Now we are seven

This week Savage Minds turns seven years old.

It’s been a great, tumultuous seven years. Although regular readers may not know it, behind the scenes we at Savage Minds have contemplated closing down the blog numerous times, mostly because it is so much trouble to keep posting things to it. But blogging is a habit that’s hard to quit, and so we stumble on.

In this past year the blog has become weirdly hegemonic in anthropology, despite the large number of better things out there being written by other authors. I was talking to someone recently who was afraid they detected a lack of quality in ‘SM’s usual high standards’ and were worried the blog was going down hill. This, to me, indicated that they has not read anything from our first three years! While we soldier on the anthropological noosphere keeps getting bigger and better, filled with more journals, blogs, occasional papers, and social networks. Its gratifying.

Most gratifying for me, however, has been working with the other Minds on this site. I probably lay eyes on Kerim or Celty once every two years, and so I’m always amazed that when we do sit down together we find that we really have become close friends. Even if SM can’t take credit for the development of anthropology’s online community, it definitely has created — no kidding — friendships that are set to last a lifetime. I’m quite happy in our little silo, and I hope regular readers have enjoyed the past year as much as I have.

Rex

Alex Golub is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His book Leviathans at The Gold Mine has been published by Duke University Press. You can contact him at rex@savageminds.org

6 thoughts on “Now we are seven

  1. I’ll second that. You have created an indispensable presence on the Net. Stay proud, my friends.

  2. This blog has been invaluable to me. It’s pretty much the only anthropology site where actual discussions of anthropology take place. Most other blogs are only updated intermittently or are highly specialized (e.g. neuroanthropology). This blog is only one that actually regularly pushes anthropology forward and updates people on the latest debates (or controversies) within anthropology. Keep up the good work.

  3. Happy birthday, and thanks for not giving in to the temptation to close down the blog. I am not an anthropologist, and do not work in a related field, but would still count SM as one of the best online intellectual resources currently available, and find the posts and articles consistently illuminating and thought-provoking. Have a nice cup of tea and a slice of chocolate cake to celebrate!

  4. “It’s pretty much the only anthropology site where actual discussions of anthropology take place”
    Trufax

    Thanks friends.

  5. Thanks all. But just think: wouldn’t the world be a better place if you started your _own_ blog ;?

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