Change - sometimes it's difficult!

There has been a lot of debate going on since yesterday regarding changes to the A-Z Challenge.

For anyone who doesn't know what that is where have you been since 2010?  Basically it's a challenge to blog every day through April, except Sundays, with the theme of starting with A on 1st April and working through to Z on the 30th. 

If you want the full history, details etc you can find it all here.

Part of the fun of the challenge is visiting other people taking part.  For this you need a list of participants.  Well you did.  This year the organisers want to change things a bit.  Well a lot.  They don't want the list.  


Why? Because the list is updated daily and people who signed up on the sign up day but who aren't keeping to the challenge are removed.  Unfortunately the success of the challenge may be it's downfall.  Last year there were over 2000 participants.  That's a lot of blogs to be checking.  Of course the organisers organise their own teams of minions to check the blogs but it has become an awful lot of work.

Now they want the onus to be on the bloggers to post a link each day on the appropriate post on the A-Z blog site.  So for those of us who take part in things like the Wednesday Hodgepodge or SoCS or any other meme where you add your name to a Linky list/post a link in a comment etc this is nothing new.

But it's new for the A-Z challenge.  So it's a change.  And often we are resistant to change.  Even when we know it will be better or that the current way isn't working.

The way we communicate with one another has changed so much during my lifetime.  I can remember when we first got our home telephone.  It was so exciting.  When I compare that to my current mobile phone (which isn't the latest iphone but still has lots of bells and whistles) there is no comparison.

When I was younger I never dreamt I could be sitting here in the comfort of my own home and sending something out into the ether where it could be read by anyone with the means to access it.

Of course sometimes that's scary.  Especially when you also know how it can be manipulated or worse.  Change is scary too.  When the new arrangements are unknown, even untested, as creatures of habit we want to hang on to the old ways.  We often quote, (me included) if it's not broken why fix it?  

The A-Z list is beginning to break.  Many a blogger will complain if they visit someone who's signed up for the challenge but hasn't posted any entries.  They'll say the list is not up to date.  They might ask why aren't the organisers/minions removing those blogs from the list?  Probably because they have a life too and sometimes it gets in the way.

Lots of suggestions have been put forward to try and prevent this change.  Personally I can understand why steps have been taken to address the issue.  I'm not 100% happy with the proposal but I'm not a minion so I have to accept what the organisers are prepared to try.  They don't get paid to do this.  It's a labour of love.  Except I think it's become just labour and something clearly had to change.

Will I vote as some people are suggesting they will by not taking part this year?  No way.  Some of my posts are already prepared.  I'll give it a try and see if I like the change.

Sometimes we have to be brave.  In the comfort of our own little blog worlds that should be achievable.