…And Everything Just Disappeared.
Blogcatalog has let me down.
My little network of friends and neighborhoods disappeared.
My avatar evaporated (ok that’s probably not a bad thing - especially since I’m not really smiling right now).
Information that I’d spent the last week building, adding to and watching grow - just swept away.
Ok, if you’re a Blogcatalog user you’re probably experiencing the exact same let down. If you’re not a Blogcatalog user, you still likely use Gmail, Google Apps, MySpace, Linkedin, or one of the many other virtual apps for working, connecting and socializing.
So this event made me think - how do I backup my information that’s hosted on these free spaces. What happens when your entire network disappears. (For some, this is a significant chunk of their life). Thank-goodness for the real word because you could find yourself literally friendless in seconds on the web.
It seems there should be a way to backup your data on these sites, some XML file that gives you a bit of insurance that you’re not going to be going back to the same sites and authors you happened across before and thinking…haven’t we met before??
P.S. I guess one positive - it gives you an opportunity to reinvent yourself.
July 9th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Same happened to me, soon after I had a Blogcatalogue avitar as a visitor. If it had been Mybloglog I would have been upset.
Silly Signs up and running
Graham
July 9th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Sorry about any inconvenience this disruption caused. If it makes you feel any better, we are kicking ourselves for letting this happen.
You’re not the first to suggest an XML backup file to us. We’ve actually been developing an OPML summary of BlogCatalog accounts that could be used for backups as well as mash-ups, As well as an API to gather specific data. stay tuned!
July 9th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Thanks for the feedback. I’m fully recovered … for the most part.
I’ll be anxiously awaiting the roll out of the features you mention.
July 11th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Sounds like a nightmare. I used to have BlogCatalog on my blog, but my side bar (with Blog Catalog in it) loads first (and i can’t work out how to change it) and when Blog Catalog went down/or slow (which seemed to be happening alot) it stopped the rest of my site loading. In the end I removed it. Sounds like they are having some teething problems
July 11th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Yes - teething problems. Yesterday, following a post by a fellow blogger (I’ll have to add their name later), I learned of SocialStream.com. With all the social networking apps on the web today, something like this is definitely needed to share info and contacts between them all.
Thanks for stopping by.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I’m fairly new to BC so when I lost all my contacts, I thought I must have done something wrong…pressed the wrong button, or something, to make them all disappear in a puff of smoke!! A back up would be good!
July 16th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Thanks, appreciate the comment. In reality, backup should be a standard practice. And it sounds like BC is figuring this out.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:19 am
To conclude: I’m actually removing myself from BlogCatalog.com. They keep crashing my page and a crashed page is not a good thing. I like the interface, but the performance is subpar. Just a warning to others out there.