know what my take is on this whole FB/G+/Twitter vs. The Rest of the Web debate is. It's a pity you're leaving the blog behind but I can understand. I gave up blogging myself in 2005 and only returned to to in 2009 through posterous and now on http://walterhiggins.net/blog/ . There's been an ongoing tension - an ebb and flow - between blogging and social-networking since the early days of both. Me personally - I've come to accept that while I can own my own content, conversation happens elsewhere. It's important for me to keep plugging away at long-form writing even if that long-form writing is a puny 300 words (my writing muscles has atrophied thanks to Twitter). Maybe a fresh approach away from TypePad, Blogger, WordPress et al would help reinvigorate your desire to write on the web. If you ever do decided to start writing again on a site you own fully, give me a shout and I'd be happy to help.
Posted by: Walter Higgins | February 06, 2012 at 12:35 PM
Ah thanks Walter - your last sentence is what makes me nostalgic for 'the good ol' days' of blogging when there was a great sense of camaraderie and community.
I made a big deal about leaving Facebook a few years ago only to sheepishly return some months later so I don't want to make a big deal about this. I'm not giving up blogging per se, just this blog. Education is what floats my boat nowadays, more-so than entrepreneurship so that's my focus for now and MissionV will most likely get more of my long form attention.
Posted by: jcorbett | February 06, 2012 at 01:47 PM
Shame to see it getting archived off. As you say, you can always take it up again for free on WP.com. I'm really enjoying having my blog at the moment and I feel like I've given it a new lease of life for 2012.
Whilst there isn't too much conversation going on over there, I'm not too concerned about that. It's important to me to own my data and not be dependent on the whims of another company. Primarily it's my own journal and record of thoughts and so on. That could morph again later on, but I do like to have it.
My ultimate goal would be to post everything there and have it feed to preferred social networks. So instead of posting a status update on Google Plus, I'd post a status update on my blog and it would auto-post on Google Plus. Further to that, any conversation that follows, twitter reactions, Google Plus comments, would be included in the comment thread on the post. I've been waiting a long time for something like that to happen though and I'm not sure it ever will.
Anyway, best of luck with whatever you focus on :)
Posted by: Alex Leonard | February 06, 2012 at 02:37 PM
Bummer... you were one of the oldies & goodies that I'll remember from the early days of Irish blogging. I definitely believe -- like Walter above, I think -- in the importance of those with the know-how to keep their own printing presses clanking along, but it does indeed seem like that's slowly becoming an outdated conceit. Part of the reason for the decline of personal blogs has probably been the lack of positive feedback compared to the immediacy of an @ or a Like. But even if it's a little late now, thanks for your valuable writing here over the years, James, and keep it up elsewhere. Good luck!
Posted by: Account Deleted | February 06, 2012 at 03:32 PM
Thanks Alex and Emmet. I'll definitely be writing elsewhere, probably more than I ever wrote here. The future is here and it's widely distributed ;-)
Posted by: jcorbett | February 08, 2012 at 09:14 AM