Friday, 05 September 2008
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Saving Xanga
"Why Revelife, mammaroo and dantingish won't save xanga."
Earlier this year, techcrunch posted an article about the fastest growing and the fastest sinking websites on the Internet. Xanga was one of the sites listed as the fastest sinking sites on the Internet.
Here is the link: Link
I wanted to post a few of my thoughts about what I think xanga can do to save itself from decline. I want to say from the start that I like every member of the xanga team and nothing in this post should be seen as being critical of any of them. It is just a few thoughts of mine which is nothing more than a personal opinion of what xanga can do to help save itself from decline.
To begin with, I believe that xanga needs to embrace the idea that it is a blogging community.
I believe that Xanga should focus on expanding its blogger community. That would appear almost obvious. But as I look at xanga and have watched it over the last three years, I am not convinced that xanga has really been focused on itself as a blogging community. I always ask myself what is xanga focused on and what evidence is there of their focus.
Lets take a look at xanga's front page. What would you say is the most important thing to xanga right now? Go to their front page and then tell me what is xanga's priority. On their front page, you will notice a few things. But lets start at the top of xanga's front page.
You will notice on the front page there area few ads. This is to be expected. Xanga needs to make money to stay in business. Then I see the tabs at the top.
Then I look at the page and I ask, "What is xanga's priority?" The number one priority of xanga is the "Featured Question." How do I know that? Itis at the top of their page. Xanga is sending more traffic to the featured question than they are sending anywhere else. So the number one priority of xanga is the featured question. Any new person coming to xanga will see the featured question.
They will know that xanga expects them to answer the featured question. Why do I think this is a problem. Xanga is essentially sending traffic to the least imaginative people on xanga. They are the people that can't even come up with their own posts. Lets face it, if you ever answered a featured question it was one of your least creative posts.
Let me show you a few of the sites linked by xanga's featured question:
Link 1
Link 2
Go read them. There is a few good posts. But what is the standard by which a site gets linked as xanga's number one priority? There isn't one. Anyone who links to the question, gets to be xanga's priority.
Compare this to youtube's front page. What is at the top of youtube's front page? The top viewed videos of the day.
Now lets notice the next thing on xanga's front page.
It is a rotating box featuring special posts. What is in that box? Forthe most part, it is posts from Revelife, Mommaroo and Datingish. Xanga is driving the bulk of its traffic to a featured question and then to its three main sites. There are other sites in that box butfor the most part, you will be able to quickly see what is xanga's priority.
Do you remember a post I wrote back in March? I wrote a post about how xanga can send traffic to its most popular sites. I was told in a comment that xanga would address my concerns. That comment was made on my site from a xanga team member. One of the thoughts I left on that post was that xanga should make a featured box rotation that would drive traffic to their top sites just like youtube does. Here is the link: Link
Xanga heard what I said and you know what they did? They created that box but then instead of driving the traffic to bloggers, they used it to drive traffic to Revelife, mommaroo and Datingish. The funny thing is xanga understands the principle of growth. But they are using that principle of growth to grow their three sites.
I also mentioned in my post back in March that I thought xanga should do what myspace did and add a link to the most popular blogs from each person's private page. Xanga said they would address the issues I raised. But you know what they linked from the old subscription page? You guessed it. They linked Revelife, mommaroo and Datingish. Xanga understood that I was saying they needed to drive traffic to bloggers. They understood the principles that I mentioned. But what did xanga do? Look back at my post and my advice. Xanga followed my advice but then used all the principles in order to drive the traffic to their three sites. Go back and read my post and you will see what I am talking about: Link
Now I want to be clear at this point. I realize the reason that xanga drives traffic to Revelife, Mommaroo and Datingish is because xanga needs to make money off those sites. I have no problem with xanga making money. I realize they have bills to pay and employees to pay.
But I want to point out something and it is a philosophical difference with xanga. Again, I love everyone from the xanga team so I am not trying to be critical.
I was right about how to drive traffic to sites. Xanga picked up on that and then used those principles to drive traffic to their three sites. Clearly those sites are growing because xanga is driving traffic tothem.
But here comes my philosophical difference with xanga. I do not understand in the three and a half years that I have been on xanga why xanga doesn't just drive traffic to bloggers. If the principles work to grow Revelife, Mommaroo and Datingish, why wouldn't they work to grow the xanga community?
Xanga is spending all of this time trying to grow these three sites. They will grow these sites because they are driving traffic to them. They will make more money off those sites because the ads can be focused.
But here is my issue. I don't think the plan is going to work. I think that xanga is going to continue to decline at the same rate. And that the decline will happen at a faster rate than those sites grow and the decline will cause a decrease in revenue that won't be offset by the three sites.
Here is my fundamental problem. Why doesn't xanga drive traffic to bloggers? I can't for the life of me figure out why xanga will not manage its front page. I asked once and I was told that it takes too long. The problem is that xanga is putting all of this effort into managing three sites. Why don't they put that same effort into managing the front page of xanga? The front page of xanga gets more traffic than those other three sites ever will.
You are going to see those other three sites grow. Xanga will continue to drive traffic to them. I don't think that growth will keep up with the over all decline of xanga.
But I think there is something xanga can do. I think xanga can embrace the fact that they are a blogging community. They can focus on the blogger. In my three years on xanga, xanga has not once tried the strategy of driving traffic to bloggers. I want them to give bloggers a fighting chance.
If xanga managed its front page like it manages Revelife, mammaroo, and datingish, xanga would grow. The same principles that grow those three sites will grow xanga.
What is xanga doing with those three sites? They constantly drive traffic to them. But then they slowly update them more and more. Xanga will eventually update those sites 30 times a day. There is a principle to growth of websites and one is to constantly update. You can tell I understand that principle when I constantly update.
Why would xanga update those three sites three times a day but not update their front page but with one new post a day except the ones they add in the top rotation from revelife, datingish and mommaroo.
I think xanga needs to refocus on the bloggers. They need to drive traffic to the bloggers. And take a look at the most commented posts of the day on xanga. Then compare those posts to the ones at the three sites. I promise you that some of the top posts of the day blow the sites at Revelife, mommaroo and datingish away.
Now whenever I say that xanga should drive traffic to its most popular sites, there are those that will say, "Yeah, Dan, that means your site." Well, I think I would be one of many sites. I think no site should be listed more than once. But lets put me aside for a moment. The reality is that I have already received about 100 new subscribers this week. I will probably continue to get comments under any environment.
But what I want xanga to do is to focus back on thebloggers. I want xanga to grow itself by focusing on the bloggers. I am just one of those bloggers.
Right now if you look at the front page, you will notice that xanga put the pulse feature about the most commented posts of the day. Xanga feels that pulsing is more important than bloggers. Even in the old subscription page, you will notice that the most recent pulsers are put at the top.
So xanga is now saying that pulsers are more important than bloggers. I understand that xanga wants people to update in simple ways to increase traffic. But that is not working. Yes, more people are pulsing but the long term damage to the blogging community will be tough to reverse in another year.
Myspace has a nice blogging community. But a few of those bloggers have recently left myspace. You know where bloggers will go? Wherever they can get traffic. Xanga needs to feed the bloggers traffic.
Thesystem for feeding bloggers traffic should be based on whatever the majority of xangans pick. Not through some boost system, digg system or star system. Xanga needs to stop these silly systems. They need to make the system easy to understand. But they also need to sort through those sites and eliminate the unworthy content. Youtube does that and so does myspace.
Xanga can also continue to add special posts that they find like they currently do with their once in a day post update of their front page. But xanga needs to update that more than once a day. They need to update it 30 times a day and then more than that once they get it going.
I was once talking to a member of the xanga team and he told me that "all of the talent had left xanga and then xanga was left with sites like thetheologianscafe." He laughed and said he was kidding. I can't help to believe that the person actually believed that. But as I go around xanga, I find sites every day that are so much better than the stuff at Revelife, Datingish and Mommaroo. But just like those three sites, xanga has to go looking for the material. But it is far easier to find material for one front page than it is for those three separate sites.
What if all of a sudden, youtube decided that pulsing was a priority or it started to send traffic to other sites that it controlled. You would wonder why youtube was doing that. Why would youtube stop sending traffic to its top videos. Why would they just send traffic to this other video site it controlled? Why would they put a featured question at the top of their site instead of the top videos of the day? It wouldn't make sense.
I think xanga needs to return to its blogging roots. I am not against change. In fact, I am advocating change. But the change I am advocating is something I haven't seen xanga try. I think xanga needsto give bloggers a chance to save xanga.
Do you think xanga is slowly moving away from a blogging community?
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Comments (351)
first?
Hear hear.
wow. this is the longest post i've read from you.Â
Hmm--I agree with some of your points, but was struck by a fit of uncontrollable laughter when you referred to Myspace's blogging community. Really? I haven't seen it, but I guess I'll take your word for it.
But yes, updated featured front page 3 times a day would be about right. Sure it might cheapen the honor, but that would be good because less people would whine about not getting featured! (I'm about to create a special Xanga task force to deal with such narcissistic whiners, ha--is XangaPoPoSaysShutUp taken as a Xanga name? :-p)
Well....damn.
Focus on the bloggers would be cool. I'm not sure what to make of those other sites.
60% of my reason for subscribing to you is to feel in the loop and connected. Your blogs have mass appeal. They aren't super specific to anyone type and are provocative. Tons of people are here which means it is a great connecting point. I think you should devote your pulses to mentioning great blogs or pages that have stood out to you. The Xanga team may not do what you want to see happen, but you wield so much influence through your ability to communicate with so many that it will make a difference. Do what you want to see.
This is not to be taken the wrong way, but with xanga pushing so much of the revlife posts on its front page, people new to xanga could get the misconception that xanga is all about Jesus. (or about child raising via momaroo...it just seems that every time I log in, I see nothing but revlife posts). This could push a lot of traffic away as well.
yes, i definitely think so. i agree with this post. i still don't like the fact that xanga branched off with the other site, i understand financially why they might have done that, but i think they should have channeled their efforts into making xanga grow once more. a lot of the growth on the new sites isn't new people necessarily, it's people that are already on xanga, starting another site.
Though, you got rather redundant. I completely agree. I want to read new bloggers, but have limited ways of finding worthwhile ones. Xanga needs to get it's head in the game before twitter or something gets all over their shit
ugh. seriously?
honestly? blogger to blogger?
the traffic to xanga is my the least of priority.
i could care less who comes to xanga and who leaves.
*shrug*
why? because im here to blog theologians.
i dont pay much attention to mamaroo, revelife, datingish
partially because... *shrug* they have nothing important i want to read.
BUT--to answer your question of whether xanga is moving away from its blogging community..
oh my dear mister theologians..
its been doing that for the past few years now.
very few xangans actually BLOG.
this is my third return to xanga.
and my last attempt to be a "true" blogger.
and in a more earnest attempt to drive YOUR traffic towards my page..
i shall post our favorite picture as my profile picture.
because most likely--nobody will read what i have to say.
instead, they'll see my profile pic and click it :)
genius... puwaahhaha
The other 40% is because A. you post good blogs and B. most of those blogs keep me informed of current events. You are my new Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
I always compare Xanga to LiveJournal, since LJ is probably the biggest blogging community out there. I don't know anything about driving traffic at all, but what I do know is that LJ will never fail as long as there is television because all of fandom gravitates there. There's a huge capability for community on LJ that is absent here. We have blogrings and welcom wagon and weblog pools and whatnot, but it's not the same scale as LJ communities at all. It would make sense to me that if Xanga can somehow bolster a sense of community (sort of as you have here-- you never lack traffic), people will continue coming. Just my observation anyway.
That said, I'll probably ignore everything new Xanga does just like I have in the past... I still haven't switched over to the universal inbox. Bleh.
I think I like the whole featured question thing being on the front page, because of the simple fact that a lot of people don't really know what to blog about and occasionally it can spark a good idea. I mean, not everyone can post a picture, a link, and a single question and call it a day. Usually the featured questions aren't that good, but I can see the point.
I do think they push their other sites too much. Not only are they mostly not interesting, they seem to cause more eDrama than actual discussion.
Honestly, if they did what YouTube does, you would still see the same few bloggers every day on the front page. I'm guessing you would be in there, only with a couple others.
@behindthedimples - I read your comment and was excited to click until I saw what I would be clicking (aka a 1/2 nude rear) and was not wanting to. I'll just click on your name in the bottom of the comment.
Oh, and a big hurrah for McAfee having a 71% drop! I fucking hate that company.
WHOA! AN ACTUAL POST!
...some clever things said here, I do think Xanga should do like youtube and promote it's best stuff.
I think DatingIsh is blowing up, and I can't fault xanga for makin them dolla$$$$.
@charlottegeely - we say its a social experiment.
because "sex sells"
it usually drives more traffic :)
but i totally understand what you are saying
I think the "true" Xanga is way more fun than Revelife or the others. There's more freedom of thought here.
I definitely agree with what you're saying.
@behindthedimples - But no traffic to Xanga itself means no more blogging for you to come back to for a fourth time. It's important, whether you really care about YOUR readers or not, and Xanga isn't seemingly intellectually stimulating anyone anymore.
Interesting ideas.
Thanks for writing this post. I agree with you.
I just went on that redtube site and now I'm scarred for life :/
I've noticed that those members of the xanga team I'm subscribed to almost never update their blogs anymore, although some of them pulse quite often. That has bothered me because it sends a message that blogging is no longer very important to the people who run the blogging community.
@ELBOWpasta - mmm im not planning to come back a fourth time.
oooh i care about my readers.
but most my readers... are usually addicted to xanga..
as am i :(
i agree. xanga isnt intellectually stimluating anymore :(