June 2, 2013

• Always An Xangan

  I joined Xanga on April 19th, 2005. A friend introduced me to Xanga and wanted me to join so I did. I didn’t blog on here very much the first few years I was on here. I didn’t come on every day, but I did come on every so often and change my theme and such. 

  By the time I had really started blogging on here, my friend had gone and moved onto Myspace. I started logging in on a more regular basis late 2008. I wasn’t blogging every day then, but instead just changing my theme and getting it the way I wanted. I began blogging almost every day in January of 2009. I started exploring Xanga around that time, read the Top Blogs every day and checked out the Featured Blogs (Remember those?). I joined a number of Blogrings (as they were called at the time, they are groups now) and started to make some friends on here. Some of the first people I became friends with on here, I still talk to them. 

  Over the years on here I’ve made some great friends. I even met an Xangan last year for the first time and it was just great. 

  I’ve shared so much on here. I have read my entries from the past and seen how my writing has improved, how I have changed and how Xanga has been here through everything. And although last year I did have a bad experience and started being more careful on what I post, I just can’t imagine not having Xanga. It’s hard to think of not logging in here every day. I have made such great friends on here, read many great posts on here, shared my writing on here, my happy and sad moments. How can it all just go away in a month and half? I have been here 8 years and I wanted to be here for many more.

  For years I’ve seen people say Xanga is dying and I didn’t believe it. Sure, Xanga isn’t exactly popular and we have a small community, but lots of websites aren’t popular and have a small userbase and they are still around. I don’t know if Xanga will shut down, or make the money it needs to continue. If it does, I won’t be here. I don’t have the money to pay to blog. But it seems so sudden, so short notice and it honestly reminds of what Duotrope did.

  Dutrope is a website for writers to find markets to submit their work. For years, it was free. But in December last year, they announced that January 1st, 2013, the site would go to paid subscription. Meaning that if you wanted to continue to find markets to submit writing, you needed to pay to use the website. People only had a month to back up their information on where they submitted and such. I was upset about that, as I used Duotrope, but I am much more upset about Xanga. I have been here so long and found great people who I call my friends. I just keep hoping that the Team Xanga will tell us they were just messing with us, that it was all a joke. But it seems that this time, Xanga may really be dying. And if it does make the money needed to save Xanga, I know I won’t be here anyway. I don’t think Xanga will be the same though, if they get the money to keep Xanga going.

  This is just a sad, sad day for me. I don’t want Xanga to be gone. I know I will miss it so much. But I’m going to give the links to other websites I’m on. I will start blogging on Open Diary once I can’t blog on here anymore. I will post the link to my Open Diary blog below. 

  Here are the places you can find me on:

  Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Scary4Eva

  Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Tsalagi_Writer

  GetGlue: http://www.getglue.com/Tsalagi_Phoenix

  And finally, Open Diary: http://www.opendiary.com/Tsalagi_Phoenix

  If anyone wants my e-mail address, let me know and I’ll message it to you.

  I will continue to blog on here until I can’t anymore. I hope to be able to get the archives to my posts soon because I don’t want to lose everything I have written. I have written over 1,000 posts on here. I am just really sad about all of this and I hope to be able to keep in touch with all of my friends on here. But whether Xanga shuts down or goes to paid blogging, I will always consider myself an Xangan. It was my first blogging website, one of my most favorite websites that I visit every day. Xanga will always be my blogging home, even if it shuts down. I just wish things were able to stay the same. 

  • 7:38 pm
  • 14 Comments