When Bloggers Quit

I have run across a couple of blogs recently that either have taken a long hiatus or the blogger has decided to hang up their spurs. The latest is from Oxblog, where one of the three contributors has decided to call it quits:

I've also begun to feel that I have less to write about on a daily basis. And I'm less enthused about the kind of quick-reaction writing that blogging requires. I'm increasingly orienting my writing towards academic pieces--longer, slower, more methodical, and more measured than blogging. That style of writing is, of course, not for everyone. But it is for me.

Brand Mantra, who took a long hiatus off from blogging, notes that a pamphlet is out characterizing this "Blog Depression":

There is a growing epidemic in the cyberworld. A scourge which causes more suffering with each passing day. As blogging has exploded and, under the stewardship of the veterans, the form has matured more and more bloggers are finding themselves disillusioned, dissatisfied, taking long breaks, and in many cases simply closing up shop...We are speaking, of course, about blog depression.

She then notes that part of the frustration is coming up with something to blog about.

For this blog, that is rarely a problem partly because this is what I would call a "general" blog - I blog about whatever is on my mind. However, I have been trying to focus more on business and less on politics lately. There are not as many bloggers on the former subject and way too many on the latter, if you ask me.

But I don't find myself scouring magazines, newspapers and other blogs trying to find something, anything, to blog about. From the torrent of information that comes my way on a daily basis, something will come up that I want to comment on - and that ends up as a blog entry. It is not something I have to force, and for blogging, I left the following advice in the comment section at Brand Mantra:

For my posts, I sometimes have no idea what it will be on as I start my day, but end up with a post anyway. The trick is like trying to remember a name you can't quite remember - DON'T concentrate what to blog on, and then something will come to mind.

And if the day comes that I can't find anything to say on a topic? Then, maybe, I will quit, but I don't see that happening anytime in the near future.