Saturday, January 07, 2006

To link or not to link

From the comments: "I added you without permission to the the Sask Blogs blogroll. If you don't think that's right, let me know . . ."

No problem, and thank you. If I've seemed ambivalent about people pointing links at my blog, it's not that I think they should ask permission. If I publish something here, then pointing a link at it is just like recommending a book, as far as I'm concerned.

The only reason I hesitate, is that I originally intended this blog to serve a more local audience. I haven't done much to promote that (such as posting notices of local events, or seeking out local stories, or advertising the blog locally), and the 'Gist has certainly drifted as I have found myself involved in other communities - blogging communities. When I am writing a post, I'm thinking about my audience, and from the comments I get, I'm guessing that many of my readers are fellow bloggers from all across the continent. Sometimes I wonder, though, whether it's just that they speak up, and people close to home don't.

Maybe I should get a site meter, but I'm afraid to, because I might spend too much time checking it!

So tell me, do you want more local content?

Should I keep my blog's sidebar more or less as it is (a glimpse into my own reading habits, plus an assortment of links that I judge to be of local interest)? Or should I add the Sask Blogs blogroll, and possibly other blogrolls? Personally, I tend to ignore blogrolls. I find the links that are hand picked by a blogger more interesting. Actually the top two ways that I find new blogs to read are:
2) adding items to the "Interests" and "Favourites" sections of my Blogger Profile (anyone can get one), and then clicking on them to find other bloggers with common interests; and
1) noticing new commenters at other blogs. If you browse the comments over at maison madcap, you can see the influence that Madcap's community has had on my sidebar.

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p.s. If you're a blogger who has linked my site in your sidebar, and you're wondering why I haven't linked yours, don't take it personally. It may be just that I haven't got to it. I'm stalling about updating my links list, because I want to do some thinking about my selection criteria. Hence this post. Comments welcome!

4 comments:

H. Stallard said...

Hey, It's not about us, it's about you. What are your interests, what do you want to do and have on it? What I put on my blog is for me. If others find it interesting OK, if not that's OK too. It's my way of sounding things out. Don't think so much about us, think instead of Laura.

arcolaura said...

Hmmm, maybe. What if it is about you?

I like to blend into the background, but somehow I always end up in the spotlight. Last night at the grand opening of the curling rink, I was playing clarinet with the band for O Canada, directing the students singing "Saskatchewan - We Love This Place," singing solo on my song "Friends Were Made" about the fire and the rebuilding of the rinks, playing bass clarinet with the band on another number . . . I think I was a teensy bit conspicuous! (Especially when the recorded music came on blasting loud - sorry folks!)

But I keep thinking there are lots of others with plenty of talent and interesting stories and so on, if only I could coax them out. The trouble is, they say they want to sit back and listen to me.

Madcap said...

This isn't about links, especially, but I like the fact that you write about your "place in the world". I figure anyone who's writing with interest about where they're at and what that means to them on all the different levels of human experience will be interesting to people from everywhere.

Janine said...

Coming from a small town, I always enjoy small town, good ol' content.

But, really, just keep writing as you do - things that make you think, inspire you, frustrate you, things you find interesting. Those of us who enjoy such stuff will stick along for ride!