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Saturday, August 1, 2009

No Computers in Alaska?

For me, one of the most amazing elements of the blogging experience is the potentiality to reach with one's words the far corners of the globe. Each day I sit before my computer in my second floor "office" in my house in the tiny hamlet of South Bend, WA (population around 1,700) and what I peck out on my keyboard may resonate with someone in Oregon, Hong Kong, Mozambique or Poland.

And it's not just me. Each of you that has a blog or a web site has the very same potentiality! In truth, none of us has any idea the ripple effect any specific blog post may engender. What we write may strike a nerve with someone far away, so much so that their life may be forever altered. On the flip side, nothing we write may impact anyone at all, though I find this hard to believe.

On July 5, I decided to pay special note -- via my tracking software -- of all the places visitors to this blog hail from. Several times each day I have eyeballed the "location" report from my SiteMeter panel. To this end, beginning on July 6 and ending on July 31, I've kept a handwritten log of the US states and territories plus other nations of this blog's visitors.

My results have been quite humbling. I really had no idea that I was communicating -- however brief or superficial -- with people from so many places. I am presenting this list more for those of you who do not use tracking software. If my dinky blog shows this much diversity of locale, I'm certain the very same thing can be said of your enterprise.

On the basis of US states, I have had numerous visitors from every state except Alaska, Nevada and South Dakota. What follows is a list of all the countries in which, at least, one person has hailed from (the list includes a few territories as well):
Austria, Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guam, Finland, France, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Arab Emigrates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
This list covers every continent except Antarctica. People have accessed my blog utilizing a vast array of languages. They visit at all hours of the day and night.

So, just remember that each time you get ready to post your next blog entry, you have the opportunity to touch people all around the world. Your thoughts and words -- like my thoughts and words -- may change someone's life.

Let's hope it's for the better!

2 comments:

  1. Hi R T
    I too am SO amazed at how many people visit and from where. My most recent was a person from Rumania who said they really liked the post. Who knew? I am very aware of just how far my words can reach and I am loving it!!!! :-)

    Love to you and Della
    Gail
    peace.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. sadly, we never know most of the impacts, since most people don't leave any comments. I often wonder what people think of what I post, especially the more personal things. And then again, as a follower of Tao, I don't particularly care. ;^)

    ReplyDelete

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