The last several days have been interesting and opened my eyes a bit. This past Friday, after I’d finished writing about those Verizon salespeople at my front door (who almost convinced me I was switching from cable to Fios whether I liked it or not), I got on my blog and saw something crazy:
The ‘Visitor Counter’ in my sidebar was clicking away; ApacheDug’s Teepee had gotten hundreds of visits since that morning too. What was going on?
It had to be a software glitch, or some Russian ‘web bot’ was crawling my blog and got caught in a faulty algorithm or something. (And no, I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about.)
I wrote my friend Danielle and told her something loony was going on. I joked that a link to my blog was probably on some nefarious website like Breitbart.
(If you don’t know what Breitbart is… I envy you!)
A short time later, Danielle wrote back and said my blog was on a popular website called “Crooks and Liars”, a news site for liberals | progressives. They had posted a “Roundup” of liberal-minded blogs, and mine was one of them. She said I was on their Facebook page too, which has 165,000 likes.
I said “What the—how did you figure all that out?” She replied “Because I’m SMART, Doug! I have a brain you know!”
(We have a sort of passive-aggressive friendship, next time it’s my turn!)
By Friday night, my recent Trump post had gotten over 2000 visits
I received some emails linked to my blog too, but wasn’t sure how to respond. People sharing their own political views, and one had some pretty extremist opinions (for being a Liberal, that is).
He gave me grief for declining that invitation to a Heathen’s Supper 20 years ago (which I wrote about on that Trump post) and called me an Elitist. Isn’t there a statute of limitations on name-calling?
One cheerful woman asked if my blog was even a liberal one, “you seem to be all over the place”.
I did write back and said if it helps I was a liberal thinker.
I feel fortunate to know other personal bloggers out there like myself, I suppose most of us write or share what we do because something in us simply compels us to. And it’s nice when others take the time to read what you’ve written. At the same time, I wouldn’t want a thousand people reading what I’m sharing everytime I publish a new post. The idea of that kind of overwhelms me.
I wish I could know every person that’s been on my blog more than a couple times. I’m sure there isn’t that many, but when your blog gets 2,000 visits in one day you can’t help but wonder what they thought. Hope they weren’t too disappointed.
Well, I enjoyed the attention while it lasted. I’m pretty much back to relative obscurity now, and that suits me just fine.
Hi Doug! I love your blog. I too, am a liberal thinker. It's interesting to think about how politics has changed since the advent of the internet. Remember when our only source of news was the three networks and newspapers?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, keep writing. I really enjoy your posts and politics (and otherwise) commentary.
Hi Carole, thanks so much for the nice words! It's nice to meet you (and especially nice to meet a liberal thinker) :^) I sure do remember those early days, and sometimes I miss them--but it's no good hiding our heads in the sand. Thanks again for your positive words, much appreciated.
DeleteWow, 2,000 visits are overwhelming. And how did your friend find out where the hits were coming from? She does have a brain, doesn't she? What I like about my blog stats is the list of countries my hits are coming from. For example, India, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, UK, South Africa, Ireland, USA. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteGigi, she found where my blog was linked by doing searches on Google (though it didn't work the same for me). Anyway, that's pretty impressive, how far you blog has been--what's more impressive is that you've probably been to half those places! Anyway, you know you have a fan in Pittsburgh, Pa too :)
DeleteDear ApacheDug, while i only visit a few places on the net, (sermonaudio.com, some blogs and the weather page) seems on those few places i have noticed several of the bloggers live in Pennsylvania. So just want to say, greetings fellow Pennsylvanian. i also live in PA, in a very Trump area, and love it.
DeleteHi Laurie! Listen, I worked in IT for nearly 30 years and I have yet to pick up a smartphone, so I don't consider myself tech savvy either. But it's very nice to make your acquaintance, thanks so much for saying hi today :^)
ReplyDeleteWow, if it kept up you could monetize your blog and make a few coins. That is quite a volume of hits. No I don't know how to do that but clever Danielle might know how. Anyway Mr. Popular, enjoy the attention:) At least it is from the correct side.
ReplyDeleteThanks Patti! Well, I think it was pretty much a one-shot deal, my 15 minutes have come & gone. :) Danielle did some kind of search and looked at the order of hits on my blog's name, I never even heard of the site until she told me. I do like the site though :^)
DeleteThat is very cool, but like you, I prefer to fly under the radar. I wouldn't like getting emails from strangers, criticizing my liberal creds or anything else! I like new readers, but not thousands of them. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret, yes it was exciting but gave me a little performance anxiety ;^)
DeleteI think I agree with Margaret... and prefer to fly under the radar. But it was great for you to have your 15 minutes of fame!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rian, you summed it up very well. And I do like that liberal site I was featured on, it's like Huffington Post with teeth :^)
DeleteThat's really interesting. I consider myself a liberal so I should check out that site. I love looking at my stats and like someone else said, I love seeing all the different countries that have been on my blog. I try to not write political posts but whenever I do the count goes way up so maybe that attracts people. I always enjoy your posts even though I don't always comment!
ReplyDeleteBonnie, thanks very much for your nice comment here and it's always great to meet a fellow lib like yourself :) I always find the stats fun too, but I never thought to look at them when I write something political oriented. I will remember that for next time! I'm curious to check out your blog, thanks again for reading mine! :)
DeleteI absolutely love that answer that you are a liberal thinker!
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed at what posts become popular on my blog (and by popular I'm talking a hundred hit and not thousands). They are never what I would have predicted.
You are probably going to find this funny when I say I have heard of Breitbart but I have never stopped at their website. I probably will never log into Crooks and Liars either.
Thanks Ed, well I said that because I never intended this to be a political blog... as much as I admired Obama I never wrote about him here. Anyway, MY idea of a popular blog-post is 15 or 20, certainly not a hundred (let alone more than that). I doubt it will happen again. BTW, I haven't said anything but I have visited yours a number of times--your family's cabin, your ancestors. You put out a lot of info on there, you are driven! And finally, I don't find it funny you've never been on Breitbart--I find it SMART. :)
DeleteI prefer relative obscurity myself. I can't imagine getting multiple emails about something I posted on a whim.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you River 👍
DeleteI confess I have not heard of Crooks and Liars, but maybe I should check it out and become a little smarter. Anyway, congrats on making the big time!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom but it was just a lightning bolt--come & gone in a flash! I'm strictly small potatoes... :)
DeleteI remember Crooks and Liars from years ago, when I read a whole lot more liberal websites than I do today. It's enough to read the NYT, WaPo, the Atlantic, and my local newspaper. And I now have so many dear friends who are fellow bloggers (you're definitely one). :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan, so nice, thanks so much! I do know there's a lot to read out there, especially for active people like yourself--so it sure is flattering when thoughtful bloggers like yourself stop by. As you know, I've been a fan of yours for a long time. :^)
DeleteGosh... I’ve never heard of Crooks and Liars. My kids were very nervous about my being “out there” on the web. Sooo... I had to go into settings and take my blog off the web crawler. So now, when I write about something it doesn’t get posted all over the place on cyberspace. My kids are still nervous about my blog, but more relaxed now. I think. I had to even change my son’s name. Anyway, like DJan, I’m your fan and friend too.
ReplyDeleteKay... wow! I can understand your kids nervousness, I know when I began my own blog here 15 years ago, my middle sister demanded I remove various family members last names and not say where they live. But after some time had passed and Facebook came along & shared a lot more personal info than my blog did... Well, I am certainly a fan of YOUR charming blog Kay, I'm just glad I found you! :^)
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