Don't have a lot of time with reliable internet right now, but I'll mention that I've read the entire discussion above.

I think that, even though Grace Note's response is somewhat disheartening about the prospects of a blog, we should still certainly proceed. I think we have stronger community support for the blog than other sites had for their respective blogs. (but, I'm having to head offline now. 'night all)

why should that be any different with a blog? the blog isnt even involving rep pts so imho se mgt should be even more hands-off policy there. also math.se should not be held responsible for overcoming se's larger issues with site blogs.

@vzn While I agree SE should defer to community opinion, I understand where Grace Note is coming from. The point is that the blog system isn't set up very well right now if all the sites who get enthusiastic about blogs lose the enthusiasm momentarily. It sounds to me like they are considering changes so that blogs will stay up longer. For instance, wouldn't it be cool if blog posts earned reputation? I'm sure that would boost long-term enthusiasm for a blog significantly.

In other words, while I'm not necessarily convinced we are wrong to think we can keep a blog going strong in the long term, SE has a broader perspective than us and knows it's easy for a blog to die. We are obviously enthusiastic now, but none of us knows what the future will bring, and SE is wary of the momentary enthusiasm that has driven other SE blogs.

what is their "broader perspective"? to say that blogs "die" seems a misnomer. "inactive" is a better word. old blog posts still get hits, sometimes substantial. am still waiting for someone to explain why an inactive blog is such a disaster.

"abandoned" (inactive) blogs are quite rampant in cyberspace, its a basic aspect of blogging...

also the reasons for inactivity in a blog need to be analyzed. what could the reason be? am skeptical of assigning that entire responsibility to blog writers. "too many hoops to jump thru" is a possible dampener on community enthusiasm.

se needs to be more upfront about the "value add" possible via blogging thru their sites. who knows how many hits their blogs are getting? its free to create a blog anywhere on the internet & one doesnt need the approval/permission of anyone....

re "it sounds to me like they are considering changes so that blogs will stay up longer". not sure what you mean. are you referring to continued new blog posts, or duration of posted blogs? blogs posted once presumably would stay posted indefinitely. am not interested in participating in a system with expiring posts...

your idea about rep pts related with blogs is a bit radical wrt current se dynamics, but like the idea. was about to suggest it myself in meta but it seemed so unlikely that se mgt would actually go for it...

significant rep is not so easy to earn on se in general...

privileges wrt rep are surprisingly high threshholds at times...