All right! Now that the flow has slowed down, time to reply to comments. Thanks for stopping by; you're free to come back again if you wish.

@squeakysoul - No, I haven't talked to Xanga admin. that much. I suspect that they've already talked to consultants who know more than I do, so I feel rather presumptuous in sending this to them. I'm sure they'll find it, though.

@in_the_everyday - haha, if you're a girly man, so am I, and so is everyone else who replies to this. And I have 3 Xangas, so I'm worse! Although the other two are just photo/video storage sites.

@TheTheologiansCafe - Hmm...I go back and forth on that. On the one hand, I feel sorry for those people who just toss in a few swear words and thus can't get on FC. On the other hand, do you want to go back to the days where FC had its fair share of teens posting pictures of themselves having sex, and older guys trying to set up sites to meet teens? Oh, there's still some of that on Xanga now, I'm sure...but I don't like the idea of Xanga condoning or promoting that content in any way. And also, let's not kid ourselves and pretend that there's this huge community of artists being unfairly censored here; most of the EX writers are not that good.

@lawmixitup - See, I knew it wasn't just a few people!

@dances_in_chucks - Thanks for stopping by .

@meggiemay0307 - Yeah, Xanga does a poor job of surviving the transition to college. But I think many sites have the same problem; the Internet community is not a good fit for the college crowd. I wonder why?

@empress8411 - And I agree, I too am surprised.

@Drakonskyr - Glad you enjoyed it.

@papua2001mk - You may have a point there. Design matters more than people think on-line, and if there's a perception that Xanga's design is childish, it would definitely matter. But I don't think there's that much difference.

@ilsurvive - Oh no, one of "them"! haha. I liked the Top 50 list when there was some quality on it, but I felt it got overrun by what I'll call linguistic and visual exhibitionists. I would agree that sometimes the featured blogs of today can be a little dry, and too slow to update...but I don't want to go back, personally speaking. Thanks for sharing your opinion, anyway.

@porcupinesol - I would like to see Xanga go after the 20's and 30's myself. I've had a really hard time finding new 20's and 30's readers, though, in the last year. Maybe I'm looking too much on blog-rings rather than elsewhere.

@spokenfor - You're right about stereotypes being tough to overcome; you might be right thanks for the kind words.

@adifferentkindofbeautiful - Well-said. Xanga isn't going to overtake Facebook for social networking, so why even try? Keep pushing the blog angle instead.

@bellflower5507 - Best way to make Xanga fun is to get more of your own friends on here. I should try to get a friend to join, now that I think of it.

@JessxMaxine - I think they'll find this post eventually (and I certainly respect their right to stay anonymous/not feature this, since I am correcting them in some ways), but good thought.

@seedsower - The nursing home?! ouch! tsk tsk. It's good to have some older folk on Xanga too.

@Yosho - I agree on the slow part; the saddest part is, their features are now a little better than Myspace/facebook, but it's too late to take advantage of that!

@askdante - Glad to hear from some newer people too, welcome.

@silence_of_words - Yeah, I have to admit, it may not be such a bad thing. But some of those teens were really good writers; I'm a sucker for angst, ha, what can I say?

@eadie - Thank you!

@Evowookiee - Strategy is vital to business; without it, the firm doesn't know how to react to challenges. That's what happened to Xanga, exactly. Well-said.

@Botolf - Multiply? I'll have to look that site up, sounds interesting.

@mama_jess - I agree completely...I get a little concerned sometimes that because Xanga is so large, the Xanga team is not catching some of the other perspectives on here. I've been on here for 4 years, but I've intentionally kept a low profile until very recently. I didn't send this out to the admins, because I didn't want it seem that I was bashing them, and then asking for attention! That's pretty creepy to do.

@Legi0nnaire - Good point on the teens having $; but how many of them have credit cards or know how to navigate e-commerce? I don't think that many yet.

@shadowsofthought - Yeah, spam bombing is starting to irritate me a little. But I don't mind the "little guy" trying to get attention at the start--it's the people who ALREADY get 20 comments a post who spam-bomb who upset me.

@beautifulwolf - I'm sure they'll find it--I peaked at my feedback log a little while ago, and I think some of them already read it.

@o_Dirty_Blonde_o - thank you!

@antisoccermom - Thanks, I especially appreciate the easy-to-read part. It's hard not to make such a post dry and boring; at least I succeeded in one person's eyes.

@morrighu - But I love visiting my brother's house! ha, just kidding. True.

@purpleritz20 - I too see Xanga as a place where I can find love and community. I would never be so foolish as to depend on it for a LOT of love and community, but I definitely have found that it helps with some of that.

@LifeNeedsProtection - Ha, I second your thoughts about students and co-workers. I intentionally try to make my site so that I would never be embarrassed if it were found...but still, I like a little privacy.

@Southernlass - Thanks, I hope Xanga considers some of these ideas too!

@theresturantmanager - I like what you said in that yes, I can't get my friends and family to listen to me on some topics either so my Xanga allows me to find people who care, ha.

@Allen_Oz - Almost like a Xanga Newspaper of the Day? I like that idea! It could really work. And if Xanga isn't careful, someone will pay their top bloggers to go elsewhere.

@DamienT98 - I think part of the site is making a comeback, but other parts are still very dead. I'm not sure what to think yet at this point.

@Celestial_Rose2002 - That's my concern, that Xanga may eventually have to shut down. I do find it interesting that everyone has simultaneously decided to start talking about Xanga's future. For me, it was because I've recently become a member of some other blogging families, and thus I'm more aware of Xanga's strengths and weaknesses.

@nothingbeast - And that's what it's all about, the TRUE FANS. Traffic? Look, all these people won't be here tomorrow, or perhaps ever again, and that's just the way it is. But my faithful readers will be back, and that's all I care about. Besides, it's too hard to respond to 60 comments on a daily basis. All you extra people, go away! ha, just kidding.

@journal_of_a_working_girl - I wish other people valued the site's versatility higher. But for whatever reason, it just doesn't seem to be working.

@Jaynebug - I would rather not be featured for this, because it looks like I'm selling out Xanga just to look good. But thanks for the thought and praise

@danteCARAX - Good #10! Xanga is almost too classy for its own good, and let a lot of readers leave too easily. And that Alexa graph is intriguing; wow, I had no idea the site was so hot for only one year (2005, looks like). Maybe that's just how the 'Net works.

@eeyore17026 - See my comment above--yeah, maybe it's just too hard to stay on a site for a long time. Like right now I should be working, not replying to comments! ha.

All right, I will probably never reply to that many comments again, ha, but I was entranced by accomplishing the "feat" of replying to every single comment I had received so far today. Xanga to me is a community, and how can it work unless we have two-way conversations? But I've had better ideas...ouch, my eyes hurt! Good night.

Ok, I'm diving in to another round of replying to comments. Sorry I can't get to every one; I tried to focus on the ones that asked questions or were particularly long.

@trebleclef402 - The problem always with bad characters is they ruin it for everyone else. To me, Xanga is one of the better places on the Internet (NOT overall! just the Internet!) for interested singles to meet each other. After all, one can easily read someone else's blogs, which will tell you a LOT about the person. But unfortunately, people with no manners force many Xangans to privatize their blogs, or hide pictures, or otherwise avoid people. It's a little sad, quite honestly.

@FlameofSalvation - Sadly, too many people think all the great writers on Xanga are already featured. I passionately disagree (and it has nothing to do with my own status, for the record). Many of my favorite blogs only get 2-3 comments per post.

@Soultender - ha! I love the analogy, yes, Xanga is a teenager...

@HiddenFromView_x168 - Let me make sure to explain myself; I love teenagers on Xanga. Their passion and willingness to question what we take for granted is wonderful. I'm a little concerned that people got the impression that I may not love teen Xangans.

@tinahawt - Yes, I hate sheep-throwing as well. Although I'd enjoy a little Zuckerburg-throwing, ha. (Zuckerburg being the rather pompous originator of Facebook...).

@cascadingmemories - Your last sentence is quite elegant. Thank you for sharing.

@Jenavee - Why thank you, Jenavee! I'm honored that I am a rare recipient of recommendations/votes/Minis from you.

@lotta_valdez - Yes, not all great blog writers are featured, and it takes time to build community. Nearly none of my first readers still reads; I've hunted down most of my current readership from blogrings, metros, and whatever else I can find.

@craftygirl - And THAT is the million-dollar question for me, what does Xanga DO now? I hoped to spur a conversation on Xanga so that people would start thinking "What do I want out of Xanga? How can we get more people on Xanga? How could I make my Xanga experience better?" I'm not trying to start some sort of Xangan user revolution. But I am trying to start a conversation to get people to think.

@ixcrisxi - Perhaps that is part of the problem; Xangans are considering themselves as artists, and instead of considering how they can comment on other people's sites and form a community, they are becoming much too individualistic? I am concerned about this trend, because then we will all just end up promoting our own sites and neglecting friendship with those who we don't think can help make us more famous. That would be sad.

@TheBigShowAtUD - 

Yes, it was about 3? years ago. We're getting old! You're still one of the best bloggers on here, though--just write more often already! Your absence has caused me to get soft and accidentally praise you instead of my usual criticism--isn't that terrible?

@NightCometh - 

I know, isn't it showing off? Not that I'm going to stop or delete any comments anytime soon :-p