(Non-)Friday Drive-by: Surveying the blawgpocalypse…
I’m a huge fan of the other blawgers out there on the internet, and particularly enjoy them when I need to avoid doing pointless classwork 
Even though I don’t comment as often as I should on those folks’ entries, I still talk with several of them frequently on Facebook and Twitter — and even became “real world” friends with a couple 
So as I stumble across blawgs I haven’t read yet, they get thrown onto the blogroll for y’all to enjoy. And since I try to read all of them regularly I update the link list with one or more tildes (“~”) if something hasn’t been updated in awhile: ~ means a blog has been inactive for at least a month, ~~ for blogs that haven’t been updated in 3+ months, and ~~~ for the ones that are pretty much totally deactivated (no post in 6+ months, or password-protected, or shut down).
But given my sporadic and lengthy disappearances over the past two months, it’s been awhile since I had a chance to catch up on the blawgosphere…
…and an awful lot of them have disappeared since then 
About 15% of my blogroll now falls into “~~~” territory. The most high-profile is probably i don’t wear skinny jeans, a now-2L at NYU who blended his law school life experience with a truly impeccable wit.1
Together with Jansen and the Hoomster, idwsj rounded out my “Big 3” — the first law blogs I ever read, and the ones I still check almost compulsively. I saw one of his last posts speculating about the future of his blog, but I didn’t realize he had gone through with deleting it until my Top Sites screen in Safari showed a blank WordPress page 
idwsj isn’t the only one. Take a look at the September 2009 Top 10 law student blogs from Bitter Lawyer and a similar May 2010 Top 10 blog list from ClearAdmit:
- i don’t wear skinny jeans is deactivated (~~~)
- laughing: with or at you hasn’t been updated since April (~~~)
- Law Ingenue hasn’t been updated since January (~~~)
- Thanks, But No Thanks is a few hours away from “gone for the month” territory (~)
- Fresh Thought Soup has been gone for the month too (~)
- Similarly Situated hasn’t been updated since June (~~)
- Last Call for Recklessness is deactivated (~~~)
- Even Bitter Lawyer itself hasn’t been updated in over a month (~)
And then there’s the other 40%ish of the 149 entries in the blogroll who are in the ~ and ~~ range. Some of the folks who still write regularly have also pondered throwing in the towel, or scaled back due to drama.
I don’t know what’s brought on the mass extinction, but if any of you happen to read this entry: your blawgs are among the highlights of my day, so I’d really appreciate if you didn’t disappear on me 
Off to dinner with some of my NCCU Law colleagues, then back to study Evidence for the night. Have a great night y’all! 
- To this day idwsj’s blog was/is the only law blog I’ve read where I literally LOL’d in the middle of class [↩]
at least it’s good to know that you’re not the only one who’s virtually disappeared
Yes, I’ve noticed this too. As for me, I miss Cee (Wild North West Litigator) and Law School Wife!
I think about my little blog every day!! I even wonder if anybody notices that it’s slowly dying. Sigh. I haven’t written for a lot of reasons. I’ve been crazy busy [14 hrs, too many student orgs, trying to find a job] and I’ve been really down on the whole law school experience lately and didn’t want to spread the cranky/bitterness. I’m hoping to write an entry soon and at least write every once in a while, if not at least once a week like I used to. :[
Doesn’t look like you have @rbcarter in your Blogroll: http://www.undeniableruth.com/. She has written some great posts about law school/twitter/networking/etc. Definitely check her out. Love the Blogroll, by the way! As you, I have stumbled across *numerous* blawgs that have fallen off the map. Totally understandable as students graduate/are consumed with school. Good reminder, however, to those who also brighten my day!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by LexisNexis LawSchool, T Greg Doucette. T Greg Doucette said: Where have all the #lawschool bloggers gone?
http://www.lawdevnull.com/2010/10/surveying-the-blawgpocalypse/ […]
@JE: Don’t think I ever read Law School Wife, but I def miss Cee too
@Mariel: We notice!!
Understand where you’re coming from about not wanting to spread crankiness though — I hope 2L gets better! 
@Matt: Thanks for the tip-off, Ruth has been added to the blogroll! And I greatly appreciate the RT as well!!
Yup, they’re dropping like flies at the moment!
And as much as I hate to add to your misery, but Teasingly Diverse is retiring from the blawgosphere too. :-(
I’m pretty sanguine about the peaks and troughs in the number of blawgers. I’ve actively bemoaned the slowly depleting number of UK blawgers over the years but every now and then there’s a flurry of newcomers which keeps the levels more or less constant.
True, blawging isn’t what it used to be, but maybe it’s quality rather than quantity, huh? :-)
I noticed this as well, particularly IDWSJ, which I’d just started reading. I wondered whether it had something to do with oversharing and, well, blogged about “To Blawg or Not to Blawg”: http://www.kohncommunications.com/blog/to-blawg-or-not-to-blawg/ -ae
This happens every year. People get busy. Blogs die. That’s why I post something every day, for fear of a day turning into a week, a week into a month…
[…] ’12 TDOT exhorted many a dormant blawger to return to the fold (Clear Admit seconds this opinion). 2L Oh Hay knew that there were larger issues in the world, but […]
[…] noticed my lack of posts this semester. I’ve mentioned it in my last several posts, and TDot even noted it in one of his. This got me […]