As I was reading the email from my webmaster this morning and came to the sentence that began The synoptic answer, in terms of organic results, I’m pretty sure my eyes crossed. I might even have lost consciousness for a nanosecond. Whatever happened “in terms of organic results” was that my brain turned off and I suffered from immediate overwhelmsion.
The topic under ‘discussion’ was my blog – this very blog – and why it no longer interfaces directly to Facebook. Bottom line (I think), no one knows the answer to “why?” It just doesn’t and hasn’t since mid-December. Probably Facebook is to blame.
What that means for me is that my readership is falling away and the question before me is: should I continue with the blog? I’m pretty sure that Oysterville Day Book blog fans will say “no” and I very much appreciate that sentiment, but I’m trying to keep my sights set on why I began blogging in the first place, and even more to the point, why I arranged to have the blog go directly to Facebook.
It was all meant to raise my profile and, hopefully, to increase awareness of me as an author. Presumably, if people enjoyed my blog, then checked out my website and saw that I had written books, they might even buy some. Though it’s all very hard to quantify, I do think that scenario has occurred to some degree. But now… the emphasis is changing.
So, I’m left examining some very hard questions. Do I enjoy blogging for its own sake? Or is it the contacts I’ve met through the blog that bring me pleasure? Am I feeling obligated to continue? Could I use my time more productively? Just what is “the synoptic answer” anyway?
The use of our language has always intrigued and fascinated me and i assume it has the same positive ionic charge for you, allowing organic penetration into your consciousness! Dear Mrs. Barnes, our Jr.Hi.English teacher, s would love it all! I say, its not over until all of the multitudinous ramifications have been tallied and all variables allowed Socratic dialog….
Wow, remember when the phrase “at this point in time” (John Dean) during the Watergate hearings was enough to make us mourn the decline and complication of the English language? We were obviously in mourning way too soon…
Sydney,
That is one of the most egregious sentences of meaningless gobbledygook I have ever read! As a computer scientist, I have no idea what it means. May I be apalled and incensed on your behalf? But the graph is interesting. Please keep blogging, it is my morning walk in Oysterville. It’s just not the same experience on Facebook, intermingled with friends’ comments and baby pictures and political statements. Instead, I am taking a quiet walk among mossy trees, your blooming rhodedendrons, sighing wind, and the smell of the bay.
Syd – I would strongly encourage you to keep your blog. It helps all of us who miss the village stay in touch. More personally, it provides tidbits about our family’s history (that can’t fit into one dinner with 10 people every 6 months) to be passed along to future generations. At your mom’s funeral, I spoke about the way that your mom handed down knowledge about our family….your method is distinctly more modern, but equally important. Hang in there – numbers be damned. – Ab
Say it ain’t so, Sydney. I cannot imagine life without the Oysterville Day Book. It is a little escape for me and a chance for me to visit with you ‘though 150 miles away.
What Susan in Seattle said!
As to continuing with your blog, if you take pleasure in it, go on with it. If you don’t, your friends will stay in touch anyway. Life is too short to do what you don’t enjoy if you don’t have to.
By the way, you & some readers might find this interesting:
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html
I read your blog regularly! We try to visit the LB Peninsula every other year, and I read your blog to keep up on local events.