According to my stats, people don’t read blogs anymore.
Category: Blog
What brings people to Reality Me?
Today’s list of search terms that brought people to Reality Me. Not what I’d expect. I’d say people are really confused about the Charter Amendments…and where to get condoms.
Looking forward to November 5
I’ve wondered in this political season how many people who enjoyed a particular blog quit reading because of that person’s support for a particular candidate. I feel this election is very important and as such I have been very outspoken in support of Barack Obama. I hope that has not driven people away who have enjoyed Reality Me in the past. Recently, Cathy and I upset, and ran off, one reader that we assumed was passing through and making brief comments on blogs supporting Obama. We forgot that the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon taught us that all people are closely connected. In this case, our "passing" Republican was not a troll but a quiet reader of both our blogs who delurked for a political statement. I know this because it turns out she is a friend of my brother.
So, I’m looking forward to November 5, 2008, to cut back on some of the political posts and get back to the humor in life, some tech, pictures of my children, and news of the odd.
Blogging, at least mine, is an opinionated form of publishing that may be biased and at times without objectiveness. With its world-wide reach, the potential audience for a blog is huge. As such, the odds are someone is going to be disturbed, or offended. I can only hope that spurs some interesting conversations in comments and perhaps an opportunity to meet for coffee and discuss our differences. So if the Pro-Obamaness of Reality Me has driven you nuts, let’s have some coffee together and talk something other than politics. In the meantime, check out this great video from Obama!
I banish thee!
Knoxville Talks, once a hot property, has gone silent with no updates since September 8. When Katie left for Knoxnews, WBIR failed to keep the fire going for Knoxville Talks which goes to show how quickly an audience can vanish for an active site.
Knoxville Talks, I strike thee from my feed reader. Be gone!
Didn’t Make Michael’s List
I suck! (concisely)
Anecdotal is out. Concise clarity is in. In these days of the Internet Attention Span, if you don’t get me in one sentence – two tops – then I’m gone. [Source, No Silence Here, Some blogs I like, and why teachers should be using them]
I’m going to have to stay on the outs. One of my favorite movie quotes is "Looks like Walt Disney threw up!" That’s Burt Reynold’s character Sonny Lawson in the movie The End after trying to commit suicide by taking a fist full of colorful pills, chasing them with a glass of milk and immediately spitting the whole concoction back on the glass topped coffee table. (and no, I won’t remember your name in two weeks). I imagine that quote reflects how many people probably see Reality Me. It’s like Being John Malkovich but you are in my head. This blog is not a news blog or a tech blog; it is anecdotal! Call it a character study if you like. News, tech, politics and such slip in, and sometime dominate the landscape, but all in all, Reality Me is a collection of my insights and my adventures that I share for prosperity, your pleasure, and my fun.
Oh, and according to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008, I’m about 93,000 hits a month away from not sucking.
Sonny…back in my day…
…if you wanted a random stranger to impregnate you, you had to at least leave the house and let him buy you a couple of beers first.
…In less than two weeks, I will be ovulating, which as everyone should know is primetime for baby making. The problem is that I don’t yet have a partner…I just need some good, hearty seed…I am 26 years old, 5’4″, 115lbs., long brown hair, well, you can see more details in the pic. I have most of a PhD in Biophysics and will be finishing my JD before the child is born… [Source, The Garage Sale Blog Network, My Biological Egg Timer is Ticking, Ticking, Ticking – Ship in a Bottle]
The skeptic in me thinks this is a great way to get some short-term, unqualified traffic to her blog. And of course, I just participated in helping her strategy work if that is the plan. Remember folks, short-term spikes in traffic does not necessarily result in fame, increased ad revenue, or long term readership; it often just causes extra cost in hosting.
2/3s of the way there!
I feel like a presidential candidate asking for 20 people to donate $5 each to send Cathy and Sarah to BlogHer Nashville. Some amazingly wonderful people have contributed to sending Cathy and Sarah to BlogHer! Sarah is thrilled! Cathy is so jazzed that she wants to be a panelist at BlogHer 2009. So if you are attending a BlogHer event, be sure to whisper loudly within earshot of the organizers, "Gee, I sure wish Cathy McCaughan of Domestic Psychology were speaking." Sarah and Cathy are going to come back with their blogs on fire like never before! We are a 7 person household and 6 of those people have blogs! (that doesn’t include Facebook and MySpace etc.) We are "The Family That Blogs Together." With 5 children in 5 different schools this year, such a trip would not be feasible without your help. Thank you!
News stops where profits start
It almost sounds like Dan Rather is saying bloggers are the hope for future reporting.
Send the Girls to BlogHer
Registration ends next week!
BlogHer has announced the desire to close registration next week. We’ve had our first contributor! We are a 7 person household and 6 of those people have blogs! (that doesn’t include Facebook and MySpace etc.) With BlogHer coming to Nashville I think Cathy and Sarah should go! I created a ChipIn to see if we could get them sponsored and two days ago we received our first contribution of $5! Awesome! Now if we can get 59 more people to do the same, the girls get to go! I think it will be some good bonding time for mom and daughter. I think they will have some great social networking opportunities with bloggers they only know in print. And I think they will come back excited to try new blogging tools, technologies and writing techniques they discover at BlogHer. Plus Barry will write snarky things about them!
Registration ends next week!
Time to re-evaluate the ads on this blog
Adsense just served up a “Vote for McCain” ad on my blog! This could be a sign that I have no business having ads on my blog.
Cheap Web Traffic
If you want some unqualified cheap hits to your blog right now, blog something that includes "vp milf" make a mention of "cats" and "guns" and for the kicker link to a CNN article.
Update: Apparently there is a distinction between searching google for "vp milf" which shows Reality Me as the 2nd search result on page one and searching google for "milf vp" in which Reality Me doesn’t show up until the 2nd page. Oooh oh S.E.O.
I read your blogs
More often I am bumping into people who volunteer, "I read your blogs." At first I would blush over, maybe apologize, quickly explain that some writing is fiction or embellished, and ask, "Do you still like me?" Now I perk up, smile, and respond positively and thank them for reading adding that I hope they continue to enjoy the writing.
The statement is "I read your blogs" – plural. So Cathy and I get bunched together (and possibly Tommy, Sarah, Noah, Amy, and a specialty blog or two. Evan cannot spell yet.) Of late, the "I read your blogs" has a followup sentence that is consistently being said by unrelated people, "Cathy writes really well!" It’s subtle, but there’s a message in there! I’ll get better with practice. (Cathy does write really well. Domestic Psychology should be in your feed reader! Links for her: post feed and comment feed)
Netiquette
Psst! Hey, if you are going to borrow bandwidth, a link or credit would be appreciated. The source of the web design pie chart is from Photobucket.
Let’s send Sarah and Cathy to Blogher!
I have tried Chipin a couple of times without success. Of course, the vasectomy chipin was a huge failure but did remarkably better than the new dryer chipin. I thought I would give Chipin one more try with a cause that is less about me and more about others, albeit, others close to me. See, we have three female bloggers in the house. Cathy blogs at Domestic Psychology. Sarah blogs on her own website. And Amy blogs on her own website. Granted, Amy and Sarah don’t post very frequently and sometimes their content is lacking a little substance, but they try. Amy’s composition and typing skills are age appropriate and Sarah would rather be on Facebook or MySpace.
Cathy would love to have the opportunity to participate in a convention. Blogher Nashville would be perfect! And I think Sarah would really enjoy it too. So I am giving Chipin one more try. Let’s send the girls to Blogher Nashville! Please consider contributing to their registration fees and hotel. Thanks! (I have also put a widget in the sidebar)
Tweetup was a whale of a time!
Aubrey’s management eyeballed them suspiciously. Fifteen silence people taking broad steps toward the restaurant with heads hung low, each holding a device in one or two hands with their thumbs making rapid movements. One of these characters held a device in each hand. "Quick! Open the patio. These guys look like trouble." The group settled in around the table, and, wordlessly, began pecking on their phones and palm devices. Occasionally one would look up, point and laugh. These are the Knoxville Twitters!
What is Twitter? Probably the most common question asked of anyone who admits to their texting addiction. Followed by: I don’t get it. Twitter is a microblogging platform which you update from your phone and receive updates through your phone. You can also update Twitter with special programs, instant messengers, websites, and email. Basically, people choose to follow your updates and you choose to follow the updates of others. When you send a message, all your followers receive it. It is like shouting into a crowded room. Some people use if for vanity/voyeurism/exhibitionism, some use if for marketing/spam/self-promotion, some for utility, some for news and so forth. The possible uses for Twitter continue to be defined as it is truly a new frontier in the electronic wilderness.
Right now Twitter is known for having frequent outages. People are irritated but the simplicity of Twitter puts it ahead of its competitors. The fact that Twitter has a strong community puts it ahead of the other services too. Twitter is going through growing pains and it will overcome the scaling issues. Twitter is well worth the wait!
Today’s Tweetup (a meeting of people who otherwise may only known each other online by their Twitter nick names, like a blogfest) was a lunch at Aubrey’s off of Papermill. Fifteen people attended and we all had a blast. In attendance: @djuggler, @zane_hagy_z11, @knoxgirl75, @mwoodvols, @whodini, @suzytrotta, @cocoholder, @kmberlylauth, @bballentine, @utfcu, @bobmissy07, @ashleystravel, @alanstevens, @mjstone, and @stuboo. Topics ranged from "what’s up (or down) with Twitter?" to careers to funny antidotes. We managed to stay out of politics I think. It was a lot of fun! I look forward to the next.
Update: Every needs to follow @thecadillacman so that he gets the next announcement.
