Debutopia has been up and going for just over four months now. She's had 12,806 pageviews and now has 102 pages to view. Those are the numbers. I'm a firm believer, though, that numbers never completely tell the story.
For each one of those pageviews, there is an untold, behind-the-scenes story that represents the interaction between each reader and each published blog post. Sometimes, through your comments and social feedback, I'm privy to some of the stories. More often, however, I'm not. Now it's your turn. I want your feedback.
Please take the time to post a comment to this blog post today -- right now! I'm especially interested in hearing constructive feedback in three general areas:
1. Content (comments about the quality and focus of Debutopia posts themselves)
2. Community (comments about what it means to be part of the Debutopia tribe)
3. Technical (comments about the layout and functionality of the Debutopia blog)
My old high school classmate Bill Floeter, just this past week, found a typo on one of my blog posts that completely changed the meaning of what I was trying to express. He took the time to kindly and gently point it out to me and, because of this, I was able to instantly improve the quality of my blog. If Bill had said "Deb, you ignorant slut, stop making mistakes," I still would have fixed the mistake and felt grateful that he had pointed it out. That's just how big my shoulders really are. Don't get any ideas, Bill.
Commenting anonymously is just fine, especially if your comment contains the word "slut." I can't promise that I'll react to each and every one of your comments, especially if there is reader discord or if my technological skills inhibit me from making the necessary changes, but I value you and your input. Without readers, I wouldn't be writing. And that's a fact.
For a blog entry about Debutopia's 100th post: "A Hundred High Fives."
For an entry about Debutopia's 10,000th pageview: "10,000 Clicks; 10,000 Hours."
Deb, I love your writing! I love seeing the world from your point of view. Thanks for sharing it with us. ...slut.
ReplyDeleteI think that I heard this comment in the spirit in which it was intended :)
ReplyDeleteYou do two things I dont like - the first is to take an audience or group of people who are followers of a particular cause, person, political party and point out the extreme cases or unusual or rude behavior by this "audience" and then imply that by extension, the rest of the followers or "audiences" are also like this and therefore the cause/candidate/person/party is bad or not worthy of support. The second thing you do that I dislike is that you identify behaviors or policies of a group or government from long ago and then also imply that people now are still like this. Racism in the past? Bad. Persecution or unethical and frankly evil medical experiments on anyone in the past? Bad. Are we still like this? No
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. If you believe that racism has really died or that homophobia is not a problem in our society or that human rights abuses are a thing of the past, then many of my blog posts won't make any sense to you. I think that we can learn from the past and stay alert to the present, in order to make for a better future. That's my utopian spin on sociopolitical events.
ReplyDeleteLove your take on things. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You don't have to tell me twice. And thanks for not using the "sl" word ;)
ReplyDeleteI would like to see more reader discord. Anon#2 dipped her/his toes into the waters of reader discord, but couldn't quite get up the nerve to dive right in. I'm at a loss to understand her/his point and would love to see them pick an example and explore it a bit further. I am fascinated by, for example, Tea Party members who complain that they are really all about too much taxation when they are most strident on their views on social issues. Or how about more on the comment about past wrongs being past, therefore no longer relevant. As if to say, well yes, the XYZ party used to do these terrible things, but if you would only re-elect them, they wouldn't do those things this time around. I really would need to hear a more complete argument on that before I rode that train again. My opinion is that Debutopia does an excellent and well researched job at presenting a point of view. The dissenters have yet to make a cogent and well researched rebuttal. Bring on the discord!
ReplyDeleteAnon#3
I disagree completely.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding!
I moderate and approve all the comments for this blog and I very rarely block any comments. On rare occasion, somebody might use abusive language or get unnecessarily personal but this is not the norm. So, what that means is that I'm the preacher and I have a small & very compliant choir. I, too, like debate that is polite and well-constructed. I believe that Anon#2 (as well as most of my readers) is entirely capable of this sort of deeper analysis.
Thanks for the mention, Deb. Perhaps I'm just anal retentive and can't stand to see mistakes made. ;o}
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I think your blogs are well written and thought provoking. I think one of the biggest problems in today's political discourse is that too many people attack the PERSON instead of the IDEA. As soon as someone calls another person an idiot (or slut), they lose all credibility with me.
I remember back in the late 80's after I was out of college, I had 2 friends that were opposites; one was ultra conservative and the other was a flaming liberal. And yet we could sit around and have a few beers and discuss the flaws in each others logic. These were very thought provoking and cordial evenings.
We need more interactions like that. No more name calling.
Bill, you're the boss! I don't care if you are an anal retentive slut. You're still alright, in my book. I'd be proud to share a beer and some thought-provoking conversation with you any old time.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I am ignorant to some of the subjects you approach. It is my own fault that I choose not to be aware of all the happenings going on around me. Mainly because they upset me, not that that's a good excuse. Truthfully, I would rather watch the History Channel then CNN or read a novel instead of the newspaper. I applaud you for your intelligence and giving your opinions on things that matter.
ReplyDeleteSo if you can be okay with the praise from an ignorant 22 year old. You are a pretty awesome lady and I like ya.
You don't need to give the "okay" on this comment, just giving you some feed back.
I think we should have coffee sometime... ;)
What are you waiting for? Grab your noni and let's go!
ReplyDeleteDeb--Yes, I could have commented anonymously, but what fun is that? I so appreciate your openness as a person and a thinker. Keep writing from that place...as you do you will add much to the conversation we all need to be a part of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rick, and keep sending those blogging links along. The Jeff Goins link you sent me yesterday (http://goinswriter.com/getting-people-to-keep-reading-your-blog/) is amazing!
ReplyDeleteWill pass along anything that looks helpful. And good placement of a related link. ;)
ReplyDelete