“I’m back,” announced David Churbuck in the headline of his latest blog entry. He just recovered from a blogging hiatus and software meltdown that took his site down for a month. I’m glad to have him back because he’s a good writer and I enjoy his rants on technology, religion and New England life.
His absence is a perfect demonstration of how a blog (or any sort of digital app) will erode if you walk away — whether a short hiatus, a long one or an indefinite one. That’s because of the ongoing technical administration required for hosting, versioning and security. Without attentive administration, the existence of a weblog in the long run is doubtful.
Which is why we need a nonprofit foundation that will future-proof our digital existence and our work. We need this service not only for self-hosted weblogs like this one, but for commercial ad-supported ones like Tumblr and WordPress.com. That’s because few for-profit businesses last a really long time.
I want my weblog to remain an open legacy once I go down for my dirt nap. Though I guarantee this site will not last, unless I find a solution.
Photo: Alejandro Castro