Today’s post is a short one about the blog itself. In the past two weeks I hit two milestones, according to the notifications that WordPress gave me. According to WordPress, I received my 150th follower last week. My posts also received the 1,000th like that readers gave them.
Now, those are not large numbers, but they are nice numbers to me. I write the blog to share my contemplations, and it is nice to know that someone might be reading it.
I myself follow a few blogs that I find interesting, and note how they have people that comment frequently, and on a regular basis. Those blogs probably get more comments per post, on average that I have followers total. Of course, their topics are more focused, both on politics, publishing, the art and business of writing. I would like to have a blog that got more comments, but I don’t often post on subjects that stimulate discussion and controversy as those blogs do.
There is a blog I follow that often gets few comments, but it is also one of my favorites. It is a more lighthearted, lifestyles-type blog, by a published author. But she gets enough comments at other times to know that people are engaged with her posts, even when they don’t comment.
Me, I tend to write about things that in a way to build consensus, provide information and amusement. That style doesn’t generate as many comments as the grittier materials of the more well-read blogs I follow.
When I check back on the history of my blog, I see I opened it in November of 2012, and started daily postings by January 2014. Having three and a half years of daily postings under my belt, and only receiving 1,000 likes seems like a fairly small number.
Yet stats don’t tell the whole story. Remember, within the past two months I have met people who have come up to me in public places, and talked to me about reading my blog, and how they appreciated the information.
So, the thing for me to mull is: am I doing with the blog what I want? do those stats support or justify my goals and the efforts I put in.
And my answer is: Yes. The stats support the other small amounts of feedback to let me know that this information is beneficial to others, and puts something positive for people to read and follow.
At The Rainbow 