That little world map with the yellow and flickering red dots is more than just a cool thing. It gives me information I can use, not the least of which is the unsurprising revelation that the vast majority of visitors here are one-timers. They either stumbled across it accidentally, or perhaps read of it somewhere, or whatever. On the other hand, it does give the number of visits from each little dot you see on that map. I didn't get neo-Earth at the same time I got site meter, and I didn't get site meter until two months in to this whole new blogging gig, so the numbers don't represent the total number of hits I've had. Site meter has been counting since January; neo-Earth has been doing its thing since late January/early February.
Neo-Earth tells me the number of times a particular city has visited my site, Interestingly enough, there are a few - those really big yellow dots, one of them sitting on the US map somewhere in the Kansas/Nebraska area, one sitting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, another in the English Midlands, that are titled "US", "Saudi Arabia", and "UK" respectively. The two biggest visitors are "US" and "Saudi Arabia". I find that more than fascinating.
I also know that I have repeat visitors to this site who comment either seldom or never. That is not only OK, I am glad for all the return visitors. In fact, I'm glad for all the visitors, even those who stumbled across it and clicked the "next" or "exit" button before they even figured out where they were. There are plenty of sites I visit that I have never, and will never, post a comment to, including Eschaton and FDL. These tend to be long-established communities that get more hits in an hour than I have had for the entire life of my blog, and the comments' threads tend to be clubby, chummy, contain all sorts of in-jokes and asides, and by the time I may feel like saying something, or even reading a post, the comments have gone down so many side roads they may be in another county altogether.
On the other hand, the commenters I have here are both reliable and few. Trust me when I say I am glad for the readers I do have, and the relative frequency that certain people have of caring enough, or getting upset enough, to post a comment. Yet knowing I have some readers who visit and say nothing leaves me wondering - what am I doing wrong? How can I improve what I do?
I know ER (and most likely others as well) would insist I should keep my posts shorter than they tend to be. Trust me. I try. I just don't have it in me. On the other hand, with practice . . .
Also, are the topics I cover irrelevant, uninteresting, or not framed or discussed in a manner that makes them accessible, interesting, or relevant? I have made some changes in the general content and focus of this blog since my recent hiatus, and I am pleased with my new emphasis on both parts of my identity - progressive and Christian. That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.
I am saying all this to kind of open the door to old readers, new readers, frequent commenters, never-before commenters, any and sundry - how does this blog serve you and what can I do to make it better? It would be nice if those numbers of neo-Earth continued to rise for repeat visitors, because the whole idea here is trying to reach as many people as possible, and discuss with as many people as possible. I'm not interested in standing (or sitting) pat. I just want to keep improving.
So feedback, if you please.
Virtual Tin Cup
