last night I got so frustrated and depressed while on Facebook that I was seriously considering deleting this site. (I had a whole dramatic exit all planned out...even stayed awake hours ironing out the details. me? I am a drama queen like that!)

as I was reading all my friends and acquaintances commenting back and forth, it just hit me. these are people that, for the most part, have known about my website for years. if they wanted to network or connect with me so badly, all they done had to do was come right here, where I've been all along. but only one has. why is that?

Boogher told me community sites are popular because they're great networking tools. guess what? that's exactly how personal blogging started...everyone linked to everyone else, and you found some great people that way. hell, we even had the fun little "memes" that are so popular on FaceBook and MySpace now.

after I got over my temper tantrum last night and my brain started working again, I think I figured this whole thing out. one of my friends on MySpace asked me once why I never uploaded photos. when I replied "that's what Lizzie Lou is for" the response I got was "but that's another click!" that, to me, totally sums up community networking sites. they're great networking tools, yes. but more importantly? they're convenient. MySpace, Facebook and the like are one stop, one click ways to catch up with all your friends. no more tedious links, no more visiting 20 different websites. I get the attraction of that. really, there's no competing and no beating it.

but those pesky community websites that I love to hate and hate to love? they aren't for me. they aren't where I belong. HERE is where my heart is. HERE is where I've poured all my talents. this is my internet home. I've worked my ass off to make it beautiful and user friendly and unique. and if I spend the next twenty years, updating only for myself, talking only to myself? well, that's okay. *le sigh* I just have to quietly admit that my way of "networking" is slowly going the way of the dinosaur.