Together, we're gonna find our way*

Magnet #366 - Stripes of Togetherness

They say that one blog is born every half second. Ok. I made that up.

They also say that most bloggers abandon their blogs within the first couple months of creating it. That I did not make up.

A year ago, I wasn't really sure if I'd stick it out - I mean, the other blog we started died on the vine, much like the trip itself. But joy magnetism still plugs away, mainly because my magnets are multiplying like rabbits.

But it's not been a year without growth. /pun intended

Below is a rather waxing poetical shortlist of what I've learned about the blogosphere and you guys.

- Search. I LOVE stalking my SiteMeter. I find it absolutely fascinating, the things people search online. I LOVE that I can see what people have searched to reach me. I swear, if I could rank all the searches that get you to this blog, "French word for gold" would totally be number 1. It's amazing the number of people in this world who want to know what is the French word for gold. And why, I wonder?

Oh! And good grief, there are lots of people looking for shirtless pics of people (Owain Yeoman, Russell Wong, Brendan Fraser) and end up here. Oddly, no one's searched for shirtless David Tennant.

- Global. I LOVE that the World Wide Web really is worldwide. Hi Beijing! Hi Scotland! Hi San Diego! Hi Norway! Seriously. I love that someone a world a way spent time on joy magnetism. Even better? I love that sometimes, I can link to my own page - literally, in Greek! It's so cool!

Flickfilosopher did this post last week where she showed her own SiteMeter map. Mine's nowhere near as crowded as hers, but I live for those weeks where every continent is represented! Well, ok, save for Antarctica. I am still waiting for someone in Antarctica to visit me. I realize they might be busy, but come on. Throw a girl a subzero bone, will you?

- Linking. I love it. If I could just surf the Internet to provide you with places to go for more information, and have that be my job, that'd be awesome. Yes. When I grow up, I want to be Google.

- HTML. I don't love it. I gotta tell you, it's fun to learn a new tip or trick, but sometimes, when I'm messing around with the html code for this page? You should see the havoc I've wrought. Heh. You're lucky the darn thing's in English and right side up.

- Marketing. Even though I'm really doing these magnetposts for my own fun, I figure if people don't see the pretty magnets, then what's the point. So I force myself to put this blog out there in the 'verse - on my FB status, on my FB wall, on a message board, or just forwarding to specific people that I think might find that day's magnet interesting. When I'm commenting on something fun on other blogs, my name's always hyperlinked back here; though I do try to avoid specifically linking to here in the comments of other blogs. Though, I will say that it's odd how much you start gauging your own traffic based on where you yourself have been.

- Traffic. I can't believe how much I love looking at the page view ticker at the bottom of joy magnetism, and checking out the first-time, unique and repeat visitor traffic. It's fun to see what topics get the most play (almost anything ComicCon or David Tennant and Doctor Who). And you can also start to guess who has Google alerts for which people - Thorsten Kaye or Joshua Jackson. And of course my George. Though, I get an odd tickle over seeing joy magnetism pop up in my own Thorsten Kaye, David Tennant or George Clooney Google Alert emails.

- Historical record. I love that everything I've written on joy magnetism is there for me to go back to. Blogger.com and photobucket.com, please never lose your servers or my content. Ever. But even more so, I love that I can go back and see how I felt about a particular something on a particular day. It's almost better than a diary. Though I'll admit, I stopped keeping a diary the day my grandmother read that I hated her in mine. I was 11, going on 91, with as much of a know-it-all I was then (and now, really). Anyway, moving on.

- Dialogue. Blogging is a two-way street. The best blogs are the ones where people comment and the blogger responds. It becomes a conversation. I love that. That's how you find out where peacocks come from, or that your commenter had a completely different take on something than you did. Nothing upsets me more than seeing a blog where the blogger writes a post, multiple people respond to it, and the blogger can't be bothered to talk back. Talk back to me, bloggers. If I want a one-way street, that's what I have Google for.

- Commenting. I am a commenting freak. It's addictive. I never used to. Now, especially if it's a blog I love or have on my Google Reader and follow religiously, I always feel like sharing. But really? Oftentimes, the funnier stuff happens in the comments. Mind you, my traffic isn't so crazy that you have to wade through dozens of repartee, but I've got some funny commenters here. Thanks, guys!

Well, it's been a fun year together, and a really fun learning process. I hope to keep trying to find my way in the blogosphere, and I can't wait to see how this next year plays out.

Happy magneting!

Lord. I just made up another word.

*From the theme song for Silver Spoons, which I will now be singing all the way down to Tampa today.

eta:
Thanks, Gordon, for today's and yesterday's magnets!