Friday, April 17, 2015

Blogging

I rarely look at my site statistics.  Mine is a small. personal blog, written mostly as therapy, and I have never actively sought to grow it.  But recently I had cause to look at the statistics and found some strange and wondrous things:


  • More people read my blog on days I don’t post something than the days I do.  (I have no idea what this means)


  • Only about 10% of all visitors leave a comment.  This kind of surprised me because I always thought I knew most of the people reading - because they commented.  And I know I have a couple of readers who generally email me  if they want to respond or question something that I wrote.  But apparently the majority of people read and never comment.  I do that on quite a number of blogs myself.


  • Most people come to my blog from “no referring link” or from feedly or from typing in the name directly.  A scary number of people come randomly by googling something (keyword unavailable) that brings them to a post I wrote called “The problem with not having breasts” These folks never read more pages or comment.   I don’t even want to think about what they are really looking for but I am sure they are disappointed when they get to my page.

Anyway, all this got me thinking.  I have often wavered about keeping the blog up.  There was a time in my life when I really needed writing to process all the therapy work I was doing and the support and friends I found though that process was amazing.  But now my life has settled into a rather average routine and I find that I don’t have the overriding need to get things out of my head and onto paper.


On the other hand, I know that writing was one of the major keys in my therapy success and my gratitude practice of the Full of Grace posts keep me centered.  So I am also frightened to give it up.  


Then I was thinking about why other people blog and I know there are probably as many reasons as there are blogs.  But one thing I think most have in common is that they enjoy getting comments and feedback.  I know I appreciate when someone takes the time to write a few words, or just say they stopped by.  I have developed some truly nice friendships with many of my commenters and some very mutually supportive relationships with people who suffer PTSD and/or are dealing with breast cancer.


And so (yes this train of thought post has a destination)  I will probably continue this blog even though it has become rather dull (in my opinion) and I am going to make a conscious effort to read more blogs and to leave more comments for others.  

If you know of any blogs I might be particularly interested in, please let me know.  And if you are one of those who read but never comment, please, if you feel comfortable enough, say hello.  I would be very happy to meet you.  






16 comments:

  1. Hello! Well, I always comment so that probably doesn't count.
    I'm glad you will continue to blog. I would miss your voice if you stopped.
    A ' slice of life ' type of blog that I adore is John Gray's, Going Gently. He posts nearly every day even if it's about inconsequentials. He is a nurse and poultry farmer in Wales, married to a university academic. Gay! Yay!
    His exploits and views on life are funny and poignant.

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    1. Even if I stopped blogging, I think you and I would still stay in touch.

      And thank you for this blog! I looked at it briefly and see that he ties a lot of stuff to movies, which I also love. I think this will be a keeper.

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  2. Have I been slacking?

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  3. I, too, am looking for more blogs to read. I've got a bunch in my feedly feed that I'm trying out. (I'm one of the people coming from feedly, something I'm also trying as I've been missing blog posts using wordpress. So far, so good.) Therefore, I don't have any recommendations yet, as I'm too new to reading them to know what I think. I'm looking forward to seeing what others enjoy, very much!

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    1. I not necessarily looking for more to read as much as I want to be supportive to fellow bloggers. And sometimes you just stumble onto something, or someone, special. It's an interesting community.

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  4. Although I could pick up the phone and call you, I am lazy and find it easier to come here to check up on you and especially to hear news about the girls. I hope you keep the blog up so I don't have to make an effort : )

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    1. I feel I am getting lazier and lazier about keeping up my social contacts. Can being a hermit with 37 cats be far behind???

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  5. I am pleased to have found you and find that I am uplifted or educated every single time I read here. So, thank you for that. Personal blogging . . yes, an interesting community. :-)

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    1. Thank you. I am very happy to have found you too!

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  6. My new job has left me little time for any blog reading or commenting, though I always try to read yours for its inspiration and the Full of Grace posts for their beauty. I believe I found your blog through MadPriest and when I have time I read many blogs from his roll.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words. I had made quite a few connections through MadPriest but have fallen off on my religious reading. Maybe I'll go back and check out his blogroll.

      Good luck with the new job!!!

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  7. Several years ago, I attracted a stalker. She has been the rock in my shoe ever since. My partner is very tech savvy, works part time for Apple, so she put up all kinds of firewalls, etc. I have no idea how these work. I just know that I will NEVER give anyone access to me easily again. And I've probably lost out on some great friendships because of that. I find my google analytics fascinating. I get nearly 500 readers per day but very few comment and the majority are first time visitors who only stay for a minute and don't return. And then then there are those who visit and stay for hours and I wonder what they see in me (until Bing reminds me that maybe they walked away from their computer, etc....) All I can say is be careful. My stalker was able to find out my home address (actually sent me a blueprint via email of my home with my bedroom circled...ICK!) and knew where both Bing and I worked and where my daughter went to school (she bragged about it...) When I went to the police, they told me that there was nothing I could do unless she directly threatened me. She hadn't, was just jealous of Bing. All they would let me do was put her name down as a person of interest if anything happened to me. And it was awful having to go to Liv's principal at her elementary school (she was 6 when this happened) and stress that NO ONE but Bing or I was to EVER pick her up. I used to sit at work stressing that this creep was watching my child. Caution is always best, in my opinion. And thanks for your comment on my blog about sleeping in the corpse position, too! I kept thinking I was being over protective.....

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    1. I remember reading about your stalker on your blog. That is some very scary stuff! I, like you, never print real names or any pictures of my family and I have been lucky in my connections - except for one person who refused to honor my boundaries, and that relationship has ended. I have even been able to meet a couple of bloggers which has been lovely.

      I often go to a blog at work and then get called away, minimize the tab and forget to click out . . .sometimes for days. I hope that people realize that I am quickly losing memory brain cells I'm not an obsessive stalker

      I was very protective of my chest - from contact and movement - for quite a while after surgery. When my appendix burst, the doctors called this kind of protecting an area as "guarding". It's an actual medical thing and a natural reflex to protect sore or painful areas. Now that I have implants I can bounce off walls with my chest : )

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  8. Well, I will weigh in too :) I only read a handful of blogs - I started mine so people would know I wasn't a stalker or creeper - and mainly so I could comment. I also had mixed feelings about putting info and pics out there - but then figure between all the social media that is being used by my kids - they are out there anyway. Unfortunately I am a bit too much Pollyanna and just assume the best. Since they all have four parents - we each spread out and follow them on all the different social apps. It is nice to know there are other families out there like mine - living in the area we do we sometimes feel like we really don't fit in...

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  9. I only read blogs I comment on. I think of it as community and as I get to know people, I become interested in their lives.

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