Charming. I admit that the blogosphere is not exactly the most constructive place in British politics, but think about how many scandals would never have even come to light without it.

Is this a heads-up for your departure bob? I hope not! I largely agree with LFaT (AAHHHH!!) that the nonsense and bollocks is a small price to pay for relative anonymity and not having overzealoussubeditors.

Just to clarify. I have tired of Twitter. It has changed since I started using it and it no longer holds the same interest for me. Twitter has also had the effect of reducing the amount of blogging (and stopping it completely in some cases) from some bloggers I liked. That means that everything has been reduced to a 140 character tweet which isn't conducive to online discourse.

I have long been tired of a certain type of blogging. The tedious, tribal, circle-jerking stuff that passes for much (but not all) of UK political blogging. I've never been a 'political' blogger. I'm an old-fashioned 'link-blogger' with a few added asides thrown in when I feel like it. That is what I've decided to return to. The reason? Because I always enjoyed it and I see blogging largely as a pleasant hobby.

LFAT. I'm sure a few scandals would have been missed without bloggers but the entire forces of the UK blogosphere have less impact on political life than the fortnightly copy of Private Eye that drops through my letterbox. If I had to choose, I know which one I would have.

Anyone who doubts the sheer volume of idiots out there just doesn't get around enough.

You are right, Bob. Some people will move away from social networks in the next 12 months. Many have already moved away from serious blogging. I've been shocked by how many people have admitted to not only not updating their blogs as often as they used to but, more significantly, almost stopping visiting any other blogs. But it was bound to happen eventually, I suppose.

The election will keep things on the boil for a while and it will be interesting to see what happens afterwards. We may see new social networks developing. Ones that are more relevant to our changing online demands. In any case, I'll be around in some shape or form for a while yet! :-)) or maybe that should be :-((