A Little More Explanation About the Hiatus

As I announced yesterday HolyCoast.com is going on hiatus for the summer...and maybe beyond. I had already been considering ending daily blogging after the election, so this isn't a hasty decision. Without question, the Supreme Court decisions this week finally pushed me over the edge. Here's a little more about why I'm doing this:

• Although the ages of blogs is not over, it's certainly not what it was a few years ago.  When I started there was no Twitter or Facebook, and now many people look to those sources for their information.  I've almost stopped reading blogs altogether and spend far more time on those two social networks.  My friend and follower list on Facebook and Twitter dwarf the daily readership of the blog.  When Don Surber suddenly quit his very successful blog a few weeks ago it was kind of a wake-up call.
• With my smartphone I can now post to Twitter or Facebook pretty easily and reach many more people.
• My own blog traffic has dropped significantly in the last four years.  Either I'm not providing content that people really want, or there's just less general interest in blogs.  It's probably a little of both.  I've found myself way too often looking at the numbers and going "why am I doing this?"  
• Because I've never been able to build the blog to a high enough traffic level, I've never been able to attract the kind of advertising that would make this financially beneficial.
• With rare exception my readers haven't chosen to contribute either, so since I'm doing this basically gratis which means I've got to either be really passionate about it...or I'm just nuts.  I'll leave it to you to decide.  
• Since September, 2004, I've posted nearly ever day, often 10 or more posts a day - over 27,439 posts in all.  I've posted from home and from vacation and business trips all around the country.  That's a lot of work to do for free.  

I'm going to take the summer off, but if the old fire returns I may pick up again in September and continue through the election.  However, I'll probably end it for good after that.  During the summer I'll have my Twitter feed displayed in the first post, so if you don't follow me, you can at least check in there to see what I'm posting about.

To those of you who have been regular readers - thanks!  I've appreciated your comments and readership.  It's been quite a ride since 2004 and promises to get even more bizarre as time goes on.  You'll still be able to find me on Facebook and Twitter.