AS a matter of course, starting with Memorial Day, I make an effort to go through my entire friends list and tag some of the much-neglected channels I haven't visited for some time.  It seems that, over the past several years, and since I've been active on LV, I've been pretty-much stayed at home and avoided the "Unofficial start of Summer" and all the "3-Weekend Frenzy" - traffic, crowds, etc.   that goes with it!!  
That's why, over these last few years, I've made it a point, while induldging in spring cleaning, the "manage" my LV channels.  PART of this "managment process" includes visiting channels to see how actively involved they are with their channels and LV in general.  
Well, I've had some  interesting surprises that I would like to share with you all.  

(1)  THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE PARTICIPATION IN LIVE VIDEO - PRESENTING VIDEOS, OR EVEN VISITING 
THERE OWN CHANNELS BY NUMEROUS PEOPLE ON MY FRIENDS LIST !!!   
No REAL  surprise, actually, because of all the "shenanigans" that have been played out here over the past 
eighteen months.  It's understandable that, amidst shut downs,  micro-managing and exasperating delays in 
uploads, what seems to be a "double standard" where "some" "get some" - and many "get none", people will 
get discouraged and leave, heading for "The Ning Sites" or the other "social networks" where such problems 
don't seem as prevalent! 
(2)   AMONGST THE BIGGEST "CULPRITS" HAVE BEEN PEOPLE WITH NO AVATARS/ICONS ON THEIR 
CHANNELS!!  
Last year, I received a multitude of friend requests from people who neglected to put up avatars on their 
channels.  I can't speak for others, but on my channels, I carefully picked an avatar that best-fit my own
personality and creative bent!   I felt that putting an avatar (aka-icon) on One's channel denotes a certain pride
One has of their channel and their work on that channel.  It also denotes a certain "permanence", where they
intend to stay - not put one up to apease a friend of theirs, only to forget they even HAD a channel here! 
(3)    THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF THOSE "CULPRIT" WERE UNDER EIGHTEEN!!  
I've run into several "scenarios" regarding this.  Scenario One - See #2 above!  *smile*  Scenario Two is the 
youngster who, being bored over Summer Vacation, decided to put up a channel, just to aleviate the 
boredom and "spice up" their lives!!  After all, besides a "warning", there is no real control over content here. 
If our "budding pubescent" teenager wants to watch "massive mammaries" displayed, he'll get his eye full!!  
*grin*  Kinda what I and my buddies used to do at the nearby magazine store when we were going through 
school - only when Mack caught us, he threw us out for a few hours - he called it our "cool down" period!! 
*grin* 
(4)     THERE IS A DEFINITE "TREND" BETWEEN SUMMER AND THE CREATION OF THESE NEW CHANNELS!!! 
Unlike the popular belief we had last year, that most of the "non-avatared" channels were mere sock 
channels, created by tyrants, shapeshifters or trolls (Hilarious!!), most of the dates, where the channels in 
question were first put up, coincides with the Summer - between June and August.  Although the ranges in
ages differ considerably, most were between 13 to 25 - around the age ranges for Junior High through 
College - Refer to #3 above!!  *smile* 
(5)   WHY AM I KEEPING THESE UNMANAGED CHANNELS?!! 
THAT'S what was going through my head last night and this morning!  WHY?  Well, the first thing that came
to mind was "MY FRIENDS LIST" and trying to keep in four digits instead of the paltry three digits my new 
channels have now.  But, my next "why" was looking at the futility of keeping on what I could only describe as
"dead channels" just to keep my "Numbers" up!!  I would imagine that over 100 thousand new channesl have
been put up between last Summer and now.  But that would mean I'd have to go and look for more - right?! 
YEAH, because why do I want to look at the same old videos, often denoting a theme that is now considered
hackneyed to say the least, just to keep my "Numbers" up!!

Well, I did what I considered the Right Thing!  I deleted, probably, over 100 old channels, staring with the ones that
didn't have avatars/icons and in a few weeks, will go back and delete the ones where I haven't seen any activity in a year or more.  There is a channel, in my CREW list, that hasn't seen any activity in over a year now!  That channel may very-well ALSO get the Gate!! 

I used to have plenty of activity on my channel.  Many people would come in, view my videos, hit them and even leave a comment!  But over the past year, my visitors have dropped down abruptly.  
Some of the problem is that Live Video is now "LIVE VIDEO" !!  and many of the channels are going on "live" (kinda) and taking advantage of the features that were set up last year!!  Usually the people that are most using this feature are companies or individutals that have a large-enough "budget" to afford to put on a good show!!  The ones that don't but still try, often find themselves "ALONE_LIVE"!!  *shrug*  There are some Vloggers out there that attempt to keep their audience interested for up to an hour or more.  But they don't prepare enough material to cover the time.
But some of the reason is "material" itself.  I don't possess a decent-enough movie editor to do a lot of what the more popular channels do.  I don't even have a video camera, nor do I frequent venues that most would consider "attractive" - or the places I go to have prohibitions about video cameras altogether!  So, I scour the Internet to try to find material that I can safely upload (TOS) and through getting a "feel" for my audience, put up videos they would like to see!  Sometimes I fall off the mark (Human Moment!) but most of the time, I'm given positive feedback for my efforts - and make up for whatever shortcomings with the comments I create!!  *grin*  But let's face it Folks, Live Video, and it's new channel members, are taking a different "tack" in their viewing, away from what the older members used to find interesting!  Did you know, by the way, that Jen Jackson tried a different partner after Bikini News shut down?  It evidently flopped because her visits to this site have been sketchy to say the least!!  
No, the problem not only lies with the videos we present, it also has to do with the fact that LV is in the midsts of "Old Crew" vs "New Crew" on the block!!  It's understandable really, because who wants to go right back out and go "trolling for Friends" as it were!!  But quite frankly, keeping the same friends, who's channels have been idle for months to years, and keeping our "Numbers Up", is not what I came here to do, nor what I look for in Entertainment!!   

I couldn't recommend more, to all my Friends and Crew Members, to reach out and find some new Friends - the "New Kids On The Block" in order to inffuse some new Life into your channels!!   There is a method for doing this but it will take some work - I'm only a third of the way through my Friends List right now but should be done before Memorial Day's over!!  So, PLEASE email me or rspond to this blog and let me know how you all feel!!  

See You In the Lidst's !!!  *smile* ~ Cy'