Sunday, January 17, 2010

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.

2 comments:

  1. Hi, I found your blog through InsideEd/Sun. I wonder if your hits go up and down depending on how active or inactive InsideEd is. I read Inside regularly when Sara was there and now only occasionally. I think Liz and co. have tried but the staff is defintely depleted and the City focus is gone.Lately, Baltimore County has had its issues and they have been interesting. I tend to link to other ed blogs from InsideEd. Not sure why that is. Even if there is nothing on InsideEd, I go there to link to you and a couple others. However, many of the linked blogs are inactive now. FYI-I am very interested in your autism focus but I enjoy your comments about education in the city, in general. Thanks for your insights.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Having a look around. Nice digs, here.

    I have found that having blog titles like "Angelina Jolie and Britney Spears Love Naked Mole Rats" tends to drive my hit counts up. :)

    Joe

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