The Post Blog Internet?

It's no secret among my friends that I have "an online presence". I have this blog, and am quite active on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. (note I have omitted the Oxford comma, which I still love and mourn but do not use online anymore) I check the Big Four every day, and usually post something to them every day. What I do not do every day is blog. For years I have been conscious of keeping a weekly schedule of blog posts whether I had something to say or not. I have found that the less often you post the less you have to say. Apparently if you are going to post but seldom it had better be momentous. So - the weekly post even if nothing much is happening. When I put up my weekly post I also liked to check around at my favorite bloggers, the ones I consider my blog buddies and the ones who I love and support although their large readership intimidates me (my problem, not theirs!).

Some of my online habits have changed since I purchased my much loved Samsung Galaxy tablet. It's odd how much the mechanics of the tablet have changed some of my browsing habits. It's hard to read long form, or even short form articles on some sites because the layout does not jive well with my screen. Pictures on some sites (Instagram, I'm looking at you) are really tailored to the tablet and smart phone interface more than the laptop. Some mobile versions are quite different in emphasis than the laptop version. Instead of deliberately changing hardware sometimes I find myself narrowing my focus to things that function better on the mobile. Not a good idea, I think. My exposure to some kinds of visually interesting content is wider, but my understanding is shallower. I am less likely to check out links because often sidebar links are slow to load. This lowers the serendipitous quality of poking around the odd corners of the Internet world that is so much fun. Because commenting is more tiresome on a virtual keyboard I am not in a frequent contact with my blog buddies.

My question is - is this the post blog Internet or just a choice of ways to interact with the Internet that everyone tailors to their own interests? Is it a generational thing? It seems that younger people are more likely to prefer short form interactions like Tumblr and Twitter to the commitment of a blog. Some of the "classic" bloggers I enjoyed in the past have pretty much stopped posting. Burnout? Doing something else instead? I've never had a large readership here and never really aspired to a larger readership - it's a very personal space mostly for my family and friends rather than a commercial space or career builder. I think I will continue as before, with maybe the clear intention to be a bit more regular than lately and a bit of introspection about what I want to accomplish in this space.

Shana and have made our holiday plans this year - a gourmet restaurant meal with a few friends for Thanksgiving and a little trip to New Hampshire for Christmas together instead of exchanging gifts. The family dynamics have changed a bit here this year since Bruce and Inace are both gone, so we have opted to try out a few different options for ourselves this time.

I am still raging along with my holiday knitting. Two of my favorite pattern books are MIA currently, and I am waiting for the replacement copies and a bit of yarn to arrive. Of course I still have things I can work on while I wait - two things whose beauty will be undeniable but those process I am not enjoying, one basic project, two with new patterns and skills I will learn ... over my head as usual. We'll see how many projects I actually complete and how many I put off until later. If I don't stop fiddling around with experimental an irrelevant side projects I will be in desperate straights by mid December.  Oddly, it is always the gifts that can be completed last that I finish first. Anything that needs to be shipped I seem to be happy to put off until the last minute. Bad planning? Procrastination?