It’s a Small (World Wide Web) World

It has been just over two months since I decided to build my Blog and write my first post.  It has been quite an experience, most of which has been very enjoyable.  However, there are those days…

There are the days when I stare at a blank screen and wonder, ‘what the heck should I write about today?’  But thankfully those moments do not last long.

There are the days when I compare myself to other bloggers I read on a frequent basis.  But then, I have to remember they have been blogging for years and have more experience.

There are also the days when I read over my Blog and my older posts.  I don’t know why.  I’m sure I have better things to do…like work on my book.  Some people like to hear themselves speak…I guess I just like to read what I write.  As I continue to learn and experiment with my writing, I’m curious whether I will still enjoy reading my first posts another year from now. 

And then there are the days when I view my stats.  Keeping track of the stats is still foreign to me but Google does make the whole concept pretty easy to follow and understand.  The only problem is that it can be distracting…how many pageviews today?  Yesterday?  Last week?  Which posts are the most viewed?  How are followers finding me?  What traffic sources are followers using to find me?

All the stats listed above are something to watch and compare but my most favorite stat so far has been surprising…who is my audience and what are my pageviews by country?

I never thought this would be a stat I’d get so much fun out of so soon.

Why?  I didn’t think anyone outside my friends and family would be viewing my Blog, at least not this early in the game. 

I was wrong.

Even if I thought it was likely friends of friends and friends of family would be viewing my Blog, I guess I assumed most of them would reside within the United States.

Again, I was wrong. 

Most of my pageviews are from the United States, no question.  And stats also show pageviews in the United Kingdom, which is not surprising since I had family residing there.  But I also see pageviews from Russia, Germany, Cambodia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Latvia, Malaysia and Turkey. 

It’s hard to explain in words how it feels to know there are people in other parts of the world who apparently either like what I have to say, enjoy how I write or are in some way curious about what I am doing.  I appreciate the fact that any individual from any country in the world is taking the time to continue to follow someone they know nothing about other than what’s provided to them through this amazing technological wonder we call the World Wide Web. 

The wonders of today mean that becoming acquainted with someone has no relevance to where you might reside at the time.  Someone in Germany or Sweden can appear to be as close as your next door neighbor while in fact, your next door neighbor can remain a complete and total stranger. 

When it comes to technology, we live in a very small world.  When it comes to being a writer and a blogger, that fact is a wonderful thing.