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Friday, February 13, 2015

Analytics

A couple of weeks ago I decided to add the Google Analytics code to the blog on a lark. I love seeing where people are and the list of visiting cities is fascinating. Of course I am a little blog with a small audience and I mostly write for the amusement of people I know, so they can know me better, and to vent. I definitely vent sometimes.

I am discouraged to learn that over 10% of my traffic comes from two click farms in Russia. That's a little unnerving.

There are many cities that pop up and I know who lives there. It's fun to see a friend come visit. There are other cities which appear once and never again. A stranger stopping by for an instant and moving on to bigger and better things. Then there are the cities that arrive regularly and I have no idea who it might be.

It's a new experience having total strangers reading your thoughts about your life. There are people out there who now know quite a bit about me and I know nothing about them. Lurkers. This feels odd and yet I feel ridiculous to feel odd about it. I spent years lurking, reading and never commenting. Why shouldn't the shoe be on the other foot?

So if you read, but I don't know you, say hello sometime and tell me where you are. I'd love to know! And there is someone out there--I have no idea who it might be--who lives in one of the same small towns where my husband grew up. Isn't that a funny coincidence? I'll tell you where if the right person stands up.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean; for me the benefits outweighed the sometimes unsettling feeling. The weirdest thing that ever happened as a result was when we were trick-or-treating and the lady who answered the door say, "Oh, hello! I read your blog!"

M

Elizabeth said...

I'm a lurker on most of the blogs I read. I started reading yours because of reading your comments over at DarwinCatholic (where I am also a lurker). I'm a homeschooling mom who is about a million weeks pregnant with baby number four. Nice to "meet" you!

Elizabeth said...

Oh, and I live in Latrobe, PA.

Jenny said...

Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner!

Hello Elizabeth. Nice to meet you as well. So my husband lived in Greensburg and Latrobe as a child. His family moved away when he was in sixth grade, but that is where he considers himself from. He lived in Wimmerton, if you know where that is.

Melanie Bettinelli said...

Lurkers are a funny thing. Sometimes it does weird me out if I let myself think about it. But generally I like the idea that people are reading.

I used to check my stats all the time, but they seem to have completely fallen off my radar of late. I'm not sure I even remember how to get them.

entropy said...

The stranger thing is exciting and freaky. I usually let freaky win and delete my archives. Or, since I usually vent and grumble, I worry my kids will find it one day and get the wrong idea or know more about my sex life than they ever wanted to know! Like the glutton I am though, I keep coming back!

I am your visitor from Arkansas.

Anonymous said...

I'm Sarah, and I'm the lurker from New Mexico. 3 kids, Catholic convert, homeschool, Army wife.

I never comment anywhere, mostly because by the time I sort out my thoughts, someone has already covered it. Is it corny to say thanks for being honest about life? Between you, Darwin, and Bearing (they're how I found you), y'all make it nice to know I'm not the only one that does *that*. Whatever *that* happens to be.

*runs back into lurkdom*

Jenny said...

Hi, Sarah! Thanks for saying hello.

Heather said...

Hi Jenny,

I'm Heather, in northern Virginia. I'm Catholic and have two little boys who I plan to homeschool. I found you from Darwin Catholic. I wish I had a blog but then, I can barely find the time to comment! Plus it makes me nervous to comment; I always worry something I write will be misunderstood or taken the wrong way which makes it stressful.
I wish you and your husband all the best as you work on switching breadwinner and caregiver roles!

Jenny said...

I'm the lurker from New Orleans. I found you through comments on bearing, followed because of your name (it's mine, too), and have stuck around because I find the things you write about fascinating--they're often very different from my life (homeschooling mother of soon-to-be 6 (#6 arriving next week via scheduled c-section) and I really enjoy the different window on life. Thanks for letting us lurk!

Jenny said...

Thanks Heather and Jenny for reading along.

Elizabeth said...

Yes, Jenny, I do know where Wimmerton is! My husband and I both grew up in this area. Our house is in one of the many old "coal patch villages" that dot the PA landscape. We live in "Dorothy Patch" if your husband knows where that is. It's funny--baby number four arrived very shortly after I left my earlier comments! My water broke right after I got up from the computer!

Jenny said...

Congratulations on the new baby! Does your water normally break first or was that unusual? Mine has always been broken first, either naturally or artificially, before I ever have the first contraction. It's a little weird.

He doesn't remember Dorothy Patch, but I'll ask my MIL. I know she will know. I've only been up there once for a funeral. The campus at St. Vincent is stunning and you are lucky to be able to look at it frequently.

Elizabeth said...

Thanks! I've had my water break on its own twice before contractions began, and the other two labors, I had contractions first, and my water was broken at the hospital.

You can see St. Vincent basilica from my neighborhood, and my kids attend a homeschool program run by the education department at the college. So we're there quite a bit! There are lots of St. Vincent alumni in my family.

Åsa said...

Hi Jenny,
I visit you from France. I normally live in Toronto, Canada but this year we are on a sabbatical in a tiny village in France. I am a bit homesick even though I am originaly from Europe. Our children go to school here and I "work" from home, 70 percent blogreading and 30 percent actual freelance work. (Smitten by your honesty)We have five children so far.
Thank you for your well written and interesting blog, I am going back in the archive like a nut. So now you know who your French stalker is.