November 10, 2011
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My biggest Xanga pet peeve
People around here complain about Xanga all the time.. but i am actually going to complain about Xanga users. Why do people feel the need/urge/itch/whatever-you-want-to-call-it to update their time stamp on their post without editing or adding to the post?
Going forward, I will unsub to everyone who does this. (woo, I know.. I know.. big threat). But people! I don't like reading through the subscription list, hitting a post i've already read and thinking i've read everything.. only to discover that I haven't. I like order, alright?! Sue me.
So tell me, what annoys you the most about Xanga? And.. just to balance this all out.. also tell me, what do you like the best about Xanga? For me it is you peeps. Aww.. mush. (Not so mush: I totally just typed poops first. LOL).
Comments (25)
if this is happening for you with people who have written long posts, it's likely that they are working on it over the course of the day (interrupted several times by work or familial obligations) but keeping it marked "private" because it is not finished. I see updating the time stamp as a sort of optimism; "maybe *this* time I'll get to finish this in peace!"
Of course it's fine if this really drives you crazy, and you should feel free to un-sub whomever you want, but just know that it's not necessarily someone sitting at the computer updating the time stamp to put their name at the top of your subscription list.
I used to wish the "recommended blogs" had anything at all to recommend them. Now it bothers me less because thanks to rache I have a too big selection of quality blogs with which I can barely keep up...no time to surf others!
I'm not sure if you're subscribed to me, but if you are, you might as well unsubscribe.
Quite often I put posts on Xanga that are private and I think that updates the time stamp. I know I have heard people complain about it before but it doesn't bother me. It never occurred to me that people just update to get to the top of the sub list. If you feel the need to unsub, I understand.
My favorite thing about Xanga is the wonderful people I've come to know. Some of these people I have known for years, I have met many of them and spoken to quite a few on the phone. I have a lot of health issues and I don't work outside of my home so my ability to get to know new people is really limited but I have made some tremendous friends here.
What I don't like about Xanga isn't really a Xanga issue but a people issue. I hate when people leave but I get that blogging and commenting back and forth takes a lot of time and effort.
@Saridactyl - uh oh
@DemetersDaughter -
@skanickadee - . I don't care about people updating in private. I'm not talking about the list of names. Heck, I sometimes update in private. What I don't like is when I'm scrolling through the sub list where it shows me what people have posted and its something I've already read twice and scrolled past.. People do it to get more comments I think.
uh, i just updated--but it was with an edit. on the longest post ever. if you're complaining about me, i get it and i apologize.
i HAVE noticed that I'm missing posts by people i've subscribed to so I just have to make a point to actively look at people's blogs rather than assuming that when I hit the subscription button i'm seeing everything that's been updated (I know the protected ones are in a different section...but it's not that). This is making me mad. because i try to be as good of a reader as I am of a poster because that's what I like about blogging.
so yeah, what you said about my favorite part; the community. totally.
ah, that's something different, and I've definitely done that before...not for more comments, but because I'm in central Japan and sometimes I forget and post something when it's on my mind but most of my US and Canada-based subscribers are asleep. I don't mind that because, again, with my time zone issues I often miss posts I really want to read when they get pushed down the list by more prolific writers.
@Fodon -
no! You had an edit.. Or a ramble
a something new to read!
..and I'm missing posts too when I hit a post I've read and stop scrolling when in fact there are fun things below.
@DemetersDaughter -
if I'm asleep when you do it il never notice;)
As has been mentioned, there are some legitimate reasons for rolling a time stamp. Often though, it's time stamp whoring. When that feature first came out I unsubbed a number of people who would not change their post, but just update the time stamp because they were not satisfied with the number of views/comments.
Oh, and I've never cared for recommendations. I do like that we can edit comments after we've submitted them.
Yeah, what Dorfman said.
i will admit that there are times i do update my timestamp if i like updated super early in the morning and didnt get a single comment.
But other then that no time stamp!
And that too is a big one for me.. especially with someone that is just doing it for comments.
Oh yea and recommendations... i have a few friends that recommend a TON and fill up my feed
I don't even see the timestamp on my blogs, so it's possible I'm updating just because I go back in and edit a typo or misspelling or what the hell ever I want to update. It never occurred to me that somebody might be sitting around seething because I've made minor edits to a blog, but good to know.
My biggest pet peeve is when I think I've commented on a blog but I haven't and somebody else stole the comment I was going to comment. I hate when all the good comments are taken and I have to do a "ditto." Dammit.
@Daffodilious - it actually takes some effort to update. Just an edit wont do it.
People time stamp because people are on Xanga on all sorts of time schedules and will never see the post if it doesn't pop up on their screen while they are on.
I dislike that Xanga doesn't interact quite right with my iPad.
I love almost everything else.
I miss the option of the subscribe box that would take you from blog to blog without having to go back to your sub list.
I get annoyed by the time-stamp update, too.
I love some of the peeps here which is why I keep coming back even though I blog elsewhere!
What annoys me the most is the person who writes sucky blogs and always at the top of Top Blogs. You know who. I mean, come on, if you know you have a lot of readers, please write quality blogs so that we all could benefit from them.
I don't mind the time stamps because people live in different time zones. I am several hours ahead than a lot of my friends and subscribers (sometimes up to 12 hours), so I need to update my post so that they won't miss anything.
Oh, that's a pet peeve of mine, too. I've unsubscribed from several people who do that because it makes staying up to date on subscriptions more difficult.
my favorite part of xanga is bitching about xanga. like the exact opposite of Fight Club.
@Fodon - i'm always complaining about you.
@tomblog9 - i get it, and i apologize. i love you.
Time stamping is done to increase traffic to a blog. If they are updating it privately, you'd never see it until they published it. I usually unsub repeat offenders and those who constantly share their own comments.
I need to adult interaction. That's why I come here.
I came over from Amy in Va's blog. I enjoyed reading a few of your past blogs. I don't pay any attention to the time stamp. I just click on my blog names and hope for a new one to read....I guess I am too lazy to use the notification.
Eh, I'm old school: I don't even look at my sub list. I click on the names of whoever comments me and go give them some love.
I think that I actually use the "Your Comments" link more than anything else. Not because I'm a narcissistic whore or anything. The term is gigilo...
Actually, I surf the "Your Comments" section because it allows me to re-visit the blogs I've already commented on, without running into Daff's problem. And, to be honest, half the fun of Xanga is reading the banter in the comments of various posts. Hell, a lot of times, the back and forth commentary is more valuable than the original post that started it all.
So, if I'm subscribed to any of you, or vice-versa, you'll probably see my name in your "Footprints" multiple times. I'm not a stalker, I swear. I'm just back again to get my comedic relief from your other readers.
Thanks for visiting. I really like the art at the top of your page. I am also annoyed at timestampers. If you have something to add to your post - something new for me to read - then I want to know. If you don't, I don't want you at the top of my list just so you get more "hits" at the end of the day. It's not a contest!
RYC: I don't know about "slacking," but it sounds delicious. I have a habit of going months without reading, and then the right kind of weather will hit or I'll need a certain kind of downtime and I'll gobble five books at once. A lot of people find Martin's Fire and Ice series a little dry, too; they don't like his characters. I can see the way the author is slowly setting up his chess pieces for battle, but somehow I'm actually quite enjoying it all. The mix of political intrigue and personal drama are exciting to me. That and the vocab and the mysticism and the change in prose to utter sarcasm whenever it's a Tyrion chapter. *swoon*
Back to you. Thanks for not calling us poops. Least favorite thing about Xanga: the drama; the people who want to be popular without being interesting. What keeps me here: the cool people whose blogs I follow regularly and whose dialogue and comments I crave.