No blog is safe.


It's like a tangle of fishing line attached to a fifty pound weight, wrapped around your blog entry and driving it down into the dark waters to be settled into the silt and mud of countless centuries. Years will go by and nobody will ever know it's there. Civillizations may rise and fall, but your blog remains forgotten, unlooked-for, disregarded. Eventually, all the other rejected, discarded blogs sink into the depths around it, thrusting it even further down amongst the unrecognizable remains of those that have gone before. Millions of tons of murky water seperate you and the light of recognition far, far above. All hope is lost for both you and your blog.


Anyone who's ever done their time here knows that this is a decent (if flamboyant) representation of what it sometimes feels like when your witty blog entry goes unnoticed by the world. Dramatic? Maybe. Accurate? Well, you tell me.


So what happens to all the blogs you never read? Or all the ones you wanted to read but are now buried and forgotten? Their brief chance at light is quickly extinguished by the nameless forces that drench them all in oblivion.

No blog is immune to The Maw. It's a tragedy, really.

So what do we do about it?

Once our entries go past page 3, they've pretty much hit their peak exposure. Most people don't ever browse past page 4, and the really bored ones don't even hit 5 unless it's a slow day at work and the boss isn't looking. The reality is, there are only a few spots on the main page, and if yours doesn't get spotted before it get cycled off, regardless of how great it is, the likelihood of it being recognized has dropped tenfold.

We all try to spice our blogs up with pictures, fancy words, and big titles like "READ THIS BLOG NOW!!!!1!!1". We want people to notice us, see our writing, and hope to at least get a few comments. It's a good feeling to know that a handful of people out there agreed with what you had to say.

And yet we still have all those other blogs that get lost and unnoticed, even the really darn good ones. There must be something we can do to lift up our fellow bloggers and give each other the recognition we're all seeking, the companionship we all crave. Does that mean comment on every blog you set eyes on? No. Does that mean read every blog, even if it bores you to tears? No.

Do a courtesy to your fellows, and if you read a blog you like, let them know you liked it. In your next entry, tell everyone what a good blog you read yesterday afternoon. Refer to their writing often. Let's give each other a chance to show our stuff.

OUR BLOG ROLLS ARE OUR LIFELINE. Like I said before; once an entry hits page 3, it's basically had all the attention it will get. Unless, of course, someone happens to spot your blog posted on someone else's blog roll, and thinks, "hey, this person likes it... I should check it out."

And so, in the spirit of looking out for the little guys, and especially the very well written little guys, let's all pay a closer look to our blog rolls. Some of ours are sticky, having been planted the way they are for years; others are constantly changing, giving all their favorite blogs a chance in the light. Let's start cycling out our well-known celebrities and usher in the next generation of blog rolls.

So do this; find a blog you like, stick it on your blog roll, and every time you post an entry, refer back to one of your favorite entries in their blog. Change the blog you talk about every month.

It's that simple.

If everybody's sharing the limelight, we all get a chance to be stars.


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In the spirit of sharing blogs, here's one I really like.