23 December 2019

And now we are twelve


Yesterday was the 12th "blogiversary" for TYWKIWDBI - an event that passed quietly (unnoticed, actually) here at TYWKIWDBI World Headquarters.

So today was the time for the annual check of the metrics (embedded above).   The 55,000 comments on the blog are a point of some satisfaction for me.  I'll repost what I wrote for my 5th blogiversary:
I still struggle with motivation to keep blogging because of the seemingly unending distractions of real life.  But I do get a great deal of satisfaction from the depth and breadth of knowledge, the sophistication, and the almost always unfailing courtesy of readers who comment on the posts.  I learn things, I teach things, and every now and then I get help with my car or my computer for free.  Such a deal.
I've mentioned before that I take particular satisfaction in emails I've received from some readers who indicate that this is one of the few blogs they read where they always read the comments.  Comments from informed readers enhance the posts, and I often wind up incorporating info from various comments into the main body of the post.

The traffic to TYWKIWDBI -

- has been stable for three years now.  At one time I thought the drop from the peak was a reflection of my declining productivity, but when I compare visits or pageviews to number of posts, the correlation is very weak.  I think much of the drop years ago was because of what Jason Kottke termed "the death of the blog" as a preferred platform (losing out to Tumbling, Tweeting, and pinning).  In any case, the traffic numbers are of no concern to me; I quite literally don't care if on a given day there are 50 viewers or 5000. 

I anticipate no significant changes in the blog in the near-term future.  I have bookmark folders bulging with material, so content is never a challenge.  Time is the always-crucial limiting factor.

Now, lets see if I can get rid of some bookmarked links before that Vikings/Packers game starts...

20 comments:

  1. You've made my life a little richer, by turning my attention to may parts of the world I would never have been exposed to. Thank you!

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    1. As another Anonymous poster, I'll second that. I've enjoyed this blog for years and I love sharing it with other folks that enjoy various interesting topics. I hope to continue following you for a few more decades.

      Cheers,
      J

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  2. Happy Anniversary!!! Yours is the blog I save to read last, so I can give it my full attention ~ I love that I learn something nearly every single day you post! And I like your balance of funny/serious.
    Many congrats, and keep the good work up ~

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  3. Congratulations on 12 years! I appreciate your ongoing dedication to the site and always enjoy the content.

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  4. It is uncanny how relevant your posted are to conversations I'm my classroom. Sometimes I wonder if you have a relative in my class because I'll talk about a topic, and a day later you'll blog about something that relates to it.

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  5. Thank you Minnesotastan for all of your years of quality blogging. Things you wouldn't know if we didn't blog intermittently (formerly incessantly, although you have always shown that quality over quantity keeps people coming back) stands out as my personal favorite blog of all time.

    Really kudos to you for managing to run everything for so long. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year!

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  6. I check in nearly every day and yes, I read the comments. Your blog is one of the few places on the internet where I am reassured that there is still reasonable, intelligent life on earth.

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  7. Congratulations on the milestone! Funny, I thought for sure your site was older than mine.

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  8. Congratulations Stan. Since there are so few blogs left, I delved into your complete archive. Took several weeks! You certainly were prolific back when there were more links to share.
    Anyway, thanks for 12 years of informative and amusing posts, and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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  9. Happy Blogiversary, Minnestotastan! And happy holidays too!

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  10. THANK YOU so very much for taking the time to educate, entertain, and even inspire us readers. This is not measurable on any graph, but it really makes a difference to have a place to visit that is not filled with breathless news about the goings on in Washington (yes, I know your politics are different from mine, but still!).

    The other day, when the piebald deer stayed up for several days in a row, I thought, oh, dear, the poor fellow has kicked the bucket, but no one knows the password to post a message to let us know. (SMILE/CRY?).

    I can't think of many better ways to give back to society than to seek to elevate the discourse by focusing it on things of interest. You truly do us a great and noble service. We are in your debt.

    I am glad to be a part of this wonderful community.

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  11. Yours has been my favourite blog since I stumbled onto it during your first September. Keep spinning that golden thread of sanity through humanity! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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  12. Congratulations! I’ll echo others who’ve said yours is a favorite blog - I truly enjoy your content!

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  13. Thank you for what you do. I enjoy the post, the links to other reading you post, your weekday and weekend reading. There is always more to learn, but you help to filter it down. I am always telling people to check out your blog.

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  14. Happy anniversary! Thank you for sharing such interesting things!!!

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  15. we planned what was supposed to be a quiet acknowledgement of the 12th, just some dedicated and long time readers and commenters sitting down to quaff few at the local brewpub. some one took out their iPhone to recall some of the more renowned past posts - that phone, somehow, fell in to the pitcher of beer. that pitcher had to be 'drained', and the phone, which was still on, started to heat up once it was exposed to air. the person, whose phone it was, dropped it onto the bottomless basket of nacho chips, and those caught fire. we were all out of beer, having 'drained' the pitcher to get the iPhone out of it, so we could not extinguish the now burning table top. short story long, the brewpub is closed for two days to clean up, and, needless to say, we are no longer welcome there, ever.

    I-)

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    1. Blogworthy if someone can send me pix of the flaming chip basket.

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    2. Was it on the news?

      https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/000/130/disaster-girl.jpg

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  16. Congrats. Everyone's bloggraph takes that shape unless you're only posting cats, cookies and irrational hatred for effective US Presidents.

    Rock on wit yo bad sef.

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  17. Happy Blogoversiary! (sp? ) I recall reading something about Google changing the way it made stats, around 2013 I think... and it showed less hits after that. Perhaps a way to remove bots, or something. Hell, I really do have a bad memory. My stat counter certainly agreed with the notion... anyway, I don't agree that it was result of twitter and other types of social media.
    Also, replaying to Bunk Strutts, no. Mine graph is not a linear growth, but it's a up line if all ups and downs get averaged out. I don't post cats, cookies, or politics.
    I have been reading along with tywkiwdbi for I think about 10 years, and that's because darn it, you feed my need for odd trivia and educational but enjoyable stuff!
    So, I thank you, and wish you many more years of enjoying what you do as a blogger, may your satisfaction in posting continue to grow, and by god, I hope someone nominates the both of us for an award so I can finally learn which of us might win in a head to head blog competition!
    By the way, I'm angry with the blog stat chart for having an "all time" chart which is actually limited to 10 years. I want is since day one. I've earned it.... haven't we all?

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