Comments on: Why Blogging Services Suck

By: Amber

Amber — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 04:40:00 +0000

Wow! *scanning all the negative comments about Blogger* Well, I’m not having a problem with Blogger/Haloscan. Sometimes they’ve been wonky, but what isn’t? They are free and I don’t to worry about anything. I suppose if Blogspot decides to shut me down for content, I can move to a private account then.
I’m with you on the cliquey-clubby aspect of certain blog-groups. “Members only!” “Private blog!” “You must use a password!” etc., etc…blecchhh…
I’ve always hated elitism and I’m not about to start with that crap now.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 23 Jul 2004 03:12:47 +0000

I was never so glad as the day we took Sweetness Follows off blogger and bought our own domain.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 22 Jul 2004 12:45:51 +0000

The problem I have with using my own site is that I have limited knowledge of the internet. I had never even used HTML until I started up my blog. I learnt only what I needed to make it look the way I wanted it to look and then forgot it all again. I can’t exactly ask any of my computer knowlegeable friends to help me out. That would destroy the anonymity I need to be as open as I am.
I went looking for a host and soon got lost in gigs and megs and uploads and mySQLs, something called perl and god knows how many other words I didn’t know, then I had a very nice lady tell me I would need moveable type!
So how do us without any computer knowledge even start? Is there a ‘Set up your own blog for dummies’ out there?

By: Vikki

Vikki — Thu, 22 Jul 2004 08:50:00 +0000

I agree 100% with the “master/mistress of your own domain” thing, with apologies for the multiple plays on words contained therein. :)
I’ve also never really understood Livejournal, both from a UX perspective [shudder] and the fact that I have to register. We’re slapped in the face with enough registrations online as it is, for no good purpose or value.
The loss of Vintage Sex sucks. Thank God for Retro Raunch, although it’s a paid service. Are there anyother free/blog type vintage porn sites out there that are any good?

By: MD

MD — Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:41:52 +0000

This post is the reason I moved -both- my blogs to my own account, where if anyone screws with me, then I have a bit of pull in the argument.
Neither of my sites are very high traffic, so I’m able to pay under $10 a month for both sites to be up. It’s nice.
It may not be for everyone, but I’m glad I made the extra effort to move everything to my own place instead of sticking to Blogger.

By: katy

katy — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 22:42:38 +0000

When blogger finally integraded blogging, we were thrilled. Except that we had the choice between allowing anonymous comments or requiring registration. I just wanted to require someone fill in the “name” field with a handle of some kind, but that wasn’t an option.
Even though I’m having some hiccups with our host, I’m so much happier having our own space. I’m sure Bacchus pays a lot more with his greater traffic, but we’re paying under $10/month, and it’s well worth it.

By: trinary

trinary — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 12:29:16 +0000

I disagree that the communities are organized clique management.*some* are, yes, definitely. but it depends on the community and the people that started it. a lot of them are open to everyone and can be watched and commented on by non members.
in my experience, the only people/communities I know who have restricted posting access to members, or commenting access to users, did so because there were people spamming the community/blog, and it was as a last resort. however, there do seem to be a fair number of communities/people who are exclusive just for the sake of what you describe (pretty well)as “computerized clique management”. and that, if you ask me, is missing the point of being online in the first place. isn’t the whole point that it’s public? anyway, I still maintain that a lot of communities aren’t like that.

By: Bacchus

Bacchus — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 10:54:36 +0000

Kinky, I think the livejournal users like the community aspects of things so much (basically, computerized clique management) that they won’t consider going elsewhere. Since cliques are all about exclusion, and I consider a “real” internet resource to be one that’s linkable by anyone, anywhere, without permission, I don’t much like live journal sites.
Nor is blogger/blogspot is so hot. Lately I’ve noticed a blogger message asking me to register before I can leave comments on many blogs — which is one of the things I hate about livejournal.
Also, just because they haven’t been “censoring” (not really the right word for a private service, but I know what you mean) anything doesn’t mean that they won’t in the future. That’s where your own domain can’t be beat. That way, even if somebody pressures your hosting provider, you can always move to a provider in Russia or Cyprus or Gaza. Although for basic adult stuff, there are plenty of U.S. and European hosting providers who are more than willing to tell busybodies to go pound sand.

By: Kinky

Kinky — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 10:43:27 +0000

If you prefer to remain free, why not just use the blogger/blogspot combo and toss in some haloscan for comments? It’s worked beautifully for me and they don’t appear to censor anything.

By: trinary

trinary — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 09:57:05 +0000

yeah I just found that out about vintage sex today. really sucks.
on the other hand, I’m an avid livejournal user, and I like livejournal for a number of reasons I don’t feel the need to go into.
the point is, I don’t blame livejournal for forcing vintage_sex to close up — they’re just watching their backs. I blame the stick-in-the-muds who make public access to erotic material a crime in the first place.
I’ll bet that wouldn’t happen in some other parts of the world. american’s have got it so backwards. violence is socially accepted entertainment for young children, and sexual matters are only legal if you’re 18, but even then they’re still taboo. can’t even sell someone a dildo without lying about what it’s for. it’s rediculous.
anyhow. I sort of feel like livejournal is equivalent to AIM. you don’t use it because it’s better, you use it because everyone else uses it too so it’s easy to find connections.
The other thing that makes it a lot like AIM is I think the bulk of the users are highschool age or perhaps younger, so as a buisness, I imagine they’re extra cautious.
sure does suck though.