The end of Multiply.com - another one bites the dust

First and foremost - my blog posts earlier than 2012 no longer have linked inline photos, only dead links. I'm very sorry for this, but as Han Solo would say - "It's not my fault!"

This is what you see when you key in "www.multiply.com" in your browser

When I first started blogging, I created my first blog at Blogspot (now known as Blogger), marvinchong.blogspot.com (which you can tell was created by a beginner, just from the name). However, at that time, features were very basic, so after looking at numerous hosts, I finally decided to put the stake in the ground at Multiply.com. At that time, decision was made due to its promise for an all-in-one solution, as well as unlimited photo hosting (which as very attractive to me, as an avid photographer). Best of all, I was able to cross-post - that is, post on Multiply.com and automatically the post would also appear on Blogger, including the inline photos.

Since then, did try to do some parallel blogging to Facebook (which was not very suitable as there's no indexing, and other blog basics) and as of late, Google+. However, in the end, going back to the grassroots and stick to Blogger as my main interface to the world.

My last post on which I've made my former blog on Multiply.com and cross-posted to Blogger was in Jan 2012. After this date, I've started blogging exclusively on Blogger, as the Multiply was already planning to abandon it's user base of bloggers to focus exclusively on e-commerce. As one might expect, this created quite a uproar and got a lot of feedback from the blogging community (some quite vocal and verbose, others like myself just quietly switched to another platform). Whether because of this bad decision, or perhaps Multiply.com was already doomed to a fate not unlike Myspace and Friendster (due to Facebook, undoubtedly), it looked like a downward spiral of no return.

And thus, it came as no surprise that Multiply.com ceased all operations as of 31 May 2013. Another one bites the dust. The effect on me is that for all of my cross-posts, hosted photos are no longer valid as Multiply servers are now offline. Therefore, a lot of my earlier posts will now look horrible.

Pineapple tarts? No, just a placeholder for the dead image link (now scattered through the earlier years of my blog)

Multiply also offered free unlimited photo albums with their photo hosting, so I'm afraid the links to those photo albums are now also deader than doorknobs.

Fortunately, due to cross-posting, all of the text is safe (for now) at Blogger. Would be quite an effort to edit all of the past posts and re-insert the photos, so forgive me for leaving them as they are. A grim reminder of the truth of impermanence.

Sigh - what to do now? Moving forward, I hope that Blogger will not pull a Multiply on me somewhere in the unknown future. As for my early blog posts, instead of deleting them, I will leave them in place, as blogging for me started out as an experiment in keeping up with the times (don't want to get left behind by the wave of technology and become a dinosaur). Somewhat of a hobby - unlike some other bloggers, I don't monetize my blog with ads, nor do I intend to make it a source of income.

Well, here's hoping for a bright future ahead, both in real life and in cyberspace!