Inactivity on sword forums and blogs

A thought struck me recently about the general lack of activity on sword-related blogs and internet forums. Where did everybody go? Most of the people I know who blog have been quite quiet of late. I wondered why? Has their life taken up so much of their time that they simply cannot get to the keyboard?

This phenomenon also seems to be affecting the sword forum, Sword Forum International or SFI. I usually check it every day, my favourite fora are Historical European Swordsmanship and Scottish History and Borders. It has been a veritable ghost-town recently. People are just not posting! There has been a sort of social implosion this summer on SFI, with what amounted to a short but nasty flame war resulting from a clash of personalities. Without going into it further, a lot of people seem to have either left or are lurking but not posting. Many have shown up on the Schola Gladiatoria forum, or indeed have been there already after feeling disaffected by what they perceived to be a sort of intellectual hierarchy, or were banned from SFI because they clashed with the unspoken but present rank system. Perhaps the level of discussion may not be quite as scholarly, but the debates are usually lively and people regularly and actively post. There is a pub which has a no-holds barred attitude to language and behaviour but generally people are quite ok.
Perhaps SFI has had it's day, who knows? Internet fora seem to come and go anyway. Then again, maybe it's just undergoing a lull.

I wondered above if life is keeping people too busy to have time for blogging. In hindsight, perhaps that is a good thing. Rather than sitting at a computer, facelessly communicating through their screens, they are living their lives in a more fulfilling way. Of course, it may be that they are so stressed with work, family, kids and other things that they don't have the time to do anything else. Perhaps my need for another blog "hit" is in fact a sign that I should turn this blasted machine off and go and get a life! :-)