I check in on about 8 or 9 blogs per day. I check a few friends' blogs, the blog for the organizer of this year's NC Marathon, some Durham oriented blogs and I even read some random blogs of people I knew in former lives. It is interesting to hear what people are up to and it also gives you a break during the work day. On about half these blogs, I could be considered a "lurker." I pop in, read the most recent post and pop back out. Quick and dirty. Yet sometimes something strikes me and I make my presence known. I post a quick reply, an old memory, or a funny quip. I don't comment much, but when the urge hits, sometimes I say hello.
With all the nifty tools available on the internets nowadays, lurking is damn near impossible. At least the "100% anonymous" lurking of the past. It's a big part of why I have decided to stop "lurking" on a few of the blogs I read since these bloggers are also probably using some of the same tools I use to keep track of their traffic. The hit counter/web traffic service I use breaks my users down by how they accessed my blog, what city they accessed it from and even the name of the server from the computer from which they accessed it. That may not seem too telling, but the server names of many places make it pretty darn obvious who is reading my blog.
It's crazy how much info you can get - there are people I know that read only during the week and not on the weekend; that access only from work and not from home; they have me bookmarked or they google the blog name to find the link. My two most popular posts are about facebook wrestling and faux-sausage cheese balls.
Therefore, I am much more open about posting a little comment when I feel like it and it's all a part of me coming out of the lurking closet. And even though you may not be commenting, I know you are floating around too. A bit "big brother", eh??
3 comments:
I have the same stuff you do to keep track of folks. The post (of mine) that gets the most hits is one I wrote about Microsoft Hearts (the game) cheating. I think I have over 30 comments on that post, including two people that were "fighting" back and forth.
And, people are arriving from parts of the world that I've never heard of!
I love seeing my international hits - my audience in Europe is growing at almost one reader per week. Ha! It is pretty cool though to know that people all over the world peek in from time to time.
I have never felt so violated... ;)
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