Thursday, April 4, 2013

The readership blues


I've been trying to fight this for the past year-plus on this blog.

Honestly, I didn't want to believe it was true at first. As of right now, though, I think it's finally time to 'fess up.

Yes, folks, I do care about the amount of comments and readership I get on my posts.

Let me be clear here, though. It'll never get to the point where I stop blogging altogether because I didn't get a comment or two on one of my posts. It's not that big of a concern, by any means.

But, as much as I tell myself not to think about it, I do tend to take note when my blog stats take a hit. This week's card show posts were noticeably less viewed and commented on than my past ones of the same variety.

It's been that way for most of my write-ups during the past week or so, although I'm not quite sure why. I know the blogosphere goes through peaks and valleys, but those valleys can get a bit worrisome at times.

Deep down, I doubt I'm much different from the rest of my fellow bloggers in this regard. I think most of us have at least a slight interest in how "popular" our posts on a given day are.

I'm sorry if this sounds like whining. That's the last of my intentions here. I'm an upbeat guy.

Hey, you, look! Here's some cards I received before my card show/Vegas mega-week, courtesy of Douglas from the awesome blog "Sportscards From the Dollar Store".

Look at them, don't look at them. Comment, don't comment. I don't care. (I do, though.)

Days after Douglas sent his last batch of cards out to me, I added this 1992 Donruss Triple Play card of Roger McDowell and his water gun arsenal to my "Dime Box Dozen" list. Lo and behold, he had that one, too. 

Because he's such a terrific person, Douglas assembled yet another great package for me, centered around the now-former "Dime Box Dozen" McDowell.




Look!

Harold Baines blowing a bubble!

Surely someone has a comment about that, right?

I'd love to dig through a box stuffed with early '90s Triple Play cards. If what I've seen from the set is any indication, that'd sure be a ton of fun. 

After all, Triple Play is a gem within itself.




Cool!

Ballplayers doing impersonations of my math teacher!

Funny, eh?

Although I haven't fully decided to chase these types of cards, Douglas chose to partake in a bit of a "bespectacled dump" in preparing this particular package. 

No, I don't wear glasses, so I don't have any type of personal attachment to these things. For whatever reason, I just think they're cool.

I'm not sure my binders can withstand another mini-collection, though. My unorganized stacks of "pitchers at the plate" and "interview" cards are already overflowing.

So, will I ever eventually decide to chase these bespectacled ballplayers?

I'm sure I will.

Not quite yet, though.




Of course, Eddie Gaedel is the smallest ballplayer ever featured on a card.

But I think mini-Sheets here is now the smallest human I've ever seen on a piece of cardboard. A prime add to my "cards with kids" collection, no doubt.

If my research is correct, that's Ben and Julie Sheets's first son, Tom. Incidentally, they chose to name him after pitching legend Tom Seaver. (The second son of the former Brewer was named Miller. Coincidence?)

Thanks to a repack he'd recently opened, Douglas had an extra copy of this card to send my way.

As if I needed any more reasons to love repacks.

I certainly feel those cards were comment-worthy. Every single one.

I'll just have to leave that part up to you.

In all seriousness, though, blogging is a whole lot more than readership and comments to me. That'll never, ever change.

No matter how, where, or when you came across my post this afternoon, I thank you for checking in and reading through it.

But I do appreciate any feedback I can get on this drivel I post every now and again.

It feels good to finally get that off my chest.

17 comments:

Spiegel83 said...

You shouldn't worry about the number of comments you get on your posts. It will probably drive you crazy eventually. People may read your words and enjoy what they read and not comment. Your words still get enjoyed anyways, no matter how many readers wanna chime in.

madding said...

I often don't give individual posts page views because I click on the blog itself and read the most recent post or two. Also, I doubt that posts read in separate news reading apps end up counting as page views - and people probably can't comment that way.

I do like getting comments, too, but I try not to assume that nobody read or cared about what I wrote if I don't get any comments.

Then again, I suppose I put the words "Free Cards" in the title of everything I write. That seems to get people's attention.

JediJeff said...

"Wars not make one great." -Yoda

Doc said...

Spring Break is my 2 cents!

Doc

Robert said...

I've had so little time outside of writing posts the past week that I am behind on my reading. Expect a bit of padding on your stats this weekend...

AdamE said...

I have read every single post you have ever wrote since the beginning. I don't leave comments much because I don't have a lot to say. If i did I would probably use my blog more.

Nick said...

Thank you, everyone, for the comments on this post! :)

I know I have quite a few loyal readers out there, and I appreciate every single one of you. I seem to go through peaks and valleys of checking blog stats. I think I'm at a peak right now.

A few weeks from now, I'll probably check my stats far less often. As Mr. Spiegel said, I'd probably go crazy if I checked them too often.

But, again, thank you everyone!

The Junior Junkie said...

You always show cards I want. Triple Play has some wacky cards, and I love it.

I looked at my own most popular posts the other day and they make zero sense, probably due to google search anomalies. My most popular 5 times over is a little trade post. Makes no sense to me.

night owl said...

Re: Doc's comment:

Spring break AND the start of baseball season. It's really killing my reading.

P-town Tom said...

I was going to say exactly what Doc and Night Owl said, but they already said it.

Then I realized, that sometimes I don't comment because someone else (sometimes the original post itself) has said everything there is to say. So yeah, there's that, too.

Hackenbush said...

My numbers seem to be down quite a bit lately and I do sometimes wonder if I'm just blogging for myself. Something keeps me going just the same. Hope you stay with it. I never get tired of seeing the cards you come up with.

hiflew said...

I am on the same wavelength as you regarding comments. That is part of the reason I am taking a break from blogging. Putting together a post takes a lot of time and effort and it is nice to know that it is appreciated. With me, the readership numbers are one thing, but comments are the interactive part of blogging that I like. Without the comments, I feel like I am writing to myself. It is for that reason I try to comment on at least half of the posts that I read on this and other blogs just to show that I appreciate the work you have put in.

Mike said...

You're not gonna end up one of these Liza Minelli "LOVE ME!!!" people,are ya??!

Hahaha!....keep on blogging,boy.....

Swing And A Pop-up said...

I didn't read much this week and haven't posted this week as well. Since I just started blogging a few months ago, some of my posts get zero page reads, some get a lot.
I do like it when people comment on my blog so I try to reciprocate whenever possible.
It's just tough to get to everybody every day, so I don't get too concerned about it and neither should you.
You have a great blog and I enjoy reading it.

Spankee said...

I just tell myself that my post was so rockin' that the reader was too amazed to come up with something to say. I also drink heavily.

gcrl said...

don't sweat the small stuff. you were one vote short of 'blog of the year' status in jaybarker fan's junk poll. you got my vote and votes from a lot of other bloggers. your readership is there, even if there aren't always a lot of comments. i will try to be better about commenting (i am reading daily).

as far as my blog goes, i blog for myself first and foremost. i know that my non-dodger focused posts usually get more readers, but i enjoy writing and reminiscing about the dodgers of my youth - sometimes my posts are more about the players than the cards - and i know that people only have so much dodger interest to go around. if i worried too much about comments i would be drinking with spankee.

also, i sent a package to you yesterday. thanks for all the cards you have sent my way. keep up the entertaining work!

Zayden said...

Sorry for the really late post, but I just wanted to say that personally I've been going through a "waning interest" in cardboard.

"Hills And Valley's" are an excellent way to describe it.

I haven't been reading other blogs very much either. Not because of the content but because my interest feigns in and out.

I'm not sure if this phenomenon happens to you but I really get burnt out quick in this hobby, so naturally it will take a back seat, never fully leaving me of course.

I still catch up on your posts as much as possible because it's where the great content is. In fact I'm catching up right now : )