It's strange -- any more, Winter seems to last forever, but years flip by like a cinematic cliche. So much has changed, so much stays the same.
When I started blogging, The Truth Laid Bear blogging ecosystem was kind of fading; Technorati was a going enterprise and Sitemeter was hot. Over the years, Technorati turned its attention elsewhere, or maybe just off, and Sitemeter eventually decided that loading obtrusive adware was the way to monetize. Tam moved to StatCounter and I followed soon after.
At one time, I looked at the numbers daily. Any more, every few weeks is often enough.
There's a definite downward trend. I don't pay the five bucks a month to save stats forever, so I only have about a year, but it's got a slope. Eventually, it'll be like it was back in the beginning, just me and some web-crawlers from search engines, maybe a friend stopping by every so often.
Things have a natural cycle and blogging is on the downside. While Twitter seems to be fading, other short-form social media (Facebook, mostly) are still growing. This is the way of things.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
15 comments:
It may be fading, but I for one appreciate the retro technologists that are still blogging. Thank you.
Blogging is dead. I get 10-20% of the hits I got six or seven years ago. Is it Facebook, Twitter, my content? Yes.
I still show up every day to see what you have to say.
I use Statcounter to see if Mom is up. Not so important now that she is in a retirement community. She always checks Curmudgeonly and SondraK from my list.
I'm still here, and am less on FB. Guess I'm going backwards!
And while my counter still works, my FEEDJIT seems to only report SF views...
Curiouser and curiouser...
gfa
But stat counter probably doesn't capture the people like me who are reading your every word through an rss feeder.
I get the feeling that browsing through a large list of BookMarks is less common than it used to be...
You probably see me in your stats. (Does the stat-counter distinguish a smart-phone hitting the "mobile" site from a browser hitting the non-mobile site?)
I think I agree that BlogSpot and related sites are less traffic-heavy than they used to be. I'm also mildly saddened by the many voices that have gone silent.
Though, I think my own blog now counts among those...
I read your blog every week just to keep up with things in Broad Ripple, where I used to live in my younger days. You are a wonderful writer. Please keep doing what you're doing.
I come here simply because I learn from you. It is indeed a shame that so many people are content to become vegetables as they age, but that does seem to be the trend. On a positive note, perhaps those of us that still do come here are more loyal and better informed than the unwashed masses that have dropped from the blog, and can truly appreciate what you have to say. Or maybe we just like to cause trouble, like the rest of the idiots. I can be both, depending on the day. Just don't give up, based on numbers.
So far as I know, StatCounter (which I also switched to after the SiteMeter debacle) does not count RSS feeds and such. (It does count mobile visitors, which represent about a quarter of my traffic.)
But I have not given up hope. Admittedly, I have about 300 visitors a day, down from more than twice as many a decade ago -- but I have over a thousand taking the feed. And if I get a comment on Twitter, as I do rather frequently, it doesn't figure into the system stats, but it feels just as good.
(The previous item was mine; it was removed due to my inability to spot a typo until after the item is saved.)
You know my sordid blogging history, from start to present I think. Tam inspired me to begin, and yours was one of the first comments on my first food porn post. "You had me at mushrooms"
I began blogging with the arrogance to think people would care what I say, and more than a little angst to release. Over the years and changes since then, I've let go a lot of notions that were unsupportable. Including, thankfully, the one about people.
Stats... I clearly remember using the stat counters and sitemeters and wizzywozzies, and hanging on their reports several times a day. Somehow I lost that desire a few years ago, and can't recall why they were important to me.
After a hiatus of years, I'm finding myself drawn to blogging again. At least, a little. Not to speak out so much, this time, but to 'speak in' if you will.
:) Smiles to you all. I'm not going away, just feeling....experienced.
For me, I check in every day to make sure you, Tam and the cats are okay.
:) Thank you!
I'm actually surprised that the conservative blogosphere hasn't kicked back up into gear, given that FB and Twitter and other social media outlets are not by any means conservative-friendly.
Social media are the Dark Side. Not stronger; just easier, more seductive.
But yeah, you and Tam and Joe and Og are still every-day clicks...
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