The Lifespan of a Web Site

Lately, like a kid who just lost a favorite pet, we've been thinking about mortality. Don't worry—we're not getting that deep. We've been thinking about the life and death of our favorite Web sites. With the news that Domino magazine is folding not just it's print version but the Web site too, we fell into a bit of a funk. Now, we've got bloggers out there questioning if Facebook, who just celebrated it's 5th birthday, will even exist in another five years...

A blogger at TechDigest thinks Facebook will see an unexpectedly early demise because of the site's lack of ability to generate good revenue, despite insane user traffic. He notes the failures of the Beacon advertising service and the $1 gift store as reasons, but the big issue is that people aren't clicking through to the advertisers. The column (here) is a good read, if you've got a second.

But what we really want to know is if there any Web sites out there that, like Domino, used to provide you with divine inspiration for your life and your home, but have now gone kaput. Are there any that you'd be devastated to see go? Let us know in the comments.

[ Image from blmurch@Flickr ]

Comments (8)

the main site that I would be disappointed to lose is wikipedia.

posted by jumpyfroggy on February 4th 2009 at 4:10pm
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damn, jumpy, i'd have to agree 100%. i thrive on reference sites.

not exactly a website, but i'd most of all miss google if it ever fell from its perch.

posted by kdkaboom on February 4th 2009 at 4:47pm
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flickr!

posted by behren on February 4th 2009 at 8:50pm
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I tend to float from certain sites to others. All the sites I used to frequent are still around. It's me that's in flux.

posted by ObliterateWasteNow on February 4th 2009 at 10:38pm
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ebay. it looks mighty empty in there.

posted by maximumHOTbottom on February 5th 2009 at 12:43am
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i really dont think facebook will die anytime soon, i mean look at friendster... how the heck is that still around with myspace and facebook there... they are still truckin. also, if wikipedia ever dies, i will cry.

posted by MichaelIs on February 5th 2009 at 8:34am
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but do you understand that a big reason for Dominos demise is that people are spending their time looking at design blogs and surfing the internet for that kind of inspiration rather than reading a magazine. And furthermore that it is websites like this that are creating that void? And when there is no more domino or even Martha Stewart your blog will have less stories and art to run thereby cannibalizing yourself?

posted by funstraw on February 5th 2009 at 2:05pm
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As someone who worked in print media for the majority of my career, I can say online media only quickened the demise of print, but was not the cause. Cost of printing, distribution, staffing and offices are HUGE compared to the run from the seat of your pants operations online media can sustain. When good times were good, print kept expanding into valueless realms of expenditure, and now the chickens have come to roost in tighter times...something online sites feel too.

The void was already there...but it wasn't formed because of blogs, but because consumption habits and expectations sped father ahead than traditional print could adapt to, alongside the mitigating factors of a tough economy. The fact that publishers have mostly proven to be poor at migrating their content to an online medium illustrate their issues came way before blogs filled in the void they left open.

One day, the blog equivalent of print giants will fall too. Print is dead...and I say that as someone who loves the printed medium.

posted by gregory on March 19th 2009 at 4:09pm
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