Missing Link goes belly-up

I’m afraid I haven’t been able to find time to complete Missing Link lately, despite squandering huge amounts of tiem tagging promising posts.  I had hoped that using a feed reader would make the task easier, but in fact the opposite is the case.  There are at least 150 new posts in total every single day generated from the blogs I have listed in Google Reader.  It takes a couple of hours at least every single day to peruse them all and tag them with a star, another couple of hours to cull the starred posts down to a short list, and then another couple of hours to write Missing Link itself.  Moreover if I miss a day or two, the unread posts list in Google Reader rapidly mounts up to more than 500!   It’s time I just don’t have available with university duties now resumed after annual leave.

Moreover, the whole process of perusing so many blog posts and selecting the best of them is becoming increasingly tedious and unpleasant.  It’s also absorbing all my available blogging time (and then some) and preventing me from writing about topics that  actually interest me rather than summarising what others are writing about.

I still believe Missing Link is a worthwhile concept that could do a great deal to expose excellent blog writing to a wider audience.  Unfortunately it will take someone with greater patience and available free time than I possess.  Thanks to those who subscribed to Missing Link, and especially to Jacques Chester who implemented the email subscription system. 

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lisa
17 years ago

A pity since I only just found your missing link, and had been starting to compare it to Crikey’s blogwatch… Given it takes you so much time and effort I guess that means we DO have to pay for this service then…

Sacha Blumen
17 years ago

The ones you did were enjoyable, Ken. Blogging can take a lot of time and energy and it can be easy to devote too much time to it.

Just a thought – was the university effectively paying for the Missing Link?

Patrick
17 years ago

I thought they were very good too – but I did wonder how you found time!

skepticlawyer
17 years ago

We’ll go back to doing our ‘Around Ozblogistan’ posts again, Ken. They won’t be as good – or as comprehensive – as yours, and will reflect Jason’s and my tastes, but at least it’s something. Thanks for doing such a great job over summer. Like Patrick, I did think you must have been spending hours not only finding the pieces but writing witty tag-lines (I’ve been a sub; I know how long that takes).

I’ll make that beer I promised a carton of your choice when we do eventually meet.

Joshua Gans
17 years ago

Perhaps the solution is to not worry about being comprehensive. I assume that part of the purpose is just to bring interesting sites or issues to the attention of readers who read the same old blogs all the time, and lack the time or imagination to explore. You could achieve this is large part just by sifting through the daily catch until something catches your eye, and maybe stop at three.

For what it’s worth, I would trade a dozen Missing Links for one of your law posts any time.

Nicholas Gruen
Admin
17 years ago

Well we could also do a roster.

I’m happy to volunteer to do one week every couple of months. Perhaps volunteers could share a Google reader ID and that way catch up with where the last one finished off.

Yobbo
17 years ago

Does this mean we can have Chris Sheil back now? Oh Goody!

paul
17 years ago

The roster is a good idea, though might be tricky to coordinate – and I’m not sure how many witty tag lines I could come up with in a week!

Thanks for the hard work Ken. I guess it was unrealistic of the Oz blogsphere to expect/rely on one mere mortal to bring us the highlights – twice a week, no less!

Sarah
Sarah
17 years ago

sorry to see missing link go,
the australian index usually has a good roundup of australian blog posts, however without the categories and editorialising

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