Honestly, it’s a question that doesn’t get asked enough.

“Is it time to shut down this site?”

I’m not so much concerned about content and direction for my writing; indeed, I am happy contributing within niches elsewhere. It’s my question about the format itself.

I write, I share, I communicate through several media now. I do pithy video at 12seconds.tv, I’m playing around with Meedeor as a change of pace for short takes on photos, I have a thriving Facebook tribe and Twitter is always as interesting as you dare to make it.

The thing I haven’t experienced yet are the spammers who want to use me as a vehicle for goosing their link rank.

In the past, the spammer’s best tool was a ‘bot – a piece of code that checked sites for certain hooks, then tried to place a comment that linked back to a site they wanted to promote. Because these were automated, they were clunky and easily punted.

But lately, I am getting comments that are on-topic and show that an actual human being read them for context – yet they are very spammy. The sites at the end of the chain are of no value to anyone.

I enjoy this platform because it invites an eclectic audience. I enjoy this platform because it allows me to experiment with different forms of communication such as the Venns, the My Quotes, and other recent attempts at merging content with layout.

I used to enjoy this platform because of the conversations that would develop in the comments – the connections to real people with real interests. I don’t enjoy it so much now because the weeds are overtaking the lawn. I want real communication, not a well-placed comment from someone who doesn’t care about the subject and only wants link-rank.

So… I’ll be thinking about this for a while.

I’ll let you know where to find me.