Somewhere My WOT Lies Bleeding
Apr 02 '05
The Bottom Line if you really need me to sum it all up here, then you probably wouldn't understand anyway
It's not that I was ever one of the great thundering beasts of this site. I wasn't. I can admit that without shame or jealousy or regret. I was just one of many similar folks who, for whatever reason, managed once upon a time to gather a decent circle of friends and fans around him for posting the sort of textual noise here which might otherwise have been frittered into cyberspace with nary a notice or comment.
But that's old news. Ancient history, in fact. Internet years are much like "dog years" in that they seem to skitter past much more rapidly than real or human years. I look now and realize with actual surprise that it's been almost two years -- TWO YEARS! -- since I last posted a piece to this site. Hard to believe that as recently as 2002 or so I still considered Epinions one of those must-visit daily stops on the 'net. I can recall the thrill and anticipation of peeking in every morning to see the hit count climb. To check for cool new ratings and comments on recent material. To look for new posts from ridiculously interesting and intelligent people (oh, and Sordid-1, too).
But somewhere along the line, that whole Epinions addiction (or perhaps "infection") ran its course. Like a slow-moving blast of neutrinos, the love for this site suddenly passed right through me and left me behind, wondering if anything had really happened at all. At my "peak" I boasted something like 126 Trusters. No, that's far from a huge number, especially in comparison to folks who seemed far more committed to wide-ranging social interaction onsite than I was. I was always... well, more of "an acquired taste." An indie movie in limited release. A niche player. No matter what else might have happened, I was never going to become a Universally Beloved Character.
And, again, I'm fine with that.
But in the two or three years since I suddenly and surprisingly lost pretty much all interest in this site (the explanations for which would require a few stand-alone pieces which I frankly have neither the time nor the interest to write, much less proof and post), I've still wandered back every once in a while to glance at the tally board (almost back to two and a half bucks earnings to my name! woohoo!), to wade unhappily through the Recent Content slush puddle, and to glance at some of my Trusters and Trustees to see who among those lists still patrol these murky gray waters.
And I've noticed a funny thing: while my list of Trusters has stayed decently high (in comparison to my actual content contribution to the site), it has, in recent months, started to drip down. To lose members at a slow and steady rate.
Today I look up and see that I'm now down to 120 Trusters.
Yet again, I'm fine with that, but it does spur my curiosity.
What am I doing today that makes someone log in and then go to the trouble of specifically culling my sad little name from their list of "trusted" contributors onsite? What changed between today and last week, last month? After two years of non-activity (which follows on the heels of 3 years of questionable activity before that!) why was I still trustable 9 or 32 or 121 days ago but suddenly -- specifically -- no longer worthy today?
I glance around today and I hardly recognize any of the names I see active onsite. Such is change, I suppose, but sometimes I stroll down my remaining lists of trusters and trustees and I find myself reminded of odd little cool moments and exchanges this site once brought to me. Some part of me misses that excitement -- that daily rush of wondering what Cool New Thing someone surely said somewhere on this site.
Nowadays... I just look up every once in a while and notice a few more leaves seem to have fallen from my ragged little Trust tree, and I wonder about what might have made any one of them fall, any one of them stay, any one of them bloom and grow in the first place.
And then I turn back to other concerns, others sites, other interests.
But just now, I paused, and wondered, and remembered.
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Epinions.com ID:
AggieBrett
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Member: Brett
Location: Katy, Texas (suburb west of Houston)
Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 119 members
About Me:
I like gravel.
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