I received my 20,000th hit this weekend, so I thought I’d write a little reflection on how I’m feeling about the blog. Yep, that’s right: blogging on blogging.

First, it’s interesting how blogging colors the way one lives. In a way, it’s like preaching, but a bit more intense. When you preach often, you live looking through a lens wondering, “Will this work in my sermon?” I do similarly with the blog. I’ll often think, “I should blog about this” though I end up thinking that much less often than I actually blog. This constant reflection on one’s life and how it might be mined for curious and contemplative snippets is great…mostly.

The mirror of the comment above is how cognizant I am that the blog is a public record that could – and probably will – be used out of context against me one day. There’s lots I think about personally, professionally, theologically, that doesn’t make it on the blog because how it might be perceived. Reflections on a particular funeral, for example, I leave off because I don’t want a grieving family to find it somehow and have to deal with public – though anonymous – discussion. Similarly, I don’t blog about interactions with just one other person – unless that person is a blogger, which seems to change the rules somehow.

(A little related story. A Princeton Seminary intern and friend of mine in a neighboring Scottish town blogged about the ruckus in the public square outside his apartment following a football match. The next day he was quoted in the Glasgow Herald newspaper! Mind you, this was a particularly bad piece of reporting as the quotes were just copied and pasted from his blog – without noting so. But, the point is that the entire town read what the assistant minister of Cumnock Parish Church had to say about Scottish youth – and he had specifically written he was drinking while blogging. Moral of the story: bloggers be careful, or at least, be ready.)

I’m also struck how the profession of pastor fits blogging particularly well. A doctor might struggle to blog for all the obvious privacy reasons. A teacher, similarly. But a pastor already expects her life to be public – it comes with the job; it is the job. Pastors also need to be really keyed-into the wider world, have conversation partners, and express their thoughts through the written word. Blogging just fits.

I’ll end with the narcissistic stuff (by the way, anyone who says blogging isn’t narcissistic is confused, blogging is necessarily public and bloggers loves hits.) It took me six months to reach 10,000 hits, but only two months to get next 10,000. So, I’m doing better these days. I’ve been averaging between 130-150 hits a day, with occasional spikes in the 250s. Sometimes I think there really must be more interesting things for those 130 people to do each day (though I have a suspicion that my mom accounts for about 20 hits a day). Other times I figure there’s millions of blogs out there, I might as well strive to be one of the slightly more read ones.

I suspect the vast majority of my readers take the time to click on a bookmark and jump on over to the blog. I used to read blogs this way, but now am totally hooked on RSS feeds (explainer video here ). If you read more than a handful of blogs or do much at all online, you really should experiment with a reader.

Hopes for the future:

• I’ve had a few books sent my way by publishers for reviewing. Sort of an example, Tony Jones’ book review here. I’d like to do more of this, because I love thinking people value my opinion almost as much as I love free books!
• I’d like to get linked more often. My current technorati authority is a measly 19. I guess the best way to do this is just to write well. *Sigh.
• I’d like to use the blog to broaden my community a bit. I have made several Presbyterian friendships and random connections via the blog, and corresponded with colleagues all over the world. I love it when I find a new fun blog to read. When I find more, I’ll let you know

Finally, I’d love to know who you are who read.  I totally respect your right to remain anonymous, but, I’m always curious who’s reading, and it would be interesting for other readers to know who else is reading.  So if you have two ticks, pop me an email, or even better, comment below.

Thanks for a happy 20,000 (and I promise no more posts like this unless I hit 100,000).

image by lusi