Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Happy Birthday


To Brightcape, that is.  1 year ago I made my first introductory post.  I figured I would muse here on whether I accomplished my goals and what things look like when compared to what I thought they would be when I set out.

In that post I noted that many, many blogs end up being 3 posts of real material perhaps followed by a picture of a cat or 'hey guys I haven't updated in a while... ooops" and then silence.  I certainly didn't do that, as I logged 244 posts, not including this one.  I was hoping to hit 250 as some kind of artificial benchmark but I fell just shy; I noticed two weeks ago that I was going to be very close to the mark and could hit it if I just did 7 posts a week but I decided to stick with my natural posting pattern and not bother shooting for a particular post count.  I was also tempted to just make 6 posts each consisting of one word but that would be far more pathetic than clever.

When I started I really had no idea what my audience would be like.  I figured a few of my family members and a few of my friends would read what I have to say but I have ended up with readers from 10 countries totalling about 124 pageviews each day.  That certainly isn't breaking records, nor is it the sort of readership that lets you live off the advertising, but it is a lot higher than I figured I would have.  It certainly means that I have managed to get a lot more people than my immediate circle interested in what I have to say.

I think my biggest struggle is trying to make posts that all the various groups who read Brightcape will enjoy.  I love games and talk about them a lot but if I make a games post that most hardcore gamers will find interesting my family will mostly be at a loss, and I am not at all confident that the hardcore gamers that found my blog on EJ or the WOW forums care much about my 'this is what is going on in my life' posts.  I have often thought that I should split up my blog into two and make one specifically about games and one about my personal life.  The trick is that a lot of my philosophy, religion and psychology posts start from one of those areas and meander quite a bit and people in either sphere might be interested.  Because so much of what I write ends up crossing boundaries it would limit me significantly if I were to create two blogs I think.

If any readers out there have ideas they want to share for new things for Brightcape now is the time.  Is there a new project I should try and blog about, sort of like my barefoot or bible projects?  Is there a topic or type of post you like and want to see more of?  What do you think?  If anyone has anything interesting to share on the direction of my blog or things you want to see me do, please do speak up.

Lastly I want to thank everyone who reads, but particularly so those who comment and engage with me on various topics.  I often find myself challenged by comments and forced to really rethink my beliefs and opinions and I value that learning opportunity very much.  I look forward to continuing to argue with you going forward.

8 comments:

  1. Now that I have joined the 'connected' people of the world, I enjoy reading your blog - every part of it (except gaming). :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love reading it. keep writing and challenging people to really think about the world around them. If we don't examine the things that are not right with the world, then all we are doing is continuing to tell the emperor that his clothes really are great. And that just won't do!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love being able to see inside your life from a distance:) That has been quite lovely.

    Far and away, the parenting entries are my favourite. They slay me. In those posts you tend to be more self-deprecating and funny and it feels more like a personal journey rather than a point to be made (not that making a point is ever a bad thing... I just enjoy the storytelling aspect of the parenting posts a lot:)

    I've enjoyed the reading a lot over the past year, but it can never hold a candle to the face-to-face chats. Can't wait for you to come home for the holidays:)!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I stumbled upon your blog via the Elitist Jerks website. What I found was a much more than I expected. I very much enjoy the personal information regarding parenting and views of religion and politics as much as the gaming posts.

    One thing I wish you did do was post a bit more about your work on your paladin (the spreadsheet) and your adjustments to the changes in WOW gameplay. It would not need to be often, but around focus around the times that major changes are made.

    I wish you continued success blogging and look forward to your next post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Donald

    Given that the WOW expansion is next week I expect my posts will contain a *lot* of WOW content for the next little while. I have been deliberately not making WOW posts for a few weeks since I know this space will be flooded with them starting on the 7th.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Elitist Jerks?! How did you get to be one of those?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, Elitist Jerks is wonderful. It is one of those rare places on the internet where the moderators actually crack down hard on useless posts and posters so the level of dialogue is actually really quite high. If they weren't such Jerks their site would be overwhelmed with trolling and uninformative drivel.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am with Matt on this and it is nice for me, being geographically remote, to have the connection. Just want to say that i think you always have to keep it in mind not to betray Elli's confidence on the blog and I would say you haven't yet. Bev

    ReplyDelete