Claremont Insider: Intrepid Columnist Braves Blogosphere Year II

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Intrepid Columnist Braves Blogosphere Year II

Congratulations are in order for Daily Bulletin columnist David Allen, whose blog last week celebrated its first birthday. Allen had a print column on the happy occasion:

My 10th anniversary as a Bulletin columnist slipped away last spring, as best as these things can be pinned down.

I say that because even though my first every-single-week column was April 26, 1998, I'd managed to sneak 19 of them into the paper at random points in the previous 13 months.

So the anniversary of my column is hard to explain...much like my column's appeal.

What's easier to pinpoint is the date I became a blogger: Sept. 12, 2007. Or one year ago last Friday.

Butler, bring me a cake and candle.

In case we're not past the what's-a-blog discussion yet, it's an online column. You know, on what President Bush calls the Internets.

Allen also blogged about the anniversary:

Based on comments I get, most of you are happy enough with this blog. And that's satisfying. I wish it were better, frankly, and were blogging my fulltime gig it would be. But I barely have time to think about it, really.

So this is what you get for the hour or two a day I can spare -- something off-the-cuff, mildly entertaining, more personal and casual than my columns (is that possible?), plus responses to many of your comments.

Some stats I've been pondering as I look to the future: Although there are readers at any point of the day or evening, on weekdays there's a peak around 9 or 10 a.m., and then a second peak around 4 p.m. Hmm.

And while weekends have the lightest readership, the 250-ish people reading then, compared to 300-ish to 500-ish on weekdays, is higher than I'd have expected.

In response, the boss has suggested that I post not just weekday mornings but in the afternoons as well, to give the morning people an excuse to check back for something other than fresh comments and, of course, to rack up more page views.

"It doesn't have to be long," he says. "Just something like 'I had a burrito at lunch.'"

Uh, well, I'm skeptical anyone would check back for dispatches like that. But I can kinda see his point. I could do with some shorter posts.