This year I will once again celebrate my blog highlights, but also will give a nod to the other social media sites.
On the blog front, MT.Net collected 1.73 million hits over this year, translating to 260,000 unique visits. That’s an average of 711 visits per day and about 30% traffic growth from the year before. It’s been a good year, traffic-wise. On the posting side, I estimate I’ve written about 450 new posts this year.
I’m always amused at what brings people to my site, too. I’m still one of the top search results for the Sugarhill Gang’s epic rap song, Rapper’s Delight. I’m also still collecting plenty of web hits for Jefferson’s Bank Quote. I also draw web searchers looking for Bradley Manning, 1Gb Internet, 99% of people can’t watch this video more than 25 seconds, free iPad scam, and TSA cavity search.
I pointed out to the local paper how they weren’t labeling file photos, which they fixed. I also pointed out the sleazy ads they were running, which they didn’t fix.
I used my blog to document long-gone Raleigh landmarks in the hope of creating the home in the digital world that they lack in the physical world. I had fun looking up the old Raleigh Speedway, having become astonished that Raleigh was once home to NASCAR. I also enjoyed sleuthing around to find the original home of Isaac Hunter’s Tavern, the long-lost landmark that the city of Raleigh was built around. I’ve got more to discuss on the tavern in an upcoming post.
I tracked down a lot of scammers, and the clues I turned up have kept others from falling for the scams. This has been a lot of fun and I look forward to continuing the battle.
The most profound change for me with social media this year has been the usefulness of Facebook and Twitter. It was a breakthrough year. Friends and relatives that were once so distant now share their lives with me as if they live next door. People I thought I knew all my life but perhaps never fully appreciated have revealed their personalities more deeply than I would’ve ever anticipated. This change crosses the generational divide, too. Friends I might not ever have made due to age differences are now much closer to me. I’ve learned that I have far more in common with some friends than I initially thought.
It is no understatement to say that Facebook has cast the relationships with my friends and family in a completely new light. It’s true that in some cases the people I thought I admired have revealed themselves to be unworthy of that admiration. In the vast majority of cases, though, Facebook has brought me much closer to my friends and family.
As for Twitter, I am not the heaviest of users. I do enjoy posting photos from my camera phone whenever I have something to share. I enjoy posting updates from wherever I happen to be. Twitter’s portability makes it possible to create news from just about anywhere. And when news happens, I turn to Twitter first for the very same reason. Twitter’s tweets are likely to be more timely (and unfiltered) than what is said in the traditional news media. Earthquake hit California? What are the people there saying? Revolution in the streets of Tehran? Twitter gives a front-row seat. Either the traditional media masters these tools or it will quickly be left behind.
So where does this leave my blog? I am quickly heading for my 5,000th blog post. Though micro-blogging sites like Twitter and Facebook have siphoned away some of the material I might have posted here, I remain fiercely committed to maintaining my blog. The micro-blogging sites are ill-suited for the long, introspective pieces that I occasionally write. I find it’s difficult to search the status update histories on the other sites. I am also pleased that my site is completely open and available to anyone on the Internet. I do make visitors register before they can comment on my posts, but reading is open to all.
I look forward to the many ways social media will affect my life in the upcoming years.