reflections on reaching 1,000 page loads per day

I’ve been blogging with some seriousness for less than two years. 1,063 posts, 5,727 comments,  1,000+ blog reactions, and 537,607 page views later, what do I have to show for it?

By now I know what kind of titles I need to put up, what kind of content I need to offer, to exceed 1,000 page loads on any given day. But who cares about that? I blog because I enjoy blogging and the dialogue and debate that ensue.

If I’m getting enough sleep, my online contributions are likely to be controversial but not cranky. If I’m not getting enough sleep, my contributions are likely to be disjointed and anxious. Suggestions for topics, of course, are always welcome.

With respect to "blog reactions," Technorati misses many, and counts as reactions occurrences in blogrolls, an  index of readership in itself. Hundreds of threads on other blogs have been launched with a link to a post of mine, with thousands of comments in ensuing threads. It's all great fun.

Jim West pooh-poohs the statistics, but then, he's just jealous. However, I really like the current name of his blog: Ploughing the Sea.

Comments

[Jared]

Hi John,

I don't know if they give you your 1000 hits in a day, but I always appreciate your careful readings of Hebrew texts, especially those more obscure piyyut.

Jared

[JohnFH]

Jared,

I have so much more in my files I'd like to publish online with respect to piyyutim. Thanks for the encouragement.

[danielandtonya]

1000! Nice!

We always hope to get 30 in a day. And I'm pretty sure its the same 30 people.

[Bob MacDonald]

Hi John - I don't count. There is a counter but many of my pages I host at my office and I may get read on readers who don't need to access my site. So no danger of a census from me :)

Did you get my mail on Psalm 139? I commented myself after reading Tur Sinai on Job 3:6 אַל־יִחַדְּ - I follow his reasoning but not easily his Hebrew!

[JohnFH]

Hi Bob,

I did get your mail, but couldn't quite make out what your question was.

I love Psalm 139, too. Ever seen the movie, The Truman Show? It's based on Psalm 139. Truman sails out of his reality show on a sailboat with a number on the sail. Guess what number? 139.

[Bob MacDonald]

Ha ha no - I had not seen the movie! The problem for me in that Psalm is the variety of interpretations of verses 16ff - especially what seems to be a sudden shift from singular to plural. So KJV adds the words all [my members] were written. And LXX has 'all people' were written - shifting from the individual to the sum total of humanity!

Sorry my question was not clearer... My question is here

[David Ker]

Come on, admit that 850 of those views are for Victoria Beckham's tattoo!

You have been reading very widely lately and I am having a look at your Google Reader lists to see who I should be following. I'm trying to get out of the biblical studies crowd just for my own sanity and also to focus more on issues related to my current work but I just find you guys so interesting...

[JohnFH]

David,

Not 850, but still, a lot, 100 a day perhaps, not including subsidiary hits (readers often go on to read a Song of Songs post, maybe even a post about how to learn Hebrew).

The blogosphere is chock full of interesting stuff, but it pays to wander.