Sunday, July 24, 2005

Ron Silliman hits 400,000 hits. which is just bobbled numbers in one sense, since it is not that big a deal that people agree with me, that Ron is worth reading. a lot of his numbered points don't apply to aught but he. amongst bloggers, I don't think many see unrequested books coming in the mail much (I don't know why Gary Sullivan sent me his comic Elsewhere, my one blog-related freebie, tho I am pleased that he did), or getting publication solicitations greater than can be met, or major spikes in reading invitations or much of anything that might harbour under the aegis of 'career'. not that I begrudge this of Ron. I have been reading, at times struggling with, often learning from, Ron Silliman's work for 25+ years, he is an important writer to me. certainly I appreciate this free and plentiful access to 'him'. I am not competing with him, tho, and not because my numbers don't add up. I am satisfied that my blog does what it can, what I can. I do agree with his sense, tho I don't get a lot of input, that this public presentation (writing on a blog), focuses my thinking and asserts an intrinsic muscle for me as a writer. and I would say that this is the case of many others who write on blogs as well. I recognize my own spikiness, which is to say, I'll always be at the edge of the social sphere of blogs. but I see my writing grow as it goes out there. I also see that blogs aren't for every writer, as computers aren't, as we all have our different ways and paths. commenters to Ron's blog sometimes sound like saps because their awe shows (or their anti-awe, same diff). I mean, there's this popular brand called Ron Silliman, to which all must react. a significant diletante (did I misspell that word again?) percentage amongst Ron's 400,000 hamburgers can be readily discounted. which only means that I don't need the numbers to factor Ron Silliman's worth to me. by the numbers, my blog is insignificant to the max. but it aint. my blog is seriously what it is, just as is Ron Silliman's, and down the list. I think that it is crucial that I say this, that every po-blogger say this. and you yahoos in the collective readership should say it too.

6 comments:

shanna said...

i read you both every day.

Nick Piombino said...

There is a spontaneity & personal aspect to some of your blogging, that I appreciate very much-as in this post- on a topic of particular meaning to me and many other bloggers, I'm sure. Although I'm ambivalent about the site meter, I find that I use the numbers to keep myself working steadily at the blog when I might otherwise procrastinate. I do decry over-competitiveness, but it seems competition can be a cure for laziness at times.

Simple Theories said...

I read most of the blogs to the right daily, and all of them regularly (plus others that I don't want to commit to by putting them on my dutiful list). and I greatly appreciate those who read my blog. I like looking at Site Meter's stats but wonder why so few who hit my site don't stay. I mean out of 40-50 daily bings, Site Meter records maybe 5 that spend time. is it me? is it readership? is it Site Meter's stat gathering ability? small as it is of me, this makes me nervous, so that I have to remind myself that it is okay.

Nick Piombino said...

Although some bloggers draw a sharp distinction
between what the site meter calls "visits"
and what it labels "page views" if you read Site Meter's fine
print, there's not all that much difference. Also, though
I can't be sure, I think frequency of blogging and amount of factual information offered (Ron's posts are heavy on factual reporting) tend to bring in more visits and keep 'em reading longer.

I got together with the Vancouver blogger Caterina once on one of her visits to NY. As of two years ago she was already getting over 2000 hits a day. She started her blog in 1998. She claims that the longer you blog, eventually your number of visitors increases.

Anonymous said...

as shanna does
I read you both every day
and some 40+ others

in looking at the stats for my own blog I would guess
ron's 400,000 includes
robots and crawlers
who are sometimes more present
than real warm bodied animate readers

since mid-2003 when I started
I have had over 33,000 hits
but I suspect
only about 40 regular
flesh and blood readers

would I write differently
if it were to assure me
thousands of hits per day:
I suspect not

Simple Theories said...

no, I'm not going to tailor my blog. Ron's original post concerned trhe surprising power of blogs, but really the surprising power of publishing or broadcasting, by whatever means. that readers are out there reacting, however much the author cops a sense of that. even J.K. Rowling has only the vaguest sense of what's going on in those fertile minds out there. the enveloping point is the perseverence within that nervous framework of making 'sense' to others. thanks for your comments one and all.