it's all about the hit count, isn't it?

Blogging is really backwards sometimes.

In the real world, people reciprocate when others invite them over. Bob and Martha invite you over for dinner, you reciprocate. If you have them over like two or three times in a row, you eventually say screw you, Bob and Martha, you freeloading ingrates. This ain't a soup kitchen, you know.

Blogs are the opposite. Bob won't bother to come to your blog if you don't go over to his a few dozen times first. Then he drops by and says, "Hi, great blog, ha ha ha you really made me laugh" when you actually posted about how your 18-year-old lap dog just died in your arms and you cried for six days straight. Bob's not paying too much attention. So screw Bob anyway. Who needs him?

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Bob, you suck.

Wait, maybe that's not what I'm trying to say. Sorry, Bob. I hope you come back. I could use the hits to make me feel relevant. But since you're not paying attention anyway, ha ha ha, I hope I made you laugh.

What I'm really trying to say is, why do people read a whole blog post and then not comment? I mean, you invested the time to visit, you read the words. Why not throw little good time after bad and drop a few words on the lonely blogger who thinks no one ever visits? It's not like there's a standard you have to live up to. It's not like you actually have to think before commenting. Look at Bob.

But it doesn't bother me. I have one of those hit counter things, and it even emails me my weekly summary. But I don't know how to use it. Site meters are the ultimate self esteem indicator. There are two types of people who obsess over them: People who have revenue tied to hit counts, and people who have self-esteem tied to hit counts. Everyone else who blogs realizes that they're basically whispering into a hurricane.