As you have no doubt read, Xanga is facing an existential crisis with the need to raise about $60,000 in order to transition to a new platform. Based on the comments on the announcement about this situation, there is a lot of gnashing of teeth and many people who are ready to abandon ship. I’ll just share my own thoughts:
First, I’ve been with Xanga eight years and have made many wonderful friends (including ones whom I now know in real life) through Xanga. The community remains an important reason I continue blogging here.
I would like to see the Xanga community continue and made my own financial pledge on the crowd-sourcing fundraising site. Yes, there are plenty of other blogging and website services out there but I think the best option is if we could continue this community en masse.
Beyond that, though, I think this is part of the very natural evolution of social media. Most of the Xangans I now know in real life are really “former Xangans” as their blogs have been dormant for years. Even in the past few months, I’ve drifted away from blogging as frequently because as I moved to a Mac, I found the Xanga editing interface more cumbersome.
Over the next six weeks, I will continue to post on Xanga. I will also be making contingency plans, downloading previous posts and preparing a transition to another platform. Stay tuned for information.
Regardless of what happens with Xanga, though, I’d invite regular readers to connect with me on Instagram (username Christao408) or on Facebook (username Christao408). When you do, please let me know your Xanga username to spare me any confusion.
In the meantime, as the posters in World War II Britain said, “Keep calm and carry on.”
christao408 
My “concern” is that with a pay-to-post policy new people will be turned off to join Xanga since most other social media networks and platforms are for free. With such a policy even less new people will come aboard.BTW, I like your new Schnauzer. Looks very 1930s. *haha*
I’m basically supportive of Xanga as well, although I have been and still am dubious about some of its technical aspects and management. Particularly, this latest issue (which looks likely to be the last) was just not handled well at all, as is becoming all too apparent. What I do will basically depend on what others I read do …
@beowulf222 – Tawn asked me to try it. I’m not too keen on it and would prefer that the goatee and mustache are more similar in length.@n_e_i_l – True, the writing is on the wall and the lack of communication from the Xanga team over the months and years has been not so good. I’m sure we will all reconvene in other places. Life will go on…
I have to agree with you that many Xanga users are former users, all part of the reason why the ship has sunk over the last few years. I think part of the extreme angst of it is that although we all could sense it coming, even from afar, the way in which it was introduced was poor as was the timing. There is no doubt the management is lackluster. Although I love many xangans and will miss it, I do not want to support the continuous poor management.
I’m going to stay here until the bitter end too. I hope that people after the initial shock, will continue to post things (other than just anger/dismay/etc about Xanga’s news) so that they themselves don’t kill Gramma on her deathbed. Wait, that’s an odd phrase, and it’s not meant to offend anyone. What I mean to say is, It’s dying yes, but has 6 weeks left. I hope most people don’t abbandon it prematurely, leaving a ghost town in thier haste to acquire new diggs.I don’t use FB (paranoia over things I’ve heard over the years about that place), and I don’t know anything about Instagram. Could you perhaps tell us some of the things you like best about that place, How it might be similar or different to Xanga blogging? Thank you in advance.I have enjoyed reading of your travels and friendships, and admired the foods which you have shared with us, even if not always commenting. I hope to continue a connection in the future.
Ah Chris, the angst is expected. I went through my own little panic attack when I started getting posts about The End. I’m hoping there will be continuity but the pay to play has to be done correctly or the site will beome more like a magazine – you pay to publish and then anonymous people read it without ever interacting withthe blogger. That would completely destroy the community aspect of xanga that makes it so wonderful.ps – the new look is a little Stalinesque…
Im still debating. I dont agree with the pay to play either, nor do I care for how it was mis managed. 8 yrs sgo, I paid $100 for lifetime, thinking I wouldnt pay again. Guess I have long gotten my money’s worth now.
Woo thank goodness for instagram. I am glad that we can at least keep in touch somewhat. Best of luck to you and your life, I’m going to be sorry not hear more about your adventures. Hope, peace, and love, Judith Martin.
I will be staying here.
Best of luck to you. I won’t be staying but will be still getting a glimpse of your life through Instagram and YouTube ( don’t forget YouTube!) 🙂 you are one of the people I most enjoy knowing here. Thanks for all your posts and your beautiful personality.
I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet. Even if Xanga survives, it won’t be the same. But nothing stays the same. I’ll really miss this place. This news has hit me a lot harder than I thought.p.s. you look really different without the goatee. Maybe a soulpatch might complement the mustache.
Well, I’ll stay around until the end but at the same time explore other platforms such as blogger or WordPress. I’m with FB, Instagram, and Flickr now, but don’t see any advantages of these over a blogging website. A few of our Xangan friends announcing their future contact sites, the Xanga swan song is getting closer, I suppose?Oh, btw, you new look is fabulous! 🙂
It’s essential that Xanga survive. There’s nowhere else for writers like me. I just opened a FB account to try to keep in touch with everyone. I think you are on a friends list for dasfenster, my older blog. In any case if I send you a friend request it will be from Troy Eriksen. Never did get the hang of FB:)
Your new look is quite distinguished. I am happy we are connected on face book and I was going to stay but have decided with the lack of time I have that I soon shall be moving over to my blog on wordpress.
I sent you a FB request. My name there is the same as it is here.By the way, you really pull off the mustache look. I like it.
We can save xanga! Lets do it, I am definitely not ready to move on without xanga….I can’t imagine a day without it, my life would feel so empty! Lets do our part and continue xanga community and make it better!
I did not come to your blog only for the food porn. It has been nice knowing you and maybe on your end of the world you could coordinate some of the pledges to keep xanga?Stay tuned folks there will be a need for volunteers not just for the American side of xanga.
I pledged for the new Xanga. And I hope Xanga can make it. Though I’ve got an Option B in the works. Husband and I are going to be building our own site and hopefully will be able to embody the same community feel that Xanga had. My husband is a senior web developer and programs for a living so I’m lucky that he is willing to give this a shot for my sake. We’ll see how it goes.
I rarely see people wear mustaches – I’m not familiar with the facial hair names, but I reckon it’ll match those “oldies” style suits 🙂 I think it’s lovely you gave it a go after Tawn’s request.I don’t know how the whole Xanga experience will be like afterwards. I really like your quote “keep calm and carry on”. I see variations of these quotes everywhere but didn’t realise it originated in WWII Britain – ah, that’s what I like about your posts, so informative.
I compared blog service providers some years ago, before staying with Xanga. No other place allows me to work with photos the way I want.
The news of Xanga’s down hill slide has made me EXTREMELY upset. I too have contribute on the C-S fundraising site. I would love to see it continue to operate like it has done thus far.I am glad I came to know you personally through Xanga Chris. I hope to see you more often.
@ZSA_MD – @Inciteful – @stepaside_loser – @firetyger – @PPhilip – @LoVe_ChRoNiClE_05 – @chronic_masticator – @Grannys_Place – @ascultafili – @CurryPuffy – @ElusiveWords – @awoolham – @Fatcat723 – @Ikwa – @armnatmom – @murisopsis – @Crystalinne – @Yorokobi1010 – @n_e_i_l – @beowulf222 – As a general “FYI” (and I know a few of you are already there) but a “Xangaville” group has been created on Facebook. It is described as a place where displaced Xangans can reconnect and is a closed group. More than 300 people have already joined it and we’re compiling a master list of Xangans (by username) and where they can be found elsewhere in social media. The privacy settings are such that just because you are in the same group as other people does NOT mean they can see all your wall, friends, etc. They would need to send you a friend request first. But it does provide a space where folks can remain in touch or find people who are missing in action. Just another option to consider. Log into Facebook and search for Xangaville.
@ZSA_MD – Was thinking is would be lovely to get over to Quincy next time I’m back, although don’t know when that will be and whether it will be feasible. You should bring your princes to Thailand for a visit! How about that?@Inciteful – Do you access through a Mac or PC? I’ve found the Xanga photo interface less user-friendly since I switched to a mac.@stepaside_loser – I bought some mustache wax and was waxing the ends of the mustache when it was a bit longer. Tawn thought it didn’t suit my personality. =(@firetyger – Keep us all informed of the progress because I’m sure many people would be happy to support a new site!@PPhilip – We will definitely need help at all different levels to keep a good thing going!@LoVe_ChRoNiClE_05 – That’s the spirit!@chronic_masticator – Thanks. I’m not sure I like this particular version of the ‘stache, though.@Grannys_Place – I’ve been poking around Word Press, too, trying to learn more about it. @ascultafili – The idea of setting up a Facebook account just for the purpose of maintaining contact with other Xangans is a good idea. If you are posting nothing more on there than you do/did on Xanga, there should be no additional privacy concerns, I would think. Not a great place to post lengthy writing, I guess.@CurryPuffy – You never post anything on Instagram, though! Where are all those great food pics?@ElusiveWords – With your long history of anonymity, I guess a transition to Facebook might be harder for you although plenty of folks use pseudonyms on FB.@awoolham – Are you on FB?@Fatcat723 – Please be sure to turn out the lights and close the door… Ha ha… =(@Ikwa – I will definitely keep writing somewhere and will cross-post to FB at the very least.@armnatmom – The frustrations are understandable. I, too, paid for “lifetime” membership about eight years ago, although I’m sure I realized that $100 for a true lifetime of free blogging seemed a bit too good to be true. I don’t mind paying for quality service but would expect that any Xanga 2.0 needs to be much better and more user-friendly.@murisopsis – Stalinesque?@Crystalinne – Instagram is a photo-sharing service so it is pretty much just pictures with a caption. I initially thought the idea was silly but have become hooked. A lot of life is experienced visually, so sharing pictures of the world around us is a natural social activity. As for Facebook, I think you can use the privacy controls to keep it very manageable. For example, you could open it using your Xanga username in order to protect your real identity and set it up using an email address you don’t use for anything else, so friends and family cannot search for you using your regular email addresses. Then, turn the privacy settings so that only accepted friends can see the content you post. To that extent, it is effectively like Xanga. It isn’t a useful for writing lengthy entries, though. I’d suggest that maybe you give it a try, just to see what it is like, and if you don’t like it, close your account. Hope to see you there!@Yorokobi1010 – Yes, it was like watching a very slow motion car crash, wasn’t it? Hopefully, any Xanga 2.0 is better managed.
@christao408 – I am not on Facebook. Quit and not intention of rejoining so far.
@christao408 – You should try the handlebar ‘stache, with the curly-Q tips.
@chronic_masticator – Actually, I did do that a bit before trimming it this weekend. Not quite long enough for the full effect, though.
i certainly hope there won’t be an end to this site. i feel like i’ve just begun to make great friends here and getting strong on my writings. it will be a shame not being able to read everyone’s posts anymore. if everyone is going to stay on despite the need to pay a fee for a membership, then i shall do the same.
Instagram? You hipster!
I’m making the pledge because I feel that I owe Xanga at least that much for all the years of service it has done, without asking for much in return. However, it would be interesting to see how long and sustained the proposed solution would actually last. We have so little hard evidence of what can be expected, such that we can only guess at what the reincarnated Xanga would look like.However, one does not give up on a friend, so try we must :)If anything, the most compelling reason for supporting this Site is the enrichment, having been able to interact with folks such as yourself, it has brought to everyone in this community. Thanks for making this place what it is Chris!
I just found out today, and am in panic mode even though I have drifted away. As a fellow longtime user I am great full for the friendships that Xanga is responsible for. I definitely want to keep in touch!
I hope it doesn’t close even though I don’t update anymore. I do most of those through fb these days and its mostly checkins 🙂 your blog is always interesting to read. Oh yeah, I added you on Instagram ��let me know the next time your in LA or OC.
@icebladz – What’s your username?
@lil_squirrel4ever – I hope you will!@paperblanks – One thing that gives me hope is that after the initial day or two of grousing, there has been a lot of enthusiasm from folks about what the Xanga 2.0 could look like. Lots of possibilities out there and, hopefully, with only committed folks around it will have even more of the good ju-ju that makes Xanga special.@Wangium – You know it! =P@rudyhou – Thanks for your support!
Simonycheung for both Instagram and fb
@icebladz – after I asked that question, I realised I had the answer already. D’oh!