JoeUser and the power of community

from JoeUser Forums

*Note: Le me start off by saying this is not intended as a "suck-up" article.  I hope it doesn't appear that way, it is simply a comment on an observation I recently made and thought others who blog here may find interesting.

I am sure that we have all heard about how the auto-syndication of JoeUser is a benefit to us, the bloggers.  But I wonder if we really appreciate just how much that syndication throughout the community actually accomplishes.  I know I didn't until recently. 

During the recent downtime, my itch to blog got the better of my and I established a new blog over at Blogger.  It will mainly serve as a mirror to this blog, to be used if things go down here for whatever reason.  But, of course, I wasn't getting much of any traffic.  Such is the nature of us little, random bloggers out in the wide waves of cyberspace.  And so, I availed myself of some of the tools out there to generate traffic to your blog (primarily via BlogExplosion and BlogMad).

While surfing for credits, I noticed something interesting.  There was one blog that caught my eye.  The owner was bragging about how he gets around 600 views of his blog every month.  Now, I know there are other big time blogs that get huge multiples of that.  But 600 a month is pretty decent for a no-name blogger, don't you think?

Well, I, too, am a no-name blogger.  So, I started thinking about how much traffic I get here at JU.  It is a LOT more than that.  Let's consider this month so far.  First off, we have lost quite a few days this month due to JU being down, so the following figure will probably UNDER represent the whole story.

Going off of the "Selected" figure, which I understand means that someone actually clicked on the link to go to that article, I found the following.  I have had my articles physically selected by readers 1910 times so far this month.  Almost 2000 times someone has clicked on one of my articles.  Not just randomly surfed past my site while trying to get their credits.  This doesn't even take into account the number of articles of mine that have been seen on the front page (which have been a few this month already). 

All of this without having to avail myself of any services to bring more traffic here.  This is simply a fact of the community here and auto-syndication.

Bottom line: Thanks to the JU system, we are all getting read a LOT more than is normal for "average Joe" bloggers like most of us.  A LOT more.  I found that quite fascinating actually.

blogging
6,125 views 23 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Page Views: Home: 189 Selected: 713 Channel: 7
Replies: 83 Points: 1006




this is just from one article. a recent one< I have had as many as 3000 views on an article.

joeuser rules!
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have looked at other blog spots, but found none with the sense of community you describe.  Each is an island unto itself.  Fine for the hermit in us I guess, but not for feedback.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top

this is just from one article. a recent one< I have had as many as 3000 views on an article.

Yep.  My top articles have almost 10,000 "Selected" hits.  Almost 10,000!  And I am not one of the most highly read bloggers here!

I have looked at other blog spots, but found none with the sense of community you describe. Each is an island unto itself. Fine for the hermit in us I guess, but not for feedback.

That is what keeps me here.  Other sites may offer more in terms of customization and options, but unless you really are blogging just for yourself, that isn't enough to keep me going.  I love the interaction, feedback, and community that we have here.  Using another service just really made me realize how much I appreciate that.

And having great people like you two comment just makes the experience that much better!  Thanks guys.

Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
you make it easy to comment dev, you are one of the nice guys here on JU.

Even when we disagree I keep in mind that you are a good guy.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

Even when we disagree I keep in mind that you are a good guy.

Greatly appreciated ModMan.  I know I can lose my temper now and then, and apologize for having done so in the past.  Thanks for stopping by and being an e-friend (if you know what I mean by that-as I know how seriously you take friendship).

Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Cool numbers there Peter. I get lost when I go on other blog sites. I find them quite confusing. Plus I agree with you on that sense of "community", it's just not there at all.

JU rocks!
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top

JU rocks!

Is someone getting a huge dose of Teenagers?

Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I am curious, exactly why do bloggers more specifically you care how many people view or respond to your blog articles?
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Yes, I agree with the above sentiments. I tried a new blog at a site called Wordpress and I was getting few readersand no comments. I thought "why can't they be like JU?" I don't mind if I get few comments but it is nice to know there are readers (after all we at JU do not merely write for ourselves). We all need to spread some of our thoughts. The internal communication on JU is also appreciated: I especially appreciate input on my stories/ideas/thoughts etc from people like Gideon, Dr Guy, Bakerstreet and quite a few others. It is well-meaning, sensible and critical if needs be.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
Yeah, the exposure here absolutely rocks... My top article over the past 2 years was the first part of a never-finished series I did on Macs and how they compare to PCs and if it's time for users to consider switching. Here are the stats...

Page Views: Home: 17775 Selected: 4818 Channel: 896
Replies: 17 Points: 6056

That means people clicked off of the articles list almost 5,000 times... and others came to it from search engines or featuring on various SD sites almost *18,000* times. You can't get that sort of publicity anywhere else It boggles my mind to think that anywhere near that many people have read anything I wrote...

Actually... it's kinda scary... I'm going to go hide under a rock now...
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

I am curious, exactly why do bloggers more specifically you care how many people view or respond to your blog articles?

Because, quite simply, I don't blog just for myself.  If I was writing only for myself I would stick to a pen/paper journal, or just use Word.  I blog because I like the interaction, the exchange of ideas, the feedback, the possibility to get to e-know new people.

And the more people who are reading what I write (and the more people I can track down and read), the more opportunities for that interaction.

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

That means people clicked off of the articles list almost 5,000 times...

You ARE the Zoomba.

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
the more people who are reading what I write (and the more people I can track down and read), the more opportunities for that interaction


Sounds levelheaded BlueDev, exchanging ideas and learning from a variety of folks is enjoyable. However, I’ve found a more significant manner in which to write, issue driven 600 word op-end essays to be published in papers and magazines around the country. Doing so gives me a great deal of writing enjoyment, increased scrutiny by editors plus greater media exposure, along with acknowledgment, which manifests itself in a number of ways.

Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top

However, I’ve found a more significant manner in which to write, issue driven 600 word op-end essays to be published in papers and magazines around the country. Doing so gives me a great deal of writing enjoyment, increased scrutiny by editors plus greater media exposure, along with acknowledgment, which manifests itself in a number of ways.

That sounds like a fantastic opportunity.  I would enjoy doing something similar, though am not sure where to start.  Congrats on being able to do that.

Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
600 visitors a month is not even REMOTELY impressive. My "other" blog normally averages 5-6 times that (it was slower for awhile, as I ignored updates until the recent downtime). True, a small amount of that traffic is cross indexed from my JU site, but the majority of it comes from the blog traffic sites. In other words, this person isn't even using those sites to their full potential.

Even with the recent downtime, I have had over 13,000 visitors to my sister site in about 8 months' time.

But you're right, the syndication aspect of JU makes our blogs MUCH more visible.
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
Fact is, for those of us who enjoy feedback on our writing, and don't want the hassle of linking our blog with this place and that, this is an ideal place to use. It's easy to set up, easy to use, and allows us the option of entering a community.

Sure, there is drama and glitches and such...but for the most part, it
is pretty good.
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top

600 visitors a month is not even REMOTELY impressive

I wasn't too impressed either, but didn't want to burst that blogger's bubble.

When I was using my little "Sitemeter" buttons in my articles (which I grew tired of and figured I had learned what I wanted to learn) I got over 34,000 views, and that was only from the beginning of December until the beginning of March.  Well over 10,000 views of my articles in not quite three month's time.

All thanks to the syndication aspect of JU.

Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
Congrats on being able to do that.


Thank You.... I can't express in words how it feels to see my essay's in any Editorial section of a paper. When an editor calls, I am humbled yet excited because his editorial team thinks I wrote a worthy piece. Mind you this is not a career endeavor, just a challenge that brings more personal enjoyment then I ever imagined. I should qualify that by saying, an even par round or sub par brings considerably more gratification.
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
Link

This article has well over 12,000 hits, and 197 referrals. This is definitely a powerful community networking site.

Dan
Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
I've had a comprehensive literature webpage for three years and only have a total of 3800 hits. You guys are amazing. As for my stevendedalus blog I doubt over two years and 600 plus articles draw very little in replies and referrals. I feel rejected.
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top
As for my stevendedalus blog I doubt over two years and 600 plus articles draw very little in replies and referrals. I feel rejected


I post on almost all I see of yours!
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top

I've had a comprehensive literature webpage for three years and only have a total of 3800 hits. You guys are amazing. As for my stevendedalus blog I doubt over two years and 600 plus articles draw very little in replies and referrals. I feel rejected.

I read you Steven.  I just don't usually feel intelligent enough to comment!

Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
I post on almost all I see of yours!
Yes, I know, thanks. It's been fun--usually.


I read you Steven. I just don't usually feel intelligent enough to comment!
Thank you, but I don't always go deep.