Ode's dated themes are a trick I haven't seen in any other package. The ability to roll back the look and content of a site to exactly what it was at any point in time is unique. It's part of my goal to make Ode a personal publishing platform. The fact is that the web is immense and most sites are not visited frequently.

As in real life, most people will never be famous on the web. (The reason why fame is so valuable is because it is a very rare thing.)

So why have a site at all?

It's a question most people with a weblog or other site have struggled with at times. Sure, occasionally you'll have people stumble onto a particular post from a search results page, but it's very unlikely that person will become a regular visitor. It certainly doesn't justify all of the time and effort that goes into maintaining an active website.

So why do it then?

My answer to that question is a question, why get out of bed in the morning? Why do so many people go to soulless jobs, and in many other ways deal with the tedium of daily life? Well there are those of us driven by a cause to the near exclusion of everything else. But, for most of us, I would argue it's just that, us. We do it for ourselves, our friends, and families. I believe you are the best reason for you to maintain a website. Because it's interesting to you (whoever you are), your friends and family.

It's tremendously powerful to be able to take a look back at what you were doing, and what you were thinking about, a year or a decade ago. It's a wonderful thing to be able to share experiences with those few people who are genuinely interested in knowing about you and what you're doing. Some of the best weblogs are stories of personal experiences with photos, videos, links to news and other things of interest, surrounded by enough text to stitch together a narrative and provide context. Sure the story may be interesting to only a very niche audience, but for those few, it is likely to be one of their favorites.

I say forget social. Let's make the web personal!