Behold the mouse click.
It's the economic force behind the web. It's also a warm fuzzy to those who serve stuff up, either for profit or ego. That's why I guess so many of us get those e-mails out of the blue from people we don't know asking if we need help boosting our web presence.Â
As part of this blog's mission, it has been suggested that yours truly re-post them on Twitter and Facebook to draw more eyes. Fascinating to see what draws and what doesn't.
Twitter makes it easy with that handy-dandy little set of bars that lets you know impressions, media views and total engagements. Among the recent high-scorers was my screed on daylight saving time. Others plod along at expected clips.
Along the way I also checked the Tweets I put up randomly with no blog attachments–just personal takes, pithy thoughts, occasional snark–y'know, what most of us call a typical day on the web. Mine come in dibs and dabs, more prolific some days than others. Some days the hot takes fly off the fingertips. Others, not so much.Â
Off all the recent ones, a post February 26th is, by far, the one that got the most impressions: 9,141 which is by far the most of any I saw in my brief look back. By miles. The rest pale in comparison.
So what, pray-tell, did this white hot missive contain? What news story did I break? What secret got spread?
All I said was, “Need a bit of gray TV for my old gray head before bed.” Attached was a screen cap of the “Andy Griffith Show” episode I was catching that particular week night after dinner. Just Sheriff Taylor at his office desk with Deputy Fife over his shoulder and Mayberry's infrequent British visitor Malcolm seated nearby.
Strange, doncha think?
Admittedly, it's strange to open up a vein in a blog, spill guts and thoughts and what you think is going to generate a little chat if not a tad of interest only to see your buds on the web replay with shrugs. Former “Wisconsin's Morning News” partner John Jagler used to kid me about that all the time, the fact that I'd bust a hump with purple prose and draw flies, only to see him share a link or photo that would draw scads more views.
What hits? What doesn't? If only we knew. I write for fun and therapy–if folks put eyes on any of it, I'm always grateful. If it moves the needle for the station, all the better.Â
It's always flattering when someone acknowledges via e-mail or some other pat on the back the fact they spent time with something I served up on the interwebs. Even if they disagree. Hell, I'm an attention slut. I'll take it. I'll resist the temptation to over-serve those nine thousand fellow Tweeters who found a simple sentence about Mayberry so compelling. There's only so much that can be said about a 55 year old black and white sitcom.
One thing's for sure: it certainly draws mouse clicks, even now.Â
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