Yay, it's off your chest. I think there's a fine line between trying to keep up to date with important issues and dealing with those little issues that get to you between every day. Xanga offers a wide array of that stuff, but I do think that people tend to get wrapped up in their own deals too much that they forget about world issues that effect millions of people.

@Frodoholic - 

It's so much easier to worry about the mundane. Lord knows I complain about the randomist shit on here. I think this is mostly me just wanting to get past that.

Well first and foremost like you stated this is not a new site it's a blog. To me a blog means talking about personal experiences and issues that revolve around you. I feel social networking sites and blogs have been a huge help in making the world a more connected place and generally opening up the floor for debate and discussion. So the question is why don't we see thoughtful debate and discussion? We blog about what is relevant to our lives. It's a lot easier to complain about what is happening to you and you only, then what is happening to some poor sap across the world.

Another issue that arises, is the internet is a very segregated place. I don't know exactly what the breakdown is for Xanga on what countries use Xanga the most, but more than likely it's dominated by Americans. This really limits our ability to get the full picture, services like twitter are breaking these barriers but it's still a big issue. We are lured into this false sense that the internet is a free place where anyone from any country can get on and chat with someone from another country. But in reality the same issues that we face in real life still apply such as language, and borders, governments and laws. We can view the internet as a big pie chopped up into slices, we have a tendency to stay in our own little piece.

maybe not even a tendency but we are forced into our piece of the pie. To the average internet traveler in the United States, for practical and obvious reasons we are automatically pointed to sites, blogs, news sites, that are catered to Americans and American issues.

And this all relates back to what we in our own lives see as "big issues". To an Iranian those issues are going to be a helluva lot different than an Americans. We just have to face the facts that the majority of Americans know very little about what goes on across the pond. And the internet may be a less restrictive place than the major news networks, but it still is catered to us by where we come from and who we are. But that's not to say that important discussion isn't taking place you just have to dig a little. The important thing is that you are aware of the situation. You are already a step ahead of the game, you recognize the importance and that is all you need to start to find others that also recognize the importance of open debate and discussion and the need to address the big issues. it's an upward battle to escape from our little pop culture bubble we live in, but all hope is not lost. I hope I made some sense about this issue...

@wutitang - 

Wow! Thank you for your comment! I agree and it's something I don't even really thinking about. I've pretty much grown up online and there's a definite feeling of being able to be connected to anyone anywhere as long as they have a connection. Very nice points, thanks for stopping by!

I gave up on the front page long ago and ended up directly linking to the "Please Sign In or Register" page (if you know what I'm talking about, haha). That way when I sign in, I by-pass the front page entirely and go straight to my own blog.

Personally, I use Xanga as some sort of self-therapeutic diary, and because of this, I rarely write about the #actuallyimportantissues. Most posts, I'm just trying to get all the cluttering thoughts out of my head, so I can actually use the space. Another blogger I read posted an entry recently about he had received an email criticizing the fact that he didn't write about Micheal Jackson's death. His response was "I don't need to write about my feelings on Michael Jackson's death because I was too busy feeling them." Everyone uses their blogging space differently.

Plus, it also seems like Xanga only feature blogs that have countless subscribers. I think to some extent, it's about what blogs will generate traffic for the site, because traffic equals paying sponsors, etc, etc. It's all about business, even for a free site.