How to make a blogger go crazy

I know that looking at Google analytics will make me crazy, and yet I am drawn to it. I'm curious about where viewers come from and how long they stay, but the hit count is what draws me in. I watch as the line climbs up and drops down. I say it doesn't matter, but I'm drawn to look and figure out why the line moves.

I remember taking Psych 101 almost thirty years ago. We learned about positive and negative reinforcement and how you could achieve a desired outcome. What really sticks with me at times like this was how you could drive lab animals crazy was to give them random rewards and punishments. They would try to figure out what they were doing right or wrong, but since the feedback was random their conclusions would always be wrong.

I am currently going mad. For some reason, about two months ago my hit count went up by a factor of three compared to my highest days. And it stayed that high. Why? Was it where I had been posting comments? I have no idea and decided it was a fluke. But the count stayed high day after day. Even when I went weeks between posts. I decided if that many people were looking I needed to do a better job of posting regularly. No sooner do I make that announcement (and start posting fairly regularly) then my hit count drops just a precipitously.

Whatever. I post and wonder if I'm talking to myself. I like to write and this is a place I can do that. So I'll continue trying to hit 300 posts this year. As long as I don't lose my mind in the process.