LURKING IN THE SHADOWS

I have between 35-40 people who have chimed in with comments of their own. The more the better. I love it! But I've noticed something very interesting. For those people who have in fact left comments, you can click on their name. It takes you to their own blogger profile. It also shows you how many times their profile has been viewed.

Now, with the exception of Jason, Kevin, Greg and Tammy, no one has created their own blog on the blogger website. They've only created a blogger identity in order to leave comments on mine.

If you look at my profile, you'll notice that my blog has been viewed by over 1100 different people. The high number (in comparison to the people who have left me comments) is due in part to the fact that anyone on another blog might stumble onto mine, simply by clicking "next blog" in the upper right corner. But nobody who does that will ever stumble onto people like Meff or Brad, because they don't actually have blogs of their own. The only way their profile views will increase is if someone reads my blog, then clicks on their name from a comment that was left.

I look at those profile views from time to time. Jenny Malley is an interesting one. About a month ago, her profile view was somewhere around 30. Now today it's jumped to 154. Jenny doesn't have a blog. She ony has a blogger identity in order to leave comments.

So what does this mean? It means that in the past month alone, at least 100 people have visited this blog, and have clicked on Jenny's name. Who would do that? Would it be a total stranger who wandered in after clicking "next blog?" Why would a stranger be interested in Jenny Malley - or "Jenny" as she calls herself here? Perhaps one or two people may have done that. But 120? No chance! So what this means is that I have a ton of people who are reading this blog on a fairly regular basis. Yet they've chosen to read it anonymously, never saying a word.

Why? Are they scared to say something? They shouldn't be. There isn't a single classmate commenter that I haven't been kind to. I may have been less than kind to a few people within the entries I created. But geez, I'm writing about stuff that happened back in the 1980's. It's all so old. I wish nothing but the best for anyone I've written about. And there isn't a single person that I wouldn't be nice to if I saw them on the street.

So to the lurkers out there, speak up! If you think I'm full of shit, tell me! If you think I'm full of myself, tell me! If I hurt your feelings in some way, tell me! If you think this blog is cool, tell me! If you have a memory to share, share it! Don't be shy. No one is here to judge. And your words are just as good as mine.