One Year In: Looking Back and Looking Forward

On August 4th, 2009, Back-Blogged was officially launched. It started out as an outlet for two men - Sweeney and myself - to rate and review the movies, books, and video games we enjoyed as we chipped away at our backlogs. About six months in, we were joined by two additional bloggers in Webber and Keith. Shortly thereafter we welcomed Marissa and Trevor to our ranks. And now, one year in, we stand as a group of six who together have combined to make over 400 posts covering more than 110 books, 90 movies, 60 seasons of television, and 130 video games. Well done.

A lot has happened in the past year. In addition to the aforementioned 400+ posts and tripling in membership, the blog has undergone some sort of fundamental change. While I still use it to track (and review) every item I remove from my own backlog of unfinished business, I know that others are using it more liberally. Borrowed games, Netflix rentals, and stuff caught on TV are all being reviewed. Some people, I think, aren't even here with any serious hopes of completing their various collections. But I think that is an okay thing. In fact, I encourage it. Someone recently asked a fellow blogger, "What's the deal with this blog you guys have?" And he answered, "It's kind of like a book club, only with movies and video games too." I had never even thought of the blog in this light, but I absolutely loved that description. Because it's true. The six of us share our thoughts on what we're watching, reading, and playing. And in many cases, many of us have already experienced what another blogger has written about. And in many cases we take one another's recommendations.

So perhaps it's time to redefine the purpose of the Back-Blogged project. For a whole year, the subtitle of this blog has read, "A quest to complete every last video game, DVD, and book already on our shelves." But going forward, I'm changing this to "Discussing entertainment since 2009." The new key word I want to harp on is "discussing." One thing we have failed to do as a blog, by and large, is generate comments. Even amongst ourselves. So another thing I've done is set up an email list in which all six of us will be emailed any time a comment is made on any post. I hope it will promote a little more discussion. And hey, if the discussion becomes too overbearing for your inbox, just let me know and I'll take you back off the list. (Unfortunately, there is no option in which only the poster can be notified of comments. Oh well.)

Thanks to all for a wonderful year. Here's looking forward to an even more active '10-'11 campaign. Perhaps we'll even see a few new faces before the year is over. Either way, blog on, my comrades. Blog on!