Blog Stats

Just for fun, I hit the "Next Blog" button 100 (OK, 103) times, and filed each new blog into a category, not counting the 3 or so that weren't found. Here's the results, such as they are:

Category	Count
Non-English. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just hard to categorize otherwise.	24
My Life. What's happening to ordinary people.	20
My Life, LiveJournal Version. What's happening to teenage girls.	10
Incomprehensible. Either format or language.	10
Photography. Pictures, with or without comments.	8
First Post. "Gee, this is my first post to my first blog."	6
Advertising. Blogs that exist only to promote a product.	5
Tech. Things of interest to geeks.	3
Bookmarks. Well, this way you can access your bookmarks from any computer.	2
Commentary -- Mostly Liberal	2
Commentary -- Mostly Conservative	1
No discernable category. Heck, I didn't know where to put it.	1
Film (discussion)	1
Psychology/Sociology	1
Music	1
Not current. i.e., an abandoned blog.	1
Genealogy	1
Advice	1
Food	1
Middle East	1
Social Causes	1
Gaming	1
Religious	1

I put things in somewhat arbitrary categories, based on my own reaction to the blog. Your mileage may vary. What's interesting here is that many people just want to record what's happening in their lives, and to let other people see and comment about it. I suppose I could say that this is just the "Survivor" syndrome, i.e., people will do anything to get noticed. However, I suspect it's because we really don't have that many people we can talk to anymore. Consider -- unless you live in a really small town, there isn't a large percentage of people in your community who know who you are. There aren't that many people who know all about you, which means that in order to explain a specific moment in your life you have to give your whole backstory. A blog is one way of letting people know that backstory. And, if someone chooses to comment on your blog, you can be pretty sure that they have some idea of who you are and where you're coming from, because they've had the chance to read your blog. It provides an instant frame of reference, like I have in my home town. For example, a few months ago I was home and someone asked me "who did you go to school with?" And I said, "Besthorn, Schaeffer, Phelan, ..." and he said, "OK, I know Phelan." Even though he moved into the area after I moved out, the small community meant that he knew someone I went to school with, so we had a connection. In the big cities most of us live in there isn't that connection. A blog provides some of that.

You'll notice I don't post a lot about my life here. That's because I do come from a small town, and there are already far to many people who know way too much about me.