Following Blogs

I have a friend who just recently decided to get on the Internet with a blog of her own. She started it toward the end of January and has written every day since. Her blog is called "Erasing the Bored," and that's exactly what she attempts to do with every one of her posts. She could have written about a multitude of topics but she zeroed in on Change and Creativity and her post is all the stronger for it.

I've been reading her post almost every day (and I always catch up if I've missed any). I enjoy reading her thoughts and gleaning bits of knowledge from her posts. I am officially a follower of her blog--she has 18 official followers already--but I would follow her blog even if I wasn't. She has a voice that I love to "hear." And she makes me think.

This got me to thinking about all the blog followers out there. Unless you have analytical tools that keep track of your visitors and what they view (see Google Analytics, for one), you would never know that they'd been there unless they leave comments or link to your post from their own. I have a blog on Word Press, too and it keeps track of your visits automatically. From that I found out that one of my posts, "The Future of Newspapers" drew 13 "hits," but only one of them left a comment.

These ghosts that pass through our lives are our audience and we don't even know them. That's not so different from writing a book and not knowing who is buying it (hopefully) and reading it. But the Internet is so transitory and so secretive. People who followed mailing list conversations used to be called "lurkers" and that's a little bit how it feels when people visit your blog without leaving a trace.

I do the same of course. We're too busy to leave comments everywhere we go, not to mention that sometimes we just can't think of anything to say. But now that I've become a blogger, especially one who hopes to be read, I can see that I've been remiss with the blogs I follow. I need to let the posters that I'm out here and that I care. That might sound sappy, but I'd hate for someone to stop blogging just because they think no one is reading the words they've thrown to the universe.

I have my blogs listed in my profile, except for my newest (and most personal) one: miteypen.wordpress.com. If you do happen to pay me a visit, leave a sign. It will encourage me to keep on blogging. (Although to tell you the truth, I'd probably keep on doing it anyway.)