How many dead blogs will it take to kill us all?
I watched a documentary the other night about the state of the blogiverse.
There are, apparently, 1.2 billion blogs out there of which 95% are ‘dead’ (ie no activity for 3 or more months). This doesn’t even take into account the non-English speaking blogs – there are also over 73 million Chinese bloggers just for starters…
So if the average blog uses up half a GB of disc space and there are 1,073,741,824 bytes in a gig (assuming the use of gigibyte being 1024 to the power of 3 and not gigabyte being 1000 cubed) and there are 95 x 100/1,200,000,000 dead blogs (English speaking only) that means that there are 1,073,741,824 x 95 x 100/2 x 1,200,000,000 bytes of forgotten information in dead blogs. Also take into account the billions of archived posts in active blogs, unread undiscarded emails, undeleted spam, really rubbish porn that nobody watches and the contents of Daddypapersurfer.com. Then that means that there is exactly and definitively quite a lot of wasted space out there.
People think that this is okay – digital information has no physical presence and can therefore do no harm to this beautiful planet of ours. But those brazillions of bytes are all taking up valuable disk space that is manufactured by tiny hands in hot countries and powered by electricity produced by ripping gaping holes through the ozone layer.
So in conclusion – to save Mother Earth and all of humanity:
- You must delete all your spam.
- If you have a ’sad’ porn site that nobody visits – take it down.
- And, most importantly if your blog is full of rubbish that nobody reads – delete the lot. Right now. You know who you are…
This post can also be seen at Papersurfer.
Wise words,
1. I always delete all my Pork and Ham
2. Do people really need porn sites!
3. Recycling sounds good
A good start. Now we just need the other 1,199,999,999 bloggers out there to follow suit…
Great post, perhaps an FMB amnesty, any dead blogs email shite @ fuelmyblog.com and we’ll delete em?
yep – next stage of the site will include an automatic detection of blogs with no activity. Good post Penfold, I wonder if @daddypapersurfer will get the hint???
I heard that!!! – Anyhoo, I can’t stop and read this now, I’m just catching up on the latest blog buster by Penfold Crockett – any relation?
Unfortunately DaddyP wouldn’t recognise a hint if it dipped itself in marmite and slapped him round the face.
(Blogbuster? Almost witty dearest Pa…)
I’m making it my personal mission to teach everyone how to use TweetMeme correctly. Please read. Also I liked the post.
http://www.benspark.com/you-are-using-tweetmeme-wrong.html
Thanks a lot Penfold… you’ve just given me days of work and made me feel guilty for making my living off of ’sad’ porn. Though I’m not sure why I should listen to you anyway… who will advocate and promote all those penis and boob shaped veggies if I do as you ask? How will the world find out about them?
And are you saying that my 2429 old emails in my 23 webmail accounts are responsible for global warming or something? Can’t be. It’s not real anyway. I just linked to that article on twitter (where I have 542 spam DM’s in my box) so I know it must be the new truth.
And now that you’ve brought all of this up, does that mean I should clean out my closets at home too? If so… you’re really starting to tick me off.
That is one helluva mathematical calculation that a Commodore 776M couldn’t even start to cope with… I always delete or fry at a really high painful temperature any spam I get(70s has been spam free for almost 3 years and the little beggars are now tormenting me). ’sad porn sites’?,, now that is well ’sad’! I am in fear that my blog falls into number 3 on your list .. but I won’t do it I tell you lol but I may join Dear Frac and clear out my cupboards though….
Five bucks to the person that tells me who was behind the conspiracy to get this post posted. Ten bucks if you’ve got compromising jpgs.
Twenty if you do it with solar cells saving the ozone layer.
@70steen – I beg to differ… on your assessment of your blog’s standing as well as the idea of cleaning out cupboards. I’d much prefer to be off on a holiday right now, wouldn’t you? {{{Shall I check if there’s enough usable balance remaining on DP’s office card?}}}
@John – If I have compromising jpgs… but they have nothing to do with Penfold’s post… do I still get the ten bucks?
I think it’s good some bloggers are quitting. This isn’t for everyone just like traditional publishing isn’t for everyone.
95% dead is a staggering statistic. I would have imagined 70% or so. wow. Nice post.
I’m wondering if it would be greener to legislate that all pictures are the same size as the avatars on display here and issue all computer users with a magnifying glass ….
Of course if you need to keep all the Viagra ads and your porn is ‘happy’ then you’re good to go.
As for the blog posts – I’ll be doing my own spring cleaning forthwith…
@ dear Frac … fabulous I am just thumbing through some holiday mags … how about a cruise??
Fraccy and 70’s are going cruising!!! ….. pass it on
1. My spam is regularly cleared out because most of it is dodgy.
2. Dont go near them – however there are nasty adverts on some guitar websites because it’s the way to make money and pay for hosting or something like htat.
3. But what if I write because i want to whether any one reads or not?
Off for a gingernut and a can of cola while I work….
This is what we call mob mentality. *hangs head low*
I wish I had a gingernut …… *wistful glance upwards*
Let me illustrate.
The inactive blogs are part of our legacy. Historically they are the bricks of our original foundation. Granted, there are many ‘flash in the pans’ that haven’t developed, but ethically, morally, I cannot say they will not return.
When we go to the next revision, I would be more inclined to have such ‘non-actives’ recatagorized to ‘other’.
It would afford people with genuine reason for hiatuses to retain their position, even if so little. The mere one vote is reason for each blog to be counted.
I stand behind this in the same position that the original interests, concerns, and recommendations CERN made regarding the internet.
We of Fuelmyblog.com, in my opinion, must consider the inherent trust imbued upon us in accepting the roles we each individually and collectively chose long ago to take.
Lest we become the hypocrites the likes not seen since the demise and FAIL of http://www.modblog.com, original purveyor of the most unique online blogging community that Mozilla itself linked to it’s core sister site, one of only two for modding Firefox.
By the way, since the URL modblog.com now goes to Filefront.com…you figure out how valuable the community was.
Trust me, it’s not easy. They too fell like Babel. I know this for one reason.
I was ‘Mysterytecs’. I was the first blogger to ever be banned.
…and I’d do it again to protect the littlest blog wanting to be read. I’d do it for Damien, I’d do it for a gingernut ridin’ on the back of a llama, and I’d do it for you.
I have spoken. So say we all.
[[[[stacks piles of water balloon bombs filled with magic laughing potion in places they'll never expect in the cupboard for necessary defense purposes.]]]]
Addendum to entry #20.
I also want that bidet I was promised last year installed in the facilities, so we can all go green.
ps, it can only be accomplished by temperature control so we don’t turn blue.
Signed, DaddyPapersurfer.
I agree with everything JohnC said ……. and apparently me ……. *looks in mirror just to check*
Psst, this is where we do the twins immitation from Matrix II using “we” to express ‘our’ individual feelings at the mooment.
We…are not enjoying this…but we are. *gigglesnort*
Talking about wee …….. gotta go …… whooooooosh
Fine John. I’ll share those compromising jpgs with DaddyP. *He* would never promise to pay someone and then not do it…
You tell him Fraccy!!!! Disgusting behaviour! How could he!!!?! – tsk, tsk and thrice TSK