There is this intrinsic part of us as a society that tells us not to fail.

It's like that voice in our heads that says that if we fail, we lose out, we won't become of anything.

This part of us, in fact, is a lie.

The most we gain through failure is everything.

This doesn't mean go out and do stupid stuff and get yourself hurt.

What it does mean is that you need to count the cost and weigh your options before moving forward... knowing that failure may happen.

And when it does happen... when that moment of failure does occur... what will your response be?

Are we to stand aside and let the world ridicule us?  Are we to cower before those who haven't tried at all and chastise us for doing so?

I submit that we learn best when we try and fail than if we don't try at all. The result being through the failure we are better for it.

When someone says 'failure is not an option' - I think we misinterpret that phrase that failure is something to avoid altogether.

Let us then look at that phrase with different eyes...

'failure isn't an option, because there really is no such thing'

As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

This is something to take heart when inventing something, building a business, or raising a family.

Some people take fewer steps than others.

So, what shall we be afraid of?  Nothing.

The multi-faceted issues and observations over the past decade...

We all know by now that the top websites online are there because they are not only able to produce a viable product for the public market, but that they were able to effectively monetize their efforts so it generated enough revenue to support their ongoing efforts.

This is why, technologically speaking, companies like Facebook and Google have been around for so long - they've been able to acquire, adapt and monetize their efforts effectively.

So, whenever I'm asked why Xanga was having problems  - it boils down to the basics... so let me dive into this again... with a fresh perspective..

• Xanga's core programming code -

Xanga's original code was based on Web 2.0 technology.  Now, this was an awesome milestone in terms of coding in the past - but it did put them into a box that caused a lot of potential problems.  Launch one new feature, others collapse.  This is because each feature became inter-dependent on other features in terms of resources required to run them.  Having stability in a platform helps out the user experience across the board, and whenever they kept on introducing new features (say like XangaTV)... they had major stability problems.

Site security could also become quickly outdated as new coding and tech were introduced into the marketplace.  Over time this can an increasingly bigger problem.

• Xanga's ability to monetize their efforts

The ability to generate revenue is a major hurdle with any business... especially an online one that had a heavy reliance on Google Adsense advertising.  So, allow me to illustrate with my experience on Autisable while it was a part of Xanga.

On average, Autisable used to generate over 100,000 page views per month.  Earnings from that traffic would be paid to me each month as an incentive for me to manage the site.  100,000 page views at the time equated to about $100 per month.

None of the ads were optimized based on the users browser experience, but were only optimized based on the keywords and topics of the individual blog posts/pages.  This was happening not only with Autisable, but with the entire Xanga network of sites.  This is one of several reasons why the Niche sites were being launched.... so ads being distributed could focus on those topics - so the users could view relevant ads they might be interested in for the site.

The challenge here is two-fold:
1. This didn't stop spam accounts from being created on all niche sites and xanga proper.
2. Adsense changed their payout system

First, spam accounts.  With anyone being able to create an account at a whim at any moment, it allows for bots to create accounts and comment on other accounts blog posts with bad-links.  Lack of control in this area was a major hit on the quality of ads being displayed because comments and the spam accounts told Google not to have higher-paying ads (if the ads were only going to be based on the keywords and topics for that page).  For the most part, all posts were searchable by google and the fact that people weren't behind a membership wall.   Google, therefor, distributed cheap ads on the site and therefore revenue streams that were once a pilar of their efforts had a significant impact.

This forced Xanga to provide other revenue generating options from their users, including ad-free as well as blogads.com and so forth....
Evaluating the ad-free option became a no-brainer from a fiscal perspective.  Why not just make it a members only paid-to-blog model and stop fretting over the old-school model and not deal with the ongoing changes Google was going to impose on sites.  A members only pay-to-blog model by this time had proven itself as a stable opportunity.   But the hard-decision to change a decade-long entrenched user experience had to be made in order for long-term financial sustainability.

Would this have been something I would've done?  No.  But, it wasn't my business to make that call.... it was Jon's.

Adsense also changed out their pay scale to websites - which meant that it wasn't just about the traffic... but about the quality of traffic being provided.  This included such heavier topics as how well a website is in regards to their SEO.

All of these years later there are programs now available to optimize ads based on a users browser experience and not JUST dealing with the website page keywords and content.  Current programs available can provide more quality ads to a page that relate to a user - which would increase the number of times an ad is clicked because that ad would turn into a sale and generate revenue.

So, what now?

Well, we wait in terms of Xanga.

Me personally?  I blog here to share a couple of things here and there about Xanga and go back to all things Autisable.

Until later, back to the grind I go...

Nah, not at all.

I had a few minutes and thought I'd surprise y'all with another update.

Yeah, I know.. but have to change things up a bit to make it at least moderately interesting.

Ok, back to the grind I go...

Summer is the most difficult time of the year, especially August, for this Autism family.

The best-laid plans fall through the cracks as the mad dash to address family needs and parenting take over to ensure zero meltdowns ever occur... as well as making sure I'm able to pay the bills on the homefront.

I'm very grateful at the moment as I'm doing some contract work for several companies in the realm of social media and digital marketing.  This allows me to work from home and periodically gives me some time to focus on building Autisable once again.  To say, "I hope this continues" is an understatement.

I've been doing Amazon Flex and Doordash delivery for over 2 years now, and so it's good to get back to writing and blogging once again.  The focus to be able to pay the bills has been primary these past few years... and it's been physically, emotionally and mentally demanding.

In regards to Xanga, not a lot to share about the site itself.  My last update pretty much brings people up to speed as to what's going on there.

The site remains 'as-is'.  Sort-of stuck in limbo in terms of development.

As for the Xanga Team?  Well, it's primarily just John that is OFFICIALLY the only team member that remains.  It is, after all, HIS baby.

Eugenia is still is around, although no longer officially a part of the Xanga team, she does still log in to address people's accounts and ensure payments are processed for those of us who are paying to blog.  But don't expect a lot for those who need archives or to dive into their individual accounts.  I think after several years after the switch to 2.0 - it's safe to assume at this stage nothing will be done to research that avenue for the foreseeable future.  I'm sure the data is still around somewhere, but no one will be able to take the time to dive into the servers to see if they can salvage something someone's ignored for so long.  So, let's be honest with ourselves on that note.

Now...

Because of my work, I haven't been able to focus on Xanga's Facebook page on a regular basis.  Nor have I been able to chime in on this blog like I used to.

But, I'm still blogging here - that hasn't changed.  I do pop-in from time to time to provide an update or so on what's going on with either xanga or myself.

I am starting to get some more news about John, but I need to chat with him before sharing anything.  I wouldn't want to share anything with anyone until I have all the facts straight. I'm sure y'all can respect that if I was going to share things about you (if I heard anything about you that may be relevant).

As for Autisable, the site has many of the basic similar features as Xanga once did.... and there's still more to do on that site.
I plan to get Autisable to grow and to stick around long-term.  To do this I've launched a Patreon page for Autisable to help raise ongoing support to help me work on the site and on the podcast.

Although there has been no news for Xanga, Autisable is growing and slowly becoming what I've envisioned it to be.  I think this is because I know that people are relying on me to make it happen - and I've made promises to address the site that I intend to keep.

Thank you for sticking around and reading my rants here... even if it's for anything Xanga related.

Appreciate you...