Interesting thing blogging; sometimes feels like exhibitionism for intellectuals. For the first time ever it’s possible for you to expose your thoughts to hoards of prying eyes. Mind-boggling. Not so long ago you had to get your work published before anyone but your mother would read it.
Some blogs have more appeal than others. They find an audience of dedicated readers early on. Others are a bit slower to take off. Mine is one of the latter and I think I know why. Quickswood.com began as a family blog after my brother Andy gave us the domain name as a present. The idea was that all four of us would use the blog as a medium to express ourselves and communicate with family and friends so we gave it the catchy tag line, “Amblings and Ramblings of a Family”. Well, it didn’t work out that way. Turns out I was the only one who was interested in the damned thing. Now it’s become my blog although the transition is not quite complete and I’m contemplating a totally new look for the site.
One of the problems with this blog is the lack of direction. I guess I’m interested in too many things. Short list: photography, religion, design and art, politics and lifestyle issues. But, that’s not going to change anytime soon so the readers who come to the blog will need to be of a similar ilk.
I had in interesting blogging experience this weekend. A few days ago, a friend of mine posted a link to one of my articles on reddit.com. Before the article appeared I was getting 10 – 20 hits a day for a total of ~2000 over the past year. As soon as the article was posted on reddit, the hits started. In no time at all, the total number of hits had doubled. Someone else then submitted a second one of my articles and BAM! my hit rate went up to more than 10,000 a day. In fact, one of the articles went all the way up to number 1 on the front page of reddit and stayed there for more than 12 hours! Holy blogbait Batman! (See the Google Analytics screenshot below.) 
Now along with the hits came comments, some posted on the site, some on reddit and yet others emailed directly. The vast majority were very positive and I must admit it’s a real thrill having thousands of people reading my stuff…and a bit scary as well. What amazes me though is how anonymity can bring out the worst in people. Some anonymous posters don a garb of frankness and boldness sometimes bordering on outright rudeness and say things in a way they would not have the courage to in a signed post, never mind face to face. Here’s a good example: “This page is so ugly that it hurt my eyes physically. Had to copy/paste the article to read it.” This guy has a problem with the layout and color scheme of my website and I certainly take his point. Black text on an orange background may not be such a good idea (although lots of the readers love it) and I’m considering changing it. However, there is, I hope you agree, more polite ways of pointing this out.
Blogs facilitate meme dissemination and function as vectors. Websites like reddit accelerate this dissemination by increasing exposure to the meme. The Internet transmits memes with high fidelity. The fecundity of the memes depends on their appeal and content. To think that just a few days ago, my views on running injuries and circumcision (…somehow, these 2 topics just don’t seem to belong in the same sentence) were known to a mere handful of others. Now, those memes are out there somewhere and it will be interesting to see just what happens to them.
To end on a lighter note, I visited my mother yesterday and she asked me to say Hi to her next time I posted an article so …”HI MOM!” She also said I looked a bit tired and that maybe we should stop entertaining so much. “What do you mean entertaining too much? We haven’t been entertaining.” I replied. “Yes you have.” she continued. “I’ve just been to your website and saw that you had 23,000 visitors and I think that’s way too much work for you and Josée." “…ah, mum…forget it.”
Joseph Froncioni
Hey Doc Congrats on the ratings. Good Job!! I enjoy your posts, very informative with the needed humor makes for a nice easy read, some of these proff's should try it with their study companions!! (smile)
OK See you soon!
Posted by: Sergio Virgil | March 25, 2007 at 11:42 PM
hey pops! love the site so far but i liek the ZIGZAG chair on the cover instead of the red one! love you and yes, grandmama is on the interent, it must be the end of the world! lol
Posted by: Alex | March 01, 2007 at 12:17 PM
Hey pops, I like the website colors, but they are intended towards "amblings and ramblings of a family". Im sure black text with less of a variation in color will work better.
p.s. Grandmama is on the internet!!! the world is comming to its end.
Posted by: Philippe Froncioni | February 28, 2007 at 02:56 PM