Is the USGenWeb going down a bit?

I have been looking around at some of the USGenWeb sites lately and I have to say that it seems they are going down a bit. I remember a time when there was a waiting list to become a county volunteer, especially in major genealogical states like Virginia. Now it seems that most states have at least one county up for adoption. Is it just me or did the GenWeb lose some of its steam?

Perhaps the GenWeb is faltering because the content has gotten stale. Their archives project never impressed me much due to lack of content. Some of their other, smaller projects did not appeal to me or many other members of the public. It is not all the USGenWeb's fault though. If the public does not submit information, the site will not continue to grow.

It seems to me that people love to find information; they just do not want to share their information. Maybe they are stingy and do not want to give their work away for free. Maybe they feel others will take their work out of context or claim it as their own. Perhaps people do not want to take the time to submit data, to make transcripts. I personally do not submit much anymore because life has become quite hectic as I have started a family and a career. Everyone has their reasons not share data but we need to start giving more if we want free, Internet genealogy to exist in ten years.

I have made many great connections through the Internet, the USGenWeb and other such sites. I have met cousins that had old family photos I never dream existed. There is so much value to the Internet that we need to support projects like the GenWeb. If everyone submitted one document or one photo, the collection would grow tremendously. I think it is time that everyone puts in a little extra effort - write an article, answer a survey, post to a blog or message board. Tell you friends about your favorite genealogy sites, add them to you link pages. Do what you can to help the Internet genealogy community stay fresh, stay strong and continue to grow. Do not let our hobby be a fad that simply slips away into obscurity.