Comments on If a writer vanishes do they owe readers an explanation?

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is it bad manners not to say goodbye toa partner in a relationship????

Some relationships purely consist of one person who does all the talking and another who does all the listening,  And though we can't see our partners in these relationships, they do exist and it maybe courteous to bid them farewell should we decide to take that well earned break, just as a radio presenter signs off from his show. 

The question still remains in my mind wheter it's a case of actually OWING them or just reciprocating kindly

posted by Davidel on June 1, 2005 at 3:36 PM | link to this | reply

MayB, I really would prefer not to have the details.

Relevant questions.

posted by ARGUS on May 30, 2005 at 4:13 PM | link to this | reply

It depends...

on what you think the writer's jobs is.

Anyone can write anything they want; the reader if free to read it - or not read it. The fact that they read it, and read more of what that writer has to say does not mean that the writer is obliged to give any explanation to the reader...

posted by Wordwizard on May 30, 2005 at 12:34 PM | link to this | reply

MayB
When I feel blogging is no longer worth the effort, I disappear until it passes. Fully intending to return, I never announce my "departure," however, if I must go away again some time, I will say so. Some of my regular readers, those who have gotten to know me as well as this medium allows, worried. I would owe it to them to offer an explanation.  

posted by Talion on May 30, 2005 at 7:14 AM | link to this | reply

MayB

I doubt I would feel the need to announce I might be going away for awhile. With such easy access to the Internet - business or school would not do it... but there have been times when stuff that was just too heavy to share prevented me writing.

posted by Transcendental_Child on May 30, 2005 at 7:04 AM | link to this | reply

If I enjoy the writer's works then I would be disappointed if they no longer wrote, but I would get over it and find someone else to read.

posted by Ca88andra on May 30, 2005 at 2:05 AM | link to this | reply

I presume you are writing this in the context of blogging.

There are many reasons why a blogger leaves. A blogger may have been killed in a traffic accident, had a surge in workload for an extended period in time, or perhaps just became disinterested in blogging. If I can, I shall try to inform my readers in advance, either through the posts themselves or through the comments, simply because I would like to manage their expectations. But, sometimes people do not read these minor things.

Mine situation is a case in point. I have not been posting regularly this year, compared to last year due to heavier work and family commitments. In fact, I don't foresee myself being able to post regularly or frequently for a long while. Despite some of my readers not picking up my fore-warning, those who are genuinely concerned about my well-being sent me an e-mail.

Conversely, many of my favourite bloggers had not been posting for a long time. I don't blame them at all, though I might not be getting to read their works. After all, they have a life outside Blogit.

posted by Amateur on May 29, 2005 at 9:12 PM | link to this | reply

When I leave Blogit, I won't announce the fact. Just one day,there will be no L.E.Gant comments, and the blogs will disappear. However, that does not mean I won't be back in another guise.... 

posted by L.E.Gant on May 29, 2005 at 8:44 PM | link to this | reply

May B
I think that it is just consideration and good manners to let the people you have been writing for know if you are leaving. I haven't been here long but, I have become fond of the bloggers here. I wouldn't want to leave without telling them I was going simply because I wouldn't want them to wonder about me, and what might have happened. Good post :)

posted by Numinous on May 29, 2005 at 7:13 PM | link to this | reply

Mayb,
I don't think anyone owes an explanation to the world, at large, if they want to disappear from the face of Blogit.  Still, I feel the same concern,  curiosity and worry.  It's the modern anxiety: if someone that I knew socially died or had an accident, how would I know, if I don't have mututal ties, family, connections to tell me?  I was thinking today of a letter that I wrote that was returned to me marked "not at this address".  This person wasn't a close friend, more of a "fellow traveler of the road", but I wonder and worry all the same. 

posted by Blanche. on May 29, 2005 at 7:00 PM | link to this | reply

I find the discussion a bit academic. I'd want a specific example of someone who suddenly nicked off, and how that made people feel. But I will say that I don't think that the analogy between a blogger and a film star is appropriate. A blogger, unlike a film star, interacts with readers through comments. In this way, a social tie is formed with the reader, and to suddenly disappear is to violently break that tie. This would rightly arouse feelings of concern--or if you think that the person is fine, feelings of hurt. It would be no different if someone in real life with whom you had a social tie just vanished one day with no mention of where they were going. A movie star, on the other hand, has no social tie with the general public at all. They don't really owe the public an "explanation" if they want to become a recluse, then. If you didn't know them in the first place, how could their personal life ever become your business? You might be curious, but that's not the same thing as having a "right" to know.

posted by zentropa on May 29, 2005 at 6:50 PM | link to this | reply

MayB, I don't base my life on bloggers... they come, they go... they don't owe me any explanations, though I do remember and care about certain ones... like you - mostly because you appear to be an A-Number-One class act.

posted by cmoe on May 29, 2005 at 6:22 PM | link to this | reply

I like to know when a blogger is going to leave for the simple fact that I

worry if one of my favs doesn't post in a while.  Good post.

posted by Renigade on May 29, 2005 at 4:38 PM | link to this | reply

Dunno MayB...
...good questions! I guess as human beings we are interested in each other's lives..kind of the way animals sniff and wander around their own kind or another breed. On blogit I feel a bit miffed when someone whom I'd considered a friend, just left without explanation...but then I get worried and think of the worst. When Cher (for instance) ended her life of touring, she let her public know that. (Have no idea why Cher popped into my mind!) I guess my answer now is..yes! ;)

posted by ginnieb on May 29, 2005 at 4:08 PM | link to this | reply