I knew about the existence of Jonathan Crossfield’s list of the top fifty Australian writing blogs, of course, in all its technoratified glory. I just didn’t know that I wanted to be on it until I checked my site referrers and found that in the latest update I squeaked on in the runners-up table at number 104.
Which means now I can redouble my efforts at second-guessing every post I make in terms of whether I’m just posting so people will read this thing or posting because I’ve got something to say. Because now there’s something (something very, very, very small, [but personal]) at stake. I don’t know if I could take it if I dropped below 104, but I don’t know how much self-respect I could maintain if I started actively trying to deliberately increase my Alexa rating…
Mr. Crossfield, could you please just lock me in at 104 for all time and be done with it? That way I won’t get heartbroken if I go down, and I won’t make myself cringe if it goes up and I get excited about it and then have to admit I’m the kind of person who cares about where he sits in a list…
Huzzah! More conflicted internal monologuing about my writing career!
The Other Adam Ford 
Actually, in the next update, you should pop UP the list. You’ve obviously registered your blog with Technorati since I built the list (either that or Technorati stopped stuffing up), which has quartered your Technorati score on the list.
One month to go to see what happens…
yeah, i registered this morning, after I found my name on your list. I also requested a crawl from Alexa. See what I mean?!?
i was going to say that list is rubbish, but then i read jonathan’s comment. if my site pops up, i’ll withdraw the comment i never made, or maybe i won’t.
yeah, well, stats are just stats, right? quantity vs. quality &c &c.
I was just struck by the fact that while I know that on an intellectual level, I still had a definite emotional reaction to being included. You know – “top ten lists are rubbish why aren’t I on it?” sort of thing…
Haha, the list is of interest at least. Congratulations on being on it. Why is caring about who and how many people read your chapbook or poetry in journals different from caring about how many people read your blog? Some people are just too cool for their own good. As the top three poets I think you, Mr Motion and I should work together to get into the 1, 2, 3 positions. Not for personal glory of course but in the interests of poetry and its ever-increasing readership.
Hey Paul!
It’s just that I don’t like to put popularity at the forefront of my writing motivation. If I only wanted to be popular there are head of cheesy shortcuts I could take, but I wouldn’t be producing the work that I think I should be. Does that make sense? I think I believe that if I produce the work that I think is the best, by my standards, that this lends something to the work that it wouldn’t have if I was primarily concerned with what other people would want from me.
I guess what I’m saying is that a desire for audience ideally comes after the creation of the work for me, not before, or I feel somehow compromised.
I like the idea of a poet wedge in this list, though. We should hold a counsel of war!