Making an impact

Everyone who blogs likes to have people read what they write. I'm no different. If they tell you otherwise, there's a good chance they're lying. Sure, some folks like to blog for themselves and that's fine. For them (and I include myself here) any readers/commenters are purely bonus. But the narcissist in all of us ask (even if only to ourselves), "How many people read what I write?" and "What kind of an impact am I having on those that do read?" Afterall, it's the underlying reason why we bother to blog at all, even if we don't readily admit it.

There are many blogs that receive lots of comments on a daily basis and it's easy to see that these blogs are popular and well read. There are some bloggers who post infrequently and get few or no comments because either we think they've abandoned their blog or they start it with the best of intentions only to find that they either don't care about blogging that much and quit writing or find that the time is just not there to fit blogging in. There are also nexus blogs, as mine was once referred to, that may or may not be read but serve as bridges for folks to get from one blog to another. Then there are blogs that post frequently (and I have been among this group, though not as recently) and due to the volume of material posted and the demands on our blog reading time, may not get as many comments on a daily basis but do maintain a list of loyal readers.

Allow me to share with you an email I received today. I'm sharing it with you because these emails are nice to get and I don't get them too often:

Hi Mr.Monster ;)
I just wanted to let you know that I've been following your blog for a little while now and enjoy poking around there every now and then. I'm not a blogger myself but have always found it extremely interesting how people put their lives out on the Internet for random people to check out.

Very cool. Anyway, just wanted to say hi and let you know about a new quiz site I found the other day. www.quizlee.com. (I kind of noticed you like taking online quizzes) The web-lingo and web fiend quizzes are neat with great badges to post. Apparently I'm 85% web fiend but have no clue about web lingo, I knew that was coming. :)

I hope you get to go to Machu Picchu. My brother in law just returned from a 10 day trip there and said it was absolutely amazing. It's an experience of a lifetime he tells us. My husband and I are heading to Brazil over the holidays to visit him, hopefully we will get to take the trip.

Take Care and keep the posts coming!
Cheers for now,
{name deleted}

I sent this reply:

{name deleted}

Thanks for reading and complimenting me on my blog. I take great pride in it, as you can see.

I don't mind writing about myself and events in my life for people to see, because of the level of anonymity I can maintain, even when I "put myself out there". But there are rules I maintain: I will not post pictures of anyone that I know (without their permission) and no family members except those who are deceased. And when talking of friends and family, I always use blogger names (if applicable) or first initials only.

I do highly suggest you try out blogging. It's free and you can meet many great people while blogging that you otherwise might not have met.

Though I'm curious - how did you stumble upon my piece of blogger land?

Thanks for reading.

green