My 2010 Resolution: Redo the Sidebar

During the past several months, I started to take notice of the various Social Networking widgets that I had on my blog's sidebars. I noticed that 2 were not being updated and became concerned that they were just wasting space. I contacted the site owners, and received immediate replies, confirming my suspicions.

Then, 2 days before Christmas, I learned that another large provider was considering eliminating their Social Networking Service as well.

So, I for My 2010 New Year's Resolution, I decided its:

Time to Redo the Sidebars

Below are the 3 sites that I am reviewing and watching. I've provided a bit of background and let you know what my action will be.

MyBlogLog

If you do a Google Search for this keyword, you will see an article: Yahoo to Shut Down MyBlogLog that was written on 12/23/2009. The author cites Marshall Kirkpatrick's Yahoo! Will Kill MyBlogLog Next Month. Neither of these provides much detail, my concern is that many of us participate in this network. If Yahoo! does close up MyBlogLog, we would have wasted a great deal of time. Yahoo! confirms it is reviewing the future of MyBlogLog, but says it has not made any decision yet. My Conclusion: Wait & See, but Don't Waste Much Time on It.

 SlogBite

This was launched a couple of years ago by Mel Kaye.  Many in the EC and Adgitize community became very active in the pre-launch design activities. However, after about 1 year, Mel announced that he has found another job and would simply let SlogBite flounder. Now another year later, the widgets still display, but many of the links return 404 Not Found Errors. My Conclusion: Remove Widgets.

BlogNetAwards
This is a blog that featured Blogs in various categories. Every month, it would award the Best Blog in various classes. Then, at the end of the year, it would announce the Yearly Winners. The concept was great and many participated. But, since last summer, the site has not been updated. I contacted the owner and found that they are experiencing marital problems. I tried to be patient, but realize that their devotion is to their children, and not to this site. Thus, My Conclusion: Remove Widgets.

I wish all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year and would like to hear your resolutions as well!

JL............