I have been away from this blog for a while — about two-three years. And with its resuscitation, I find myself checking my old haunts. How things have changed in the Blogosphere since 2005.

  • Some sites have disappeared. Clicking on a dead link is like driving to a house you have fond memories of as a kid, only to find a pile of hollow blocks and a toilet bowl sitting on an empty lot. Where did Melissa’s Pinay Expat, and Din’s World go?
  • Some just moved to another medium.  The Nocturnal Angel is snapping, crackling and popping at wordpress now. I am also finding a whole bunch of people at Facebook.
  • The editorial voice of some sites have morphed with the author. A once angry chick became a mom twice times over since last I visited. Proves that bloggers, if they put their minds to it, can live happy, normal, unplugged lives.
  • A small fraction turned commercial. Not really happy about how some of my favorite blogs now have ad banners mixed in with their entries. ‘Same way I feel about Boracay. I loved it when it was a sleepy, island with sand so fine you can sink if you stand in one spot too long. I became a non-fan as soon as the five-star hotels, billboards and tarpaulin banners went up.
  • New bloggers are finding interesting, albeit less personal, voices. The younger bloggers who, back when I started, were in grade school and wRoTe oN-LiNe tHiS wAy, have come up with great stuff. Armed with social media tools and more stable publishing & hosting options, the new bloggers have learned from the blunders of my generation. They know that talking into the void is not enough. They know content is king and they are jumping into the Web with fire and focus. 
  • There are more bloggers now than there were back when I was in fashion. Now I know where all of those pictures people take of their food at restaurants go.
  • Some have kept true to why they started blogging in the first place. The famous Batjay and his humping humor. The expatriated Ate Sienna and her coloquialisms.  The fashionable J and his random awesomeness.  The techie Linnor and family fun. The “newly-wed” Toni and everything homespun.  The snobbish Mike and the thousand-peso expletives.  Professor Rolly and the introspection.

It’s great to be back.  Is anyone throwing me a bienvenida party yet?