The Dregs of the Day . . . .

Posted by Heidi in The ills of today's society

Last weekend, something happened of such earth-shattering significance, it about brought me to my knees. I am referring, of course, to the Sitemeter Black Out. Though I am able to go whole hours without checking my blog stats (it’s happened), this inability to access any information whatsoever caused such distress that I had to force myself not to check my blog (for comments and possible new followers) every two or three minutes.

Without Sitemeter, all I had left was comments or new followers to prove that my blog hadn’t sunk into the murky ocean of the blogosphere. Since I had neither the Whole Sorry Day Long the overall effect was as if I were being led down a darkened train shaft with a black hood over my eyes, plugs in my ears and cotton wadding in my mouth. I felt lost, adrift and completely isolated.

Less than three months ago, I didn’t even know what Sitemeter was. Is. Whatever. I was shocked—shocked, I say!--to discover how attached I had become to something so ephemeral and (supposedly) meaningless. Boo hoo!

I am not blaming you, gentle reader. It wasn’t as if I cried ALL day long. I am not even blaming Sitemeter, my kids for driving me to blog or my husband who has failed to stop me. Life happens, tragedy occurs, and for one day, this was my lot. What I can’t live with, however, is the niggling doubt that Sitemeter came back “the same”. Like Sam on Supernatural or Buffy from, um, Buffy, or Bella from Breaking Dawn (just a stab in the dark since I haven’t read it yet) there is this suspicion Sitemeter just isn’t operating from the same level of commitment.

First of all, there’s the matter of my daily hits. They simply aren’t up where they used to be prior to Sitemeter going off line. And then there’s, hmmmm, well, let’s see. Hmph! Well, I guess that’s it; my numbers are down. I could blame this downward spiral on school starting or, er, ummmm, on my posts being dull and lifeless, or on, uh . . . that’s all I’ve got. So, either Sitemeter is swallowing about half of my hits or I stink.

(If you disagree with the conclusion to which I have leapt, you can comment. Or if you agree that I stink, you can comment about that, too. Or become a follower. Or both. Or just visit. Or stalk. We tolerate stalkers here.)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at Tuesday, September 16, 2008 and is filed under The ills of today's society . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

16 wise, witty and wonderful comments

Mrs4444

I never know what to believe from those stat-collecting sites. Google analytics claims that I have 75 people reading my blog every day; can it really be possible that most people who read my blog do so silently, not caring to comment? Hmmmm.

P.S. Thanks for popping in today! :)

September 16, 2008 at 7:50 PM

Heidi

Yes. Commenting takes time. So many blogs, so little time. ..

September 16, 2008 at 8:04 PM

RBS

Actually I don't know about sitemeter and I probably shouldn't know about sitemeter (I think I have an adddictive personality). Sometimes ignorance IS bliss.
Roxanne

September 16, 2008 at 8:16 PM

Heidi

I would have to agree with you on that. Good move.

September 16, 2008 at 8:52 PM

Ames Family

I also am glad I don't know about the sitemeter. I prefer to live in ignorance....assuming so many are reading my blog....many reading in silence apparently. Anyway, you're a great writer...I love how descriptive you are...I feel like I'm there with you as I read....so don't worry about stats.

September 16, 2008 at 8:53 PM

Heidi

Erin, how totally sweet! Thank you!

September 16, 2008 at 9:48 PM

Jlauricella

I am a firm believer that when things like that go down there are glitches for a few weeks. That happened with Twitter last month and it took several weeks for people to get all their followers back. Now you may say what in the world is Twitter...I will save that for another day to ease possible obsession...Trust me you will get sucked in for hours a day.

September 17, 2008 at 8:55 AM

Kazzy

LOL I have read a few blogs this week about the addictive nature of blogging. So so true. You check and check to make sure what you are saying matters to someone. Remember back before the internet, when we would write in a notebook and only share our writing with our closest friends? Now we are ready and waiting for validation. It's a new animal!

September 17, 2008 at 10:09 AM

Heather of the EO

I want to hug you right now. I too have been all freaked out about sitemeter. While they were off. And then it came back and I started to freak out on my husband because it seemed like something all new and totally impossible to navigate. I was mad. Confused. Scared....
He laughed at me. Then. Then. The morning broke and I was given another chance at sitemeter bliss as it appeared to be back to normal. Except I've had to wonder about the accuracy too! I think it may be true that it takes awhile to straighten things out. I don't know what will have been lost, but I can't think about that or I'll go mad! :)

September 17, 2008 at 5:12 PM

Heidi

Ah, girls, you have restored my all-too-easily-tipped balance. Thank you! Now we'll see how long it lasts. (I'm with you--it was wonky, not counting everything, but it seems back to normal now.)

September 17, 2008 at 5:34 PM

Karolynn

I got pretty obsessed with my sitemeter too. So obsessed, that my husband thought it would be funny to refresh my blog so it looked like 1000 people viewed it. I got rid of it after that. I know I have many stalkers too or in the closet blog readers. I don't mind it at all. I guess if it bugged me I would have a privet blog. Congratulations about your book, it is almost time!

September 17, 2008 at 8:38 PM

Heidi

Thanks Karolynn! Compared to how long I have been waiting, it does seem like it is really getting close. Yay!

September 17, 2008 at 9:25 PM

charrette

I haven't installed sitemeter...or anything else for that matter. Just one less thing to be depressed about... :) Truly, like rbs, I think I'm better off not knowing.

I abhor stats. I have to keep reminding myself on days when the comments are low, this isn't about how many, it's about the fact that SOMEONE cared enough about what I wrote to respond. And that is a rare gift that the blogosphere proffers up on a regular basis. I'm cool with that.

September 18, 2008 at 12:19 AM

Heidi

Yes, I need to have your attitude. I'm working on it!

September 18, 2008 at 7:34 AM

The Nelsons

I like your blog. I think it's witty and entertaining. I'd check it more except Nathan takes the computer to work with him during the day and for some reason my desktop freezes up when I try to access blogs. Weird, huh? Anyway, I frequently comment to my mom how much I enjoy reading it. :)

September 18, 2008 at 6:12 PM

Heidi

Thank you Jessica! If only your mom (my sister!) would get in on the blogging action! She is such an amusing, witty gal!

September 19, 2008 at 11:48 AM