Whatever happened to the word “Squee?”
A lot has changed in the blogging world since I started many moons ago. Do any of you remember the Thursday Haiku Smackdowns we used to have? We used to have one site amongst the original group that hosted the haiku smackdowns and we spent all day writing haikus about photos the host found. The origin of it was at amalah’s and it was kinda short-lived (for VERY good reason). LilZ actually brought that up the other day and asked why we don’t do it anymore.
(answer: putting out fires from fights errupting over haikus is NOT FUN)
And there seemed to be a lot more of those quizzes back then too. Like, what Harry Potter character are you? Or what type of shoe are you? No one does those anymore. I know they get ridiculed a lot but there was always something enlightening about finding out what color you’d be, if you were a color. Or what type of appetizer you’d be (I’m potato skins all the way, baby).
Memes arent as common anymore, either. And does anyone call them memes anymore? MrZ HATED that word. I don’t do them all, but I do like a good one every now and then. I avoid the music related ones because that’s not entertaining when I do it, but I like the ones that give you an easy way to talk about yourself. I mean really, thats what its all about.
And what happened to Blog It Forward? BIF was a day where you listed three blogs you thought other people should check out. And who started that? I don’t know if I every knew who started that. I remember the first Blog It Forward day someone linked to me and then I got like TWENTY hits in ONE day and I was SO PROUD. (That was back when I was on TYPEPAD…were any of you around then?)
What about all the cool photo sites like Photo Friday or Theme Thursday or whatever. You know, the sites that gave you subjects to photograph and you’d post them on your blog? It was great when you weren’t feeling creative but wanted to put something on your site. Why don’t we have those anymore? Or do we and I’m just out of the loop?
And what happened to Oliquig? She was one of my first blog friends and she’s VANISHED.
If you’re an old-timer (Sweety? Zandria?) what have you noticed has changed about blogging? What do you miss? If you’re a newbie, have you seen any changes in your time blogging? Good or bad? I’m feeling nostalgic, humor me.
I’m sorta in between. I lurked on a lot of blogs for a logn time before I started my own (foolishly thought I’d have a hard time keeping it up! *snort*). So I’m a new oldie? Or an old newbie? Anywho. You’re right. THere used to be quizzes all over the place (I still have quite the collection at my blog) and I *LOVED* to do those. There was also those “Porn Name Generator” thingies that would give you your porn star name? Remember that??
Anyhow, I didn’t start blogging that long ago and even then there were a lot more Meme’s than there are now. And I miss just being able to surf around and comment on random blogs. Too busy anymore. *sigh*
Man, I loved the Haiku Smackdown, but I understand why it couldn’t last forever.
I so miss Haiku
Smackdown. Remember when Lee
‘ku’d through Jaynie’s birth???
photo friday is definitely still around, and just as popular.
I have been lurking around you and Amalah for quite some time. I’ve become so inspired by ya’lls wit and wisdom that I just started my own. So far my only fan is my mom. Sad day. I mean really, where is the love? How did Mrs. Z get the juices flowin? Hmm? And why don’t people comment EVER. I know there out there- my site counter doesn’t lie. Oh well, I just continue posting and hope somebody comments someday…..
memes and quizzes still abound on livejournal, but of course, that’s not the same as blogging (according to bloggers).
DUDE! i totally was wondering the other day what happened to oliquig too! i miss that girl!!
I have been reading for a while…but am SO new to actually doing my own. In fact, I just figured out today how to post a picture to my profile.
Am a dork.
But, I’ll slowly figure this all out!!
1. memes and quizzes seem to have transitioned more into the livejournal world, I have to agree with that.
2. you can still find the memes list here http://www.iampariah.com/memeslist/index.php for the daily stuff…although it doesn’t load for me right unless I use the sidebar.
3. I was around back when you were on typepad, does that make me old?
I have not been around terribly long, but I started blogging a couple of years ago when I stumbled upon my friend Sarah (www.hayllar.com/blog) from college. I loved Oliquig as well, she was always leaving nice comments. I always wonder about bloggers that vanish, what happened? Should I worry? What about all the bloggers I am friends with and IM with, will they be around for years to come?
I like some memes, especially those that give me a little insight into people.
I do remember the tail end of the Haiku smackdown.
I miss all of those things…I started my own blog about a year and a half ago but have been reading for more like 3. I do wonder about Oliquig often, it does seem like she just vanished…Haiku Smackdown will always hold a special place in my heart.
I’m still pretty new, been at this for almost a year.
If you’re looking for a Haiku fix, Rude Cactus does post a Monday morning haiku often. And people add their own in the comments section.
One thing that I love but haven’t participated in a long time b/c I’ve been busy and haven’t gotten back into it is Illustration Friday. http://illustrationfriday.com/
Even if you can’t draw, it’s neat to see all those people’s interpretation of the same theme.
And one blogger I miss is Muppet – I know she’d moved into a new house and got really busy with work, but I enjoyed reading her blog. She was funny and she helped me build my site. (It was before you’d figured out Blogger, Zoot.)
I’m darn new to blogging, but I have been online for longer than most. I got into the world of BBSing back in the mid 80s – 1200 baud modem days. Yikes.
I like some of those days-gone-by ideas you posted up there… Pay It Forward day sounds like a great way to find new and underappreciated blogs, huh?
Well I’ve been blogging since December of 2003, though I’ve switched places and URLs so many times I don’t remember where my last address was. I was orginally over at ael.blogspot.com, if you remember, which I doubt.
But God, I miss ‘kuing. Thursdays were my favorite day of the week, haha, with you and Chris, and Amber, and G, and everyone else. Man, can’t someone bring that back? Who started that fire anyway?
See, what I’ve always wondered is, how does on say meme? Is it meeeem or mi-mi? I mean, phonetically it’s meem, I think..but I’m confused.
It seems like there are two groups of bloggers: those that post once a day and those that post all day long. I also like the slide show posts with hilarious commentary (amalah and missdoxie rock at those).
Here’s a question for all: are there more lurkers than before and less comments?
I am a 1 year four month old blogger. A Zoot reader from the get go. Michele at http://www.micheleagnew.com/main/ does a lot of meet and greet traffic generating type of enteries.
I am rarely just a lurker I am far to opinionated for that!
The other day I felt quaintly old-fashioned when I wrote “Woot!” in a comment section. I think I was one of the early readers of your blog Zoot ’cause I remember you talking about how new you were at it. Next week I’m coming up on 2 years of writing at my Diaryland site and I can’t believe all the changes I’ve lived through since then!
I guess having just been at the blogging game for a little over a year still qualifies me as a newbie. Every once in a while I’ll get sent a meme. I really liked the Q&A stuff that just went around. It was a nice break from trying to come up with funny, witty posts and being creative. So much simpler to answer questions…ok, except when someone pings you with a good one that makes you empty the skeletons in your closet.
Yes Oli has vanished! Hmmm I miss blog if forward. And the quizzes too!!!
BIF was started by Buzz over at Buzzstuff.net *sigh* He is gone too. What a bummer.
I say it’s pronouced meee-meee, cause the questions are all about meeee!
I too HATE the word Meme and HATE doing them just as much. And I hate all those quizzes too.
Photo Friday is still around a little bit, but not as much as it used to be. And why the hell not? Note to self: contribute to Photo Friday. (And I might actually do so if I can ever remember what day of the week it is!)
I started in 2001 over at Diaryland. Geez. That’s, like, a whole presidential term of office. A college career. Longer than I’ve stayed at any one job in my life. Scary.
Memes and quizzes do abound at LJ, true. And I still think they can be rather entertaining. I was never too big on memes. I miss the Smackdown! A lot! And several bloggers that have disappeared into the ether, I miss them too. The awards and things seem to have tapered off and lost popularity, and I’m glad of that.
I think people comment more than they used to, actually. I don’t remember seeing too many troll wars played out in comments before a year or so ago. And I also think that “cliques” have formed around certain bloggers. I’m not too fond of that. My blogger is better than your blogger! Some of it is very junior high.
Well, hey there! Sorry I’m seeing this post a little bit after the fact.
I have a horrible memory, so I must admit that some of things I had forgotten about until you mentioned them. Yes, but such good memories! Some of them I didn’t participate in though (like the memes, and I think I did BIF once and the Haiku Smackdown twice), so maybe that’s why I don’t think about them all that much.
What have I noticed? Everyone that I originally started reading when I first started out is getting RESPONSIBLE. Like, having babies. You, and Amalah, and Cactus, for instance. Other people have bought houses, or like me, moved around. I guess that will happen when I read people’s blogs who are my age and a little bit older, and not all these youngun’s that have recently started blogging. I’m glad that I’m included in the “original group.”
Dude, I totally
was wondering what happened
to the haiku, yo!
I miss Oliquig. Have you emailed her? I’ve been thinking about it. By the way, I still have my Haiku GrandMaster button on my blog. Can’t seem to let it go….