The Silence Is Deafening

So, it appears that Project52 has all but died already. I’m keeping up, just, but judging from the “now-slowed-to-a-trickle” feed that was hastily set up by one of the participants at DesignMoo, it seems that most people aren’t.

It’s a crying shame really. All I wanted from Project52 was the chance to both create, and to consume some new, and hopefully substantial, content. Of course, the content that I have been creating hasn’t been terribly substantial. I have ideas, but then I start to write, and they lose their lustre, or I think twice about finishing them because they could be seen as confrontational, or patronising1.

At a time when the entire internet seems to consist of pro or anti-iPad opinion pieces2, I am really hanging for some serious content to enrich my life, or at the very least my day. Some of my favouriteblogs—those that really make me think, or react, or just enthralled—have quietened to a trickle, or ceased entirely. I am yearning for a well thought out diatribe, or something that will encourage repeat readings.

Of course, there are exceptions to this. Sam Brown3 wrote a very timely, and interesting article called Allowing visitors to leave comments has many benefits. The post came at a time when I had just reintroduced comments here, and struck enough of a chord with me that I weighed in with the longest comment I have ever written.

Aside from that singular post though, I feel like that Ancient Mariner “water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink”. I am surrounded by content, but I can’t consume it. Not because it will make me ill, physically anyway, but rather because it won’t slake my thirst for something more substantial.

I’m sure the content is there, but I can’t seem to find it—feel free to point me in the right direction in the comments.

So, compadres in this challenge of ours, this Project52, even if you think you have failed so far, please don’t give in. Stand up and create content that is enjoyable to create, and substantial to consume. After all, wasn’t that the point?

Footnotes

  1. For a perfect example, please see yesterday’s post on life philosophy, where I cut myself short about halfway through. ↩
  2. And, of course, I am most definitely not without blame here. ↩
  3. The very man who inspired my own name based domain. ↩