Blog Around the World
When my son Dan, who is a fanatic about Internet chess, talked about playing people in Russia and Israel and virtually all around the world , I used to marvel. I never thought that I too would find a niche in this global Internet web of connectivity.
On Monday morning as I checked my e-mail when I first got up, I found a most intriguing message from a person who professed to having read every post I had ever written the previous day (while at her office, mind you). First of all I was incredulous that anyone would find what I was writing compelling enough to plow through over a year of mostly daily posts. But secondly, this person told me that she lived on a different continent, lest I worry about a domestic stalker! She went on to tell me why she had liked what she read.
Quite to the contrary, my ego soared as I realized that I had an unsolicited fan, someone that I had not coerced into reading my Blog, who perhaps had not even found it through DCBlogs. I fantasized about where she might live, how old she was, what she might look like, the circuitous path that she had in actuality taken to arrive here. I knew only that she was a woman from her name. For some reason, I had assumed that she lived in the UK. I had fun thinking all day long about what questions I might like to ask her. That evening I sent off my probing questions and sure enough, got a timely reply.
It turns out that she lives in Brisbane, Australia. She is 24 years old. She has a charming Blog (www.wordsandthings.blogspot.com) of her own. She had found me through Reya (www.goldpoppy.blogspot.com) through her friend Anne (http://gnosiscafe.com/gcblog/) in San Francisco. We chatted through several additional e-mail messages. This linkage with a person halfway around the world made me realize just how accessible people everywhere have become.
I had another experience this week that boosted my ego. DC Cookie (www.dccookie.blogspot.com) had made a recent comment after the last Blogger happy hour that Reya and I fascinated the hell out of her. We weren’t sure what was so fascinating – our age difference, our subject matter, or what? So Reya asked and got an extremely thoughtful reply that included a line about how reading my Blog has helped her to better understand her own mother. WOW! I couldn’t have asked for greater reader support!
My world according to Blog has expanded significantly in the past few months, to the point where I have to figure out how to contain it so that it doesn’t dominate my life. But meanwhile, this instant connection with relative strangers is fascinating the hell out of me and I am having the time of my life.
On Monday morning as I checked my e-mail when I first got up, I found a most intriguing message from a person who professed to having read every post I had ever written the previous day (while at her office, mind you). First of all I was incredulous that anyone would find what I was writing compelling enough to plow through over a year of mostly daily posts. But secondly, this person told me that she lived on a different continent, lest I worry about a domestic stalker! She went on to tell me why she had liked what she read.
Quite to the contrary, my ego soared as I realized that I had an unsolicited fan, someone that I had not coerced into reading my Blog, who perhaps had not even found it through DCBlogs. I fantasized about where she might live, how old she was, what she might look like, the circuitous path that she had in actuality taken to arrive here. I knew only that she was a woman from her name. For some reason, I had assumed that she lived in the UK. I had fun thinking all day long about what questions I might like to ask her. That evening I sent off my probing questions and sure enough, got a timely reply.
It turns out that she lives in Brisbane, Australia. She is 24 years old. She has a charming Blog (www.wordsandthings.blogspot.com) of her own. She had found me through Reya (www.goldpoppy.blogspot.com) through her friend Anne (http://gnosiscafe.com/gcblog/) in San Francisco. We chatted through several additional e-mail messages. This linkage with a person halfway around the world made me realize just how accessible people everywhere have become.
I had another experience this week that boosted my ego. DC Cookie (www.dccookie.blogspot.com) had made a recent comment after the last Blogger happy hour that Reya and I fascinated the hell out of her. We weren’t sure what was so fascinating – our age difference, our subject matter, or what? So Reya asked and got an extremely thoughtful reply that included a line about how reading my Blog has helped her to better understand her own mother. WOW! I couldn’t have asked for greater reader support!
My world according to Blog has expanded significantly in the past few months, to the point where I have to figure out how to contain it so that it doesn’t dominate my life. But meanwhile, this instant connection with relative strangers is fascinating the hell out of me and I am having the time of my life.
posted by Barbara at 12:47 PM
9 Comments:
Go to Statcounter.com and set up an account, then add your blog to it. Then become instantly addicted to seeing how people read your blog all over the world. Trust me. You'll love it!
I use Sitemeter.com. They are all equally good. I still ponder how I picked up a reader in Turkey, and another one in Sweden.
You are definitely compelling enough. I've read 'em all, too, but not yesterday. Or at work.
I have StatCounter installed, but feel like I need a class in how best to use it. There is obviously a wealth of information available, but as a person in the IT field, I would like to come up with a way to electronically distill out the essence that could help me analyze trends, track individual readers, etc. So a few questions to you savvy Bloggers:
(1) How often do you look at whatever you have installed?
(2) Exactly what do you look at?
(3) What do you do with it, other than go "Gee, I have someone from Turkey reading my Blog today!"
Just wondering...
Like Dan I play an online game: bridge @ Bridge Base. I have learned phrases to greet people and wish them well in Turkish, Portuguese, Hindi, and Irish. It amazes me how well people all over the world speak English whereas many of us stumble and mumble or ignore the languages of others. Like chess players, bridge players are everywhere and I am particularly delighted that they "come to" bridge base to play.
Don't you just love the phrase "fascinate the hell out of?"
Kate -- Sounds like you've been around the world a few times, so to speak.
Cookie -- Yeah, there's something powerful about that phrase.
Now I feel terrible about reading blogs at work :-) In my pitiful defence, I'm a very fast reader, and my boss was out at lunch all afternoon. Um. And I was doing internet research at the same time? *slinks away vowing to work harder in the future*
Cee -- Don't beat yourself up too much. We ALL do it at work (well maybe not Kristin). That's just part of this contagious and permanent disease we call Blogging! I use it as a reward for working hard and getting something done and guess what -- I'm just as productive as I ever was!
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