Okay. I know you're out there. Just sayin'.
I have been watching my total pageviews the past week or two. I don't normally pay that much attention, but the amount has been increasing fast. So I finally took definite note of the number yesterday, and then looked at it today-- this blog has had over one hundred page views in twenty-four hours.
I am really glad people are visiting. The recent increase in traffic is most likely because of big search terms such as 'student whisperer' or 'when harry met sally', or other things I haven't thought of. I have a very simple site meter. It only shows me how many hits the page has gotten. So I don't know why ya'll are here, and you may not have stayed very long. But, welcome. Stay awhile and visit.
Please stay awhile and visit. I'd love to have a few two-way conversations on this blog. Even if all you have to say is, "I agree" or "You're totally off base" or "I have nothing to say on this topic". I'd love to know who is visiting.
You can comment anonymously too.
I'd especially like to hear from you if you think I am off base. How am I going to get to the truth if I am not challenged when I take a wrong turn?
Anyway, thanks for visiting. Please leave comments. :)
And now for a confession: I don't leave comments on blogs very often either. I found a couple of blog posts that might help with both of these problems.
6 Vital Reasons to Comment on Other Blogs
I do read and enjoy other blogs, but mostly do not leave comments. I need to start commenting more myself. I do have things to say about the blog articles of others, but it's sort of like walking up to group of people in a new social situation... you hope they will be your friends, but it really hurts if they ignore you, and do you want to take that risk? Such a high school worry, but there it is. I really hate it when I have put myself out there and I get ignored, especially if others are being engaged in conversation on the same post. At the same time, sometimes what my comment isn't relevant to the conversation thread that everyone else is taking (although it is relevant to the post), so I can understand why they might just leave my comment alone. But it still hurts my feelings. I need to develop a tougher skin.
10 Reasons Readers Don't Leave Comments
As a non-commenter myself, I confess my reasons for not commenting include #1, 2, 7, 9. And here are my other reasons, some of which were mentioned in the comments of the above posts:
1) As one of the commenters said, a lot of times I can't express exactly what I want to say and run the risk of being misunderstood or writing a huge blog post in the comments section trying to explain myself. Better to come back here and do that on my blog.
2) Sometimes I forget to go back and check to see if my comment received a reply, and I don't want that to happen, so I don't comment in the first place.
3) Some of the blogs I read are very popular, and, as another commenter said, I just don't think my comment will matter that much to the blogger.
4) I tend to say self-centered things, and then I think, "Am I trying to be the center of attention?" and delete the comment. But I'm WITH myself all the time. I know my own experience best. That is what I share. And then, I don't know when it's time to let the conversation thread end. I feel rude if I don't keep responding when I get a response, but, as the same commenter said, I feel clingy if I keep responding after a one or two responses to my comment. (I have the same problem on the phone, which is one reason I dislike talking on the things.)
As a blogger, I now wonder if my content is not rich or compelling enough to generate comments. Hmm. Another commenter to this article said that he doesn't get comments on his blog, but he gets stopped in public by friends who want to discuss what he wrote but won't comment. That happens to me too.
13 comments:
Reason #11 (why I don't comment): my hands are full of baby. However, I suffered through 1-handed typing to write this much. :-)
Guess I'd better comment here :) I've experienced the same thing with my blog. I have a stat counter that tells me a bit more than yours does and I also wonder why so many come and so few comment. My husband told me that the percentage of comments from my visitor count is actually good (or normal or average or whatever word it was that he used.) But I think everyone should comment --- except the spammers which have kept me busy with deleting their comments.
And then I realize, like you, that I don't always leave comments on other blogs --- and for many of the reasons that you listed. So here's my comment here and now I'm gonna peek around to see if there's something else I can say this morning.
Kay
Haha, Bradley. I love you too. (For those of you that don't know, Bradley is my husband, the Warrior Poet. He has a poetry blog, and gave me my comments irl. :)
Phyllis, I had that same issue for several years! I completely understand. But now my baby is ten going on eleven!
Kay, I had a better site counter, but I lost my password to it, and had the hardest time trying to get it back. Then I didn't have a site counter for awhile. I just recently got this one.
I enjoy reading your entries and those on other blogs. Why I don't post tends to fall along lines you have mentioned. With yours, you are so insightful and fluent I feel my comments are rather trite.
I also have a hard time making a comment on blogs that have a huge following. Why would they be interested in what I have to say...
Both of my reasons sound insecure when put in writing, so maybe I have "high school" issues as well. I do enjoy what you write and miss when you have a dry spell and are not posting. But I do understand how frustrating it can be to cast your thoughts out and not have any response. I will try to be a "better" reader.
I stumbled on your blog last week while trying to identify a caterpillar we caught in the yard which had made a cocoon while we still had it in captivity.
I have enjoyed reading your postings because I am a SAHM of 3 kids and I am always interested in finding out what other homeschoolers are doing. The oldest 2 I homeschool and the youngest is 4 so there is no formal teaching going on, just a lot of everyday learning.
I have also enjoyed the fact the your blogs are Christian based and not ashamedly so! Keep up the good work and I will try to comment occasionally as I glean knowledge from a more experienced homeschool mom.
Julie, I suspect that all of us have a few 'high school' issues. :)
Emily, thanks for the comment! I suppose you read about our Spunky caterpillar/butterfly. That remains one of my favorite episodes in our homeschooling adventure!
HI Katie.. I do not read your blog as often as I want to.. I find too much else to do.. when I do read your comments I enjoy them, smile and go on.. so here is my :)
I love your smile, Sister Darrene! I agree with you about other things to be done-- we shouldn't feel obligated to participate in online stuff, especially not to the neglect of our real lives. :D Although I have made some good friends through the online community. :)
Katie, I always read your posts when I have time to blogread at all (I'm so glad you are blogging regularly again). My reasons for not commenting very often are probably usually #1 and 2. Plus, I don't feel like a very good commenter. I either say something boring like "Great Post!" or I end up practically writing a post of my own in the combox, and that seems sort of geeky, at least when it's me doing it (I always love it when people leave long comments on my blog, but that's different!). Another reason I hesitate to comment on others' blogs (not so much yours) is that they may not know me, and you can't edit comments once they're posted, so I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Katie, I am one of your lurkers.. Love reading what you write and your insight on things. I never get around to commenting but thought I better this time since you caught me :)
I come to the CM Frisco meeting and love your insight on our readings... Thanks for all your wisdom. My girls are 3 and 5 so I have much yet to learn.
Willa! I haven't read your posts in a long time. I think you took a break awhile back and changed up your blogs and then I lost you. Is Quotidian Reader your general blog?
Stacy, great to hear from you! I'm glad to know who is out there.
Yes, it's my main general blog now ;-)
You know I'm out here :-). I just found this post!
A lot of my commentors comment on the Facebook comments section. It's not as permanent though, so it's not as fun as if it were directly on the blog comments.
I'm probably guilty of 1, 2, and 7.
There is one that is not on there, and I'd have to blame twitter and facebook. I don't twitter, but I know that it takes time. I follow more family and friends on FB, and that has taken writing time away from my own blogging time.
With Mom's cancer journey, it's been easier to keep up with quick and quippy things, and important events in friends' lives (Oklahoma and Joplin tornado friends) than through blogging. I'm also a slow reader and typer, with the arthritis in my left hand. However, when being fed with more ideas, my mind is processing more. Which leads to the desire to write more like I used to.
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