Friday, December 24, 2010

a year of counting

Exactly one year ago today I added a hit counter to my blog. Since then I've had 2081visits, and the visitors have come from 51 countries!

This is pretty amazing to me since I do so little to encourage visits to my blog. I don't spend a lot of time reading or commenting upon other blogs, and only occasionally self-promote my posts on Facebook.

1741 of my hits this past year have come from the USA. 66 have come from Canada. 44 from New Zealand, and 42 from Britain. I've also gotten 24 from Germany, 21 from Russia, and 17 from Australia.



I'm sure a lot of these hits are accidental - people who end up here by clicking the "next blog" button. A lot of hits probably also come from the links on my Flickr and Facebook profiles.

I probably get a lot of hits from people who come just to have a look and then don't return. But I do have some regular followers, and I appreciate the comments I get from them. It's so nice to know that someone is actually out there!





The majority of my hits (353) have come from Grand Rapids - which I'm sure have come from friends and family there. As well as the 66 hits that have come from Kalamazoo. What's odd to me is that I get more comments from strangers than I do from family and friends.

If I were to send my friends a letter in the mail - a nice chatty letter full of news and observations, a letter with photographs tucked in - I'm sure they'd enjoy it. They'd sit down and read it and maybe even write back, the way they did before the internet. But they never (or very rarely) comment on my blog.




Oh well. Comments are nice, but I'm sure I'll keep posting with or without them. I still have a fat stack of potential blog topics I'd like to write about someday. You know... that someday we all dream of when time is easy & all the chores are done.

1 comment:

karen said...

Yeah...I know what you mean about the comments. I really don't get that many...at least not as many as my counter says I have visits....but I've come to blog more for myself. I think I like to hear myself think out loud. and if anyone cares to comment it certainly is welcome...but it's not why I post on my blog. It's been nice to look back over my older posts and see where life has taken me over time...sort of like a journal. And in fact I think Ive worked out some of my issues. I used to try not to rant. But then when I decided that I needed to for me...for my blog...I just let it rip. To hell with blog etiquette I said to myself. If someone doesn't like like what I've gone off about they can just move on. And...I it was at that point where I think I found my true voice...the I don't give a s*** attitude. I was looking for blog friends that would love me unconditionally...and I think I have found many...and this makes me smile. And once I started commenting on other blogs...people got to know me better and felt comfortable commenting on my blog...I guess that's how it works. I was learning to make new friends....go figure.
I've enjoyed popping in here because you offer yourself...your artist photography, a view into your interests, as well as your family life with a brutal honesty. So thank you for your blog friendship.
Wishing you and yours a very happy new year...I look forward to another year of blogging. You've got great stuff here.