The Net is Dead

Marco van Hylckama Vlieg on web technology, design, life and everything

Commentary

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• At 27 January '06 - 01:55 xlx wrote:

  

  I guess you are really new to her and what she does to drive traffic so I suggest you read these first:
  
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/of..
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/xi..
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/xi..
  
  And by the way, wehatexiaxue.blogspot.com was created by herself to drive traffic to her own blog – You are right about that. My site on the other hand is not (That’s why you don’t see the link from her site).

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 01:59 Marco wrote:

  

  I don’t think I’m ‘new’ to anything here. I’m just not making judgements. This article was meant to be a look into a piece of the blogosphere I hadn’t really explored yet. It’s an interesting piece of ‘cyber culture’ in my opinion, regardless of what your opinion on it may be.

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 02:12 Marco wrote:

  

  By the way, xlx, in case you’re keeping track of the comments below this article, I have a question to you that may add value to this entry:
  
  What is it that gives you the energy to run a ‘hate site’ against some succesful blogger? I guess it could be interesting to hear what makes you want to rather do that instead of running a blog with stuff of your own. I’m interested in your reply!

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 06:01 Tobias wrote:

  

  Hmm.. the blogosphere looks just like… real life? Or in a more ‘Andy Warhol’ kind of way: Is the blogosphere imitating life or is life imitating the blogosphere.
  
  This entry actually reminds me in a slight sociological sense of one you wrote earlier. http://www.i-marco.nl/weblog/archive/200..
  
  (See, you got fans as well! )

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 06:06 Marco wrote:

  

  I’d rather call them ‘returning readers’ really since I seriously doubt I have ‘fans’ like Xiaxue has.
  
  But yes I guess you could relate this article to the entry you mentioned in a way. You’re right, most patterns found in real life repeat themselves online and / or vice versa. This is why I made the comparison with real-life ‘celebrities’ such as Paris Hilton.

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 08:31 xlx wrote:

  

  hi marco
  
  read this:
  
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/so..
  
  Anyway how did criticism translate to “hate site”?
  
  I write about social issues too you know? Read the articles in the following archive:
  
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2005_12_01..
  
  If you have the time, you might like to check out the trackbacks of each entry. You would see that I am not her sole critic. A lot of people have been affected by her irresponsible posts.
  
  Read these and the trackbacks for an idea of what I am talking about:
  
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/de..
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2005/10/st..
  
  and the newspaper article in the following entry:
  
  http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/we..
  
  Also another newspaper article here where xiaxue has been compared to hitler:
  
  http://www.todayonline.com/articles/9539..
  
  After you are done reading, you should have a much clearer picture of what is going on. If you are too lazy to read, then there’s nothing much I can say.
  
  Anyway if you are looking for a site that writes entirely on xiaxue, you should read this site instead (as far as I know, the author of this site only writes about xiaxue and nothing else):
  
  http://sandrapowderpuff.blogspot.com

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 09:59 Marco wrote:

  

  I read through your links just now. I didn’t however view the screenshots because they resulted in galleries of pornographic images popping up. You might want to do something about that.
  
  Then about this whole ‘rascism thing’. If you’d be able to read Dutch you’d see remarks such as the ones you referred to every day, on a shitload of blogs too. It’s saddening but this is how people are these days. I’m still left with my original question to you: Why do you bother with all this? If I had to engage into a crusade against ‘rascist bloggers’ in the Netherlands I’d be taking on a fight I can never win. Besides that, there wouldn’t be a point in trying because a blogger can’t change people.
  
  This is why I chose to blog about technical issues mostly and sometimes cyber-cultural issues. This posting is an example of that. I’m doing all this without making a judgement. I don’t feel like judging Xiaxue whether I agree with what she writes or not (if she’s posting occasional rascist remarks I probably won’t though) because there’s absolutely no point. Maybe you should get used to the fact that the world is full of stupid people and we’re not gonna change that by posting rants against that on our little weblogs.
  
  Still: thanks for the links. They’re a great addition that highlight aspects of the whole ‘Xiaxue phenomenon’ that I didn’t touch myself in my article.

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 10:50 Stoyan wrote:

  

  I’ve read an analysis on the million dollar homepage, saying that it succeeded beacuse it was “selling a story”. The story of a 21-year-old British student. Maybe it’s the same thing with this girl here, another story. We’re people, we love stories. I know I do, ever since I was little ;)
  
  (Anf if I can elaborate on this, being the old-school X-generation guy that I am) The kids today are not that much into books as we are. So they need to find alternative ways to feed their story-hunger.
  
  On a different thought, the popularity of this girl’s blog might be partially due to our unhealthy desire to peek into other’s lives. Just think of the popularity of those “reality” shows, like Big Brother (is this junk on in Netherlands?) or American Idol (or Canadian, Australian, etc).

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 10:53 Marco wrote:

  

  @Stoyan> It’s worse! That junk (Big Brother) is actually a Dutch invention! The program was invented by John de Mol (and some others I believe) and aired for the first time in the Netherlands. After it’s enormous success (this indeed says something about your average person) they sold the format all over the world, resulting in millions and millions of dollars in profit.
  
  It’s amazing, but true!

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 11:31 Volkher Hofmann wrote:

  

  >>That junk (Big Brother) is actually a Dutch invention! The program was invented by John de Mol (and some others I believe) and aired for the first time in the Netherlands.

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 11:37 Marco wrote:

  

  Volkher> I’ll make it worse for you. I even WORKED for Endemol. And as if that isn’t enough yet: I’ve been one of the architects / developers behind the Big Brother 3 website.
  
  /me ducks for cover now

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 11:46 Volkher Hofmann wrote:

  

  Did the rest of my comment get eaten? Or is it a browser issue? Half of it is missing? Ah, it’s because I had some closing brackets. (opposize of the starting ones).
  
  What I wanted to say was that THAT program could get me to start my own HATE site.
  
  But, I guess I’ll have to start a “Marco” helped ruin Western Civilization” site instead. ;)

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 11:49 Marco wrote:

  

  The textile parser sometimes eats comments… using non-textual characters can sometimes cause that. Slightly annoying, I admit.
  
  But… ehm… I don’t work there anymore now. Does that help preventing this hate site of yours to happen?

  
  

• At 27 January '06 - 22:09 Dana wrote:

  

  What exactly is a “serious blogger” ? Blogging started off with the kids, the teenages just sitting around talking about how much they hate their parents and love N’Sync.
  
  Three years ago their was no such thing as a serious blogger.Blogging changed when grown folks doscovered they could milk it to death and poof… up pops these so called serious bloggers.
  
  I’m glad a chick like Wendy is on top and I hope the serious bloggers are green with envy.It is the serious bloggers who have turned blogging into something it was never meant to be… a game.
  
  But hey, it’s a game that the kiddies appear to be winning… lol.
  
  Oh yeah, love your new design Marco, but you aren’t that interesting a person :)

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 00:23 Elliott Back wrote:

  

  I’ve been aware and “reading” Xiaxue’s blog for some time now, and it’s really a blast and really just a personal diary that for one reason or another has only recently become interesting. She’s one of few female bloggers, and while her english is so-so and her posts are rambling stream of self-centered consciousness, they’re dotted with enough images to happily entertain the majority of her male visitors.
  
  I skim her because she’s often in the middle of scandal…

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 01:59 Marco wrote:

  

  @Dana> First of all my compliments for knowing I’m not an interesting person simply from reading this posting. I never post much about my personality so you must be psychic or something Nice job on that one because yes, I’m indeed one boring motherfucker.
  
  The only thing I wanted to describe with the term ‘serious blogger’ is ‘blogging about serious issues’ compared to jotting down personal affairs. It has little to do with ‘turning things into a game’. In face I think if theres one person who’s (very successfully) turning it into a game it’s Xiaxue herself! And… for which I applaud her because we all would love to make enough money just with blogging now wouldn’t we? In a way we could even call Xiaxue a ‘serious blogger’ too because she’s clearly in it for the money. Writing about non-serious issues with a serious purpose: cash. Most of us (including me) are blogging for fun and maybe a little bit of recognition. In my case not as an ‘interesting person’ but as someone who’s got something interesting to say in the field I work in professionally.

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 08:37 xlx wrote:

  

  The first 3 entries should be fine. I was experimenting with sponsors – anyway read the intro to my latest entry about imagecash. I don’t think I will apply the changes retrospectively because it takes up too much time.
  
  I think the reason you are puzzled is because no bloggers in your country have yet been charged with sedition. You see, in singapore 3 bloggers were charged for racist comments on their blogs. That is why the fact that xiaxue was not charged for her blatantly racist entries is a cause of concern for a lot of singaporeans. Double standards never go well with anyone.
  
  I will like to comment that I think your measure of “success” is fundamentally flawed. That’s because you only take into account quantitative factors like traffic. If you look at the qualitative factors you will know that there’s really nothing much to admire about the traffic to her blog. The fact of the matter is most singaporeans don’t like her at all and I am quite sure you can’t tell just by looking at her blog because she has blocked out most of the negative comments which far exceeds the ones she actually let through.
  
  However if you were to look at some of the popular singaporean forums, you would really have a much clearer picture.

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 09:02 Marco wrote:

  

  xlx> If some people get charged and some don’t, there’s a problem with the Singapore justice department and not with the bloggers per-se. I have no idea what’s legal and what isn’t in Singapore as I know very little about this place. I fully agree with you that double standards are a bad thing. If those exist in Singapore I guess that’s something to ‘fight’ rather than an individual blogger. I did check out the articles that were referred to as rascist. Compared to what some people write in the Netherlands I found it to be of a rather mild nature to be honest. Since I don’t know what those other bloggers wrote I can’t really comment on it more than this.
  
  About the amount of comments thing: I think I pointed that out in my article already.
  
  Still: I am not making any judgements. I don’t know the Singapore culture, I don’t know ‘those other bloggers’ and I don’t know all that much about Xiaxue except for the fact that she seems to attract tons of visitors, comments and attention. If you read the article again you’ll see this was the sole reason for writing this entry. Therefore: you may very well be right with everything you’ve said but this whole issue is beyond the purpose of this article. I do hope you understand this.

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 09:07 Marco wrote:

  

  Ah yes, I forgot: You said I use a flawed measure of success. Now let me quote myself:
  
  

  
  If there’s one thing I changed my mind upon at least a little bit it’s the importance of a high Technorati ranking. While it’s nice to receive a lot of traffic, there’s a lot of different reasons for which one may or may not get this traffic. With this weblog I try to generate traffic purely based on the fact that people consider the articles published here of high quality. If an article gets tons of attention, like it happened to this one or this one it makes me a happy blogger. If an article fails to repeat that ‘success’ I simply try harder next time. I guess it’s a matter of what’s really important for a blogger.
  

  
  
  So I guess it’s not all that flawed after all now is it?

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 12:26 Dana wrote:

  

  Marco, why do you really blog? What really got you into blogging? Were you doing this years ago, or did you jump on the bandwagon once blogging became the hip in thing to do?
  
  You said Wendy won’t last, but I beg to differ.It is truly people like her and the college kids and teenagers, and the at home Moms that will last.They will last because they started this for the same reason they probably kept at home journals.
  
  It is people like you (maybe), and those 9 Rules people who do this for recognition, praise and money.
  
  I have seen quite a few of these types of blogs close recently.They closed because once they saw that their blogs didn’t become instant hits and make them the money they heard they could make, they bailed out.No money and no fame meant no interest in blogging to them and so they fell by the way side.
  
  Also Marco, I have found that some of the most popular blogs seem to offer something to the blogging community.Plugins, themes and ext.Most people stop by to get what they want and then split and if they do return, it is only to get more.
  
  This is the basis of your blog as well, and that is how I found you.I come back to see your designs and what you will create next.Some of your posts are even interesting, but I don’t see you being a big blog star and you should stop trying to be one or you too will eventually become discouraged and close down.
  
  Let’s face it, losing the Typo theme contest darn near killed you based on how much you whined about it here… lol.
  
  Just love it Marco.Blog for the love and joy and love of it.Put your ego aside.Stop trying to be “The Man” and you will be a much happier man… and blogger.
  
  Dana :)

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 12:49 Marco wrote:

  

  Dana, I appreciate your comment but I think you got me all wrong here. What exactly makes you think I’m trying to be ‘The Man’ or ‘a big blog star’ ? In THIS very article I actually even stated that I don’t consider being a top 1000 Technorati blogger (let alone a top 100 blogger) all that important. If you re-read this posting you’ll see I do realize that.
  
  On the typo contest issue: I’ve left that behind. There’s things I could tell you about this but you’d have to mail me if you want to know because I do realize there’s no point in blogging about it any more than I did (too much. I agree! Another lesson learned). So: no need to keep hammering on this unless you want to do that by email.
  
  There’s definitely things I’m doing to earn some money but this very blog isn’t one of them. This blog is solely intended to keep me ‘on the bleeding edge’ when it comes to the business I work in. No more, no less. This thing will never make more than a some nice extra bucks which is totally fine with me.
  
  But to finish this thing: I wrote this posting in a rather descriptive way. xlx tried to ‘feed’ this threat with anti-xiaxue hate material and you’ve seen me remain neutral about it all. I posted this article in a descriptive way to showcase an interesting corner of cyberspace. I didn’t post it to slag Xiaxue or in an attempt to look like a better person than she is. Yet you accuse me of trying to ‘be a star’ like Xiaxue is. I don’t quite understand where you got that idea. The only ambition I have is getting better at what I’m already good at which is mostly a personal goal rather than a fame goal. And if people like it, so much the better isn’t it?
  
  Edit: About when I started blogging: I started in 2002 with this blog which is in Dutch. Later on it became a collective blog and right now the postings are mostly done by other people than me. That blog attracted more visitors in it’s best days than this blog ever did even though it’s Dutch only. Still I currently prefer to blog on this site because this blog motivates me to explore technology and design. So to answer your question: I didn’t start blogging because I wanted to jump on any bandwagon. It merely started because I liked playing around with a dynamic CMS driven website.

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 19:15 xlx wrote:

  

  Marco, you said you are not one to judge but look at the words you use when you refer to my replies here: “xlx tried to ‘feed’ this threat with anti-xiaxue hate material”
  
  Like i said, criticism does not equate to hate. You are practicing double standards yourself by not judging xiaxue but judging me.
  
  If you want to know what is hate, I suggest you take a look at what these people in one of the most popular forums in Singapore did to xiaxue’s pics:
  
  http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthrea..
  
  If you regard the Truth of what I write on my site as “hate” and label it that way, you are in effect influencing your readers to undermine my writings.

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 22:06 Jordan wrote:

  

  Marco, I can’t help but think that this blog entry sounds a little bitter? Why are you pondering whether she’ll “be around” or not? What difference does it make to you?
  
  You say “While people like me and many other ‘serious bloggers’ are making huge efforts to make our sites look good, write quality entries that will attract readers and keep existing readers coming back, Wendy can post just about anything she wants and get the attention she’s looking for.” But did it occur to you that some people just want fluff? It’s the difference in reading the New York Times and People Magazine. You read each of them for different purposes. And so what if she can post a few words and get attention for it? It works, right?
  
  Same goes for Paris Hilton. People don’t fawn over her because they thinks he’s some quality actress or an intelligent thinker. They fawn over her because she goes to all the great parties and she’s a fun time. All this hating on people who are “famous for being famous” just sounds like sour grapes to me.
  
  Howabout focusing on what you’re doing here, and making it better? I really think you are a great designer — some really inspired stuff. But you need to spend more time writing about the mechanics, giving tutorials, talking about where you get your inspiration, instead of trying to tear down other people for just being who they are.

  
  

• At 28 January '06 - 23:27 Marco wrote:

  

  xlx> I’m sorry if I offended you by labeling your articles as ‘hate material’. I guess that’s the wrong choice of words from my side then. Maybe I should call it ‘criticism’ then if that suits you better but your articles do have the purpose of tearing down her status now don’t they? Maybe I’m wrong calling that ‘a hate site’ but your main objectives do come across to me as doing damage to her which doesn’t look particularly friendly now does it?
  
  Still you didn’t answer my question about what the purpose is of all your work for you personally.
  
  Jordan> I’m sorry if it sounds bitter. It isn’t. You’re talking about ‘all this hating’. I don’t hate her and I didn’t wrote that I did. I don’t hate Paris Hilton either. A while ago, before writing this article I placed a comment on Xiaxue’s site ending with: “You go girl! You’ve got them all by the balls! ;)”. Furthermore it did INDEED occur to me that some people just want fluff. One sentence before the part you quoted I said it put a huge grin on my face. Does that sound like I hate her for what she’s doing or what she’s accomplished? re-read the closing notes as well if you want my final judgement on Xiaxue.
  
  Then about your last paragraph: If you feel I’m not spending enough time on the things you mentioned I’m deeply sorry. I was hoping you’d think otherwise from reading this blog. I try to ‘focus on what I’m doing here and try to make it better’ 99% of the time. However at times I like to step out of the tech for a little while and write about some things happening in cyberspace. Some refreshing change every now and then just like Xiaxue’s site is. If you really believe I want to tear her down you’re really wrong. re-read the article and my comments and you’ll see! And if not I hope this response has made you realize even though you interpreted the article otherwise.
  
  Thanks for the compliment by the way!

  
  

• At 31 January '06 - 21:50 ranvier wrote:

  

  Whoa, i never thought ya might write about her. She made a few headlines in our country recently and now you are writing about her…Interesting. :P

  
  

• At 03 February '06 - 01:57 Christian Montoya wrote:

  

  I’ve skimmed throught the top 100 a few times and I always wonder about some of the blogs. But I found Xiaxue before that, because she won a bloggie a couple years back.
  
  A weblog award.
  
  After looking at the top blogs on technorati, I can see what it takes to be there, and it’s never gonna happen with me. And yes, it boggles the mind how so many readers can put up with such a bitchy writer… but then again, how many guys put up with difficult girls? I guess that explains it.

  
  

• At 26 March '06 - 00:20 Scopetg wrote:

  

  Hahahaha… Is that why ‘the net is dead’???
  I just drop by only. Have a nice day. :D

  
  

• At 28 March '06 - 11:27 Vidar wrote:

  

  Bah, i’m WAY prettier and I need no stinkin photoshop.
  
  I have close to no hits and loving it

  
  

• At 29 March '06 - 07:38 Heckler wrote:

  

  Whoa, Marco, maybe you are not “an interesting person” in everybody’s eyes, but you are patient as hell :]
  
  BTW, your blog’s new design is creepy, in a good way :], I really like it.
  
  Keep up the good work.

  
  

• At 09 April '06 - 14:04 sandra wrote:

  

  Well i guess you had some more traffic because of this entry I didn’t read all the comments or links but anyways… U are actually giving some mature criticism on her (sorry als mijn engels niet perfect is, maar ik probeer het in het engels te houden omdat heel je site engels is…(and i’m to lazy to take a dictionarry)) and those are rather uncommon. I just wanted to tell you that her readers are not all 15 year old boys or girls who like the gossip. A lot of us mature (well, i guess you’re considered mature on 21 in most countries, wheter you are is a diferent thing) people are just reading it because it is relaxing and funny (zoals dat sommige mensen naar bigbrother kijken (kots) of de flair lezen) although not verry intellectual. I have allready so many books and lessons that occupie my brains (yeah i have some) that the sort of entertainmen xiaxue offers is sometimes welcome. I think if you read her entries, also the olders ones on wich she doesn’t get comments yet, you will see that she has allways been quiete (hoe schrijft ge da toch) arrogant, but she only means half of it. At least, thats what i make of it. That’s what makes her blog funny for me, cause if we’re honest: we all think we are better than someone, even if we don’t want to or know we shoudnt…

  
  

• At 26 April '06 - 02:04 Izzati wrote:

  

  For famous bloggers like Wendy, personally, I think being narcissist over what she has accomplished is alright. However, she has to ensure to keep her pride in check, that her writings have to contain some form of moral regulation. I believe that lately, her rantings are getting extreme and out of hand. Her insults on religion and the sufferings of others do not reflect her in a good light.
  
  Moreover, she has accomplished that much, we all acknowledge that with awe, she also has to remember that she is mass media thus she should take some responsibility with her words, not running away from them.
  
  Cheers. Your website is good
  :) I’ll link you.

  
  

• At 18 May '06 - 01:28 Lisa Reyes wrote:

  You obviously haven’t seen http://www.bryanboy.com – that guy is THE REAL ASIAN PARIS HILTON.

  
  

• At 18 May '06 - 01:47 Marco wrote:

  

  Oh my god… that’s…. unbelievable…
  
  You’re right!
  
  Thanks for sharing ;)

  
  

• At 18 May '06 - 02:20 Lisa Reyes wrote:

  you have to do a blog review about him… her… i mean, it! I have no words…

  
  

• At 16 July '06 - 21:17 Singaporean wrote:

  

  Yes, Xiaxue is an Internet phenomenon, at least in this neck of the woods (Singapore).
  
  But I have scant respect for her. From her blogs, she comes off as shallow, strident, narcissistic, histrionic, intolerant and hypocritical. “Bitchy” doesn’t begin to do justice to her carefully (de)cultivated online persona.
  
  In order to counter (very justified) accusations of racism, she has come up with her very own definition of “racism” and what it means to be “racist”, in order to exonerate herself. In order to counter charges of insensivity towards the handicapped, she has (allegedly) taken quotes from certain handicapped advocacy groups out of context to bolster her attitude. This stuff is all out there on record, in her blog or in someone else’s.
  
  But what irks me most about her is her irresolute cowardice in the face of real adversity. She likes to come at you with an abhorrent arrogance, filthy invective and extreme spite when she feels secure in her own little make-believe sandbox. As an instance of this sort of behavior, she got into a tiff with a couple over a cab snatching incident. As part of her extraordinarily immoderate response, she made public personal details of the offending couple (which she dug up through some sordid amateur sleuthing). In addition, she threatened to register that girl on Friendster and publicise her private phone number so she could expose her to harassment and god-knows-what-else. Certainly a very malicious opponent indeed. But when her blog/email were hacked into by some anonymous hacker (bless his/her soul), she engaged in the most cringe-worthy lachrymose self-pity that I’ve had the misfortune to witness online. She even resorted to plaintive tearful pleading to the hacker to restore her stuff. The fearless bitch was reduced to a quivering jellyfish in the face of a real assault on her private stronghold. Utterly disgusting.
  
  Anyway, I’ve said all I have the patience to say here. I realise that “in real life” she might be a different person than she’s portraying herself online, but since that’s she’s putting out for the world to see, that’s what I’ll judge her by. And based on that, I intensely dislike her, and worry about the future of our youth if they really take her seriously or look up to her as a role model. Let’s hope she’s more a circus sideshow freak of the moment than a mentor to these people.
  
  At least on this blog, I know my comments won’t be “moderated” (censored) to suit the blogger’s fragile ego. Thank god for bloggers like you Marco.

  
  

• At 06 June '07 - 23:10 yixin wrote:

  hi. i was googling xiaxue when i found this site. i am a loyal reader to xiaxue and wehatexiaxue.blogspot.com is actually created by her. lol. go to my blog sometimes?

  
  

• At 06 August '08 - 19:55 Cinz wrote:

  i think this is super ridiculous.
  so wots all the darn hype about hating/disliking wendy cheng aka xiaxue.
  
  it’s just a personal blog of a talented singaporean girl.
  jealous? envious? or simply bored?
  these are the only reasons i feel are exactly why people are disapproving of her.
  
  who gets the last laugh, the money and the publicity?
  hahaha

  
  

• At 06 August '08 - 20:00 Cinz wrote:

  oh and i forgot.
  if there’s really a need to vent ‘hate’ comments about, pls pls do it to singapore’s seriously MOST DISGUSTING – STEVEN LIM
  
  that’s worth taking a spit at.

  
  

• At 26 May '09 - 18:48 Tom wrote:

  

  Hers is not the best, she just had a head start – there are now lots of other blogs like hers which are just as opinonated. What’s amazing is that these blogs remain popular even though there is very little substance – most posts just consist of photos (and a small amount of writing!)

  
  

• At 17 June '09 - 09:21 izzati wrote:

  LOL. I just googled for fun, and I came across that comment I wrote ages ago =S Can’t believe how almost pro-XX I was. :P

  
  

• At 06 January '10 - 08:25 Jamie wrote:

  

  Hi Marco, I like your entry and I agree with your analysis.
  
  I am a female reader of XiaXue blog from Malaysia and I am at least 10 years older than her. My first impression of her blog 4-year ago (followed a link from kennysia.com; a top blogger from Malaysia) was : what a shallow girl! Are all Singaporean girls like her?
  
  However, her blatant and no non-sense style pull me back to read her updates from time to time coz it’s really entertaining and give me a good laugh sometimes, be it the personal life of a total stranger! To answer your question as to why she gets an overwhelming pool of readers, I can share you mine: her blogsite is like a FACEBOOK addictive game – addictive and animated. You can say, it’s for people with no REAL life. For heavy traveller like myself, sometimes glueing to our laptops is the only pass time we have while stationed overseas with no friends and family to hang out with. .
  
  Yes, she is rude and arrogant… but she doesn’t mean harm, and can’t! Just some random rants for a young adult… perfectly normal in our world and full of them!
  
  Sometimes, I think the public in general should learn to relax a bit when it comes to critising pieces/films/books/jokes that set to entertain!

  
  

• At 16 September '10 - 22:00 Vina wrote:

  

  I never heard about xiaxue before until some weeks ago, i read an article about top blogger, female blogger or something like that.
  
  And after I read her blog, I was so surprised, because ,
  It was just a personal blog, a real personal blog. I’m not a fan of her blog anyway, because as far as I know, her blog is mostly only contains her photos, and her oh-so-honest opinion
  
  but it’s weird how sometime I visit her site once in a while just to read her old entries. I found her blog is kinda interesting to read (but less intellectual). How strange..
  
  Anyway, I just hit the bookmark button, I think I like your site, :D
  
  PS: pardon my broken english

  
  

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