What Does That Mean?

When you write an article and publish it, like we do here in Blogistan, that information goes out much like smoke from a chimney. Straight up if there is no breeze and swirling and well, interesting looking if there is any sort of air movement (yes we have a wood-stove here). Out there, affected by what often seem to be random factors, you really cannot tell how that information will be taken, interpreted or used.

It is always good to get some sort of feedback about the ideas that go out, if only to know whether anyone really understood it the way I intended. I am not a wordsmith by trade or training you see. Much happens here by trial and error.

"Blogger" gives some basic feedback, letting you know what posts are popular for instance. What it doesn't tell you is why that post is popular or not and that is a bit frustrating.

A perfect example is a post from over two years ago here that I titled "Become A Woman, Eh?". According to the stats, it is the second most popular post on this blog. Not having looked at it for a long time, I decided to investigate what might be at the heart of the continuing interest.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that image of a sexy robot ad. Now, that post also featured some really excellant writing on the topic of femininity vs. Madison Av. imagery, and that was just the collection of insightful comments. My writing on the topic seemed pretty good too (if I do say so myself). There is no statistic on whether all those 'readers' over the past two years since the last comment were actually visiting to read.

So, I am left wondering why the post continues to draw attention, and cannot help but think it is for a reason connected with, but contrary to the spirit of the post. Sigh..  did I mention when you write for the public you really cannot tell how that information will be taken, interpreted or used?

BTW, the most popular post (and it hasn't been up as long) has been "Almost a Guest Post", by my friend Sarah. I am not at all upset that someone else gets credit for that popularity... well maybe a little jealous. :-)