Comments: Eric - 2005-02-11 21:10:23 Laura, it might be helpful to add that the web stats you receive are quite common. For many hosts, the hit counter is included in the price of hosting. You can also install free hit counters on your page. I can request the stats from my host for my personal page at umich.edu, and I can get the stats from the free Site Meter for the page I run for the Chapelle Elementary PAB. Like you, I like to see the hits from different domains and wonder what the hell brought them to my site. (Aside: my old site used to receive huge numbers of hits from all over the world. I finally realized that they were hitting on the title of one of my short stories, called "radiohead." These hits weren't from people wanting to revel in my prose, of course. These were people who wanted more info, on Thom Yorke's band. I mercifully retired the story, which was about a disturbed boy who thought of his head as a radio receiver.) Most importantly, web users need to most understand that they are NOT anonymous unless they're surfing from some secure proxy server. While most webmasters don't get enough info (or want the infor) to identify the user, there are websites that do. Beware the false sense of security. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-11 21:32:37 Yes, such stats are common as you say; that's right. It must also be noted that not every stat equals a visit. For example, I got a stat from a Google search from some band the other day. I must have mentioned this band somewhere in my archives. Somewhere in the Google results the searcher got, my blog came up--likely at #400. It's 99% certain they didn't actually pull up my blog and read it. The stat just showed up because the blog URL was one of the Google results for the search. At any rate. * * * * * * * * * * * * Scott - 2005-02-11 22:46:33 Laura, from my perspective, I think that changing anything about this Blog is a mistake. Not implying that you would, but from soemone who is so far away, I still have an insight and perspective as to whats happening back home. Best of all is the level of tact and humility displayed in posting and (usually) respones. Kudos to you sister. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-11 23:19:23 Scott, your comment is a sterling example of a thought revealing more about the good character of the commentor than about the commentee. I'm lucky that you stop by and add your thoughts. In addition, I'm the kind of person who is wilted by criticism but when praised for "tact and humility" is energized to make sure future posts meet that standard. Thank you for your kind comment. * * * * * * * * * * * * Ingrid - 2005-02-12 08:36:38 I would like to point out that even without your policy, you have excercised good judgment and that is the most important thing. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-12 09:52:18 I exercised good judgment.........? Iss! Grab the camera! * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-12 09:53:12 Just kidding. Thank you Ingrid. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-12 18:23:04 The Information Super-Highway is a two-way street. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-12 19:11:56 indeed it is. * * * * * * * * * * * * lynne - 2005-02-13 11:31:08 Hmmm. I think folks forget that information gets collected about them whenever they surf the web. And fwiw, I can sometimes guess who is hitting my site based on the stats. I have a friend in California for instance who always gets to my blog by clicking on a link on his blog so I get his isp, his OS, his browser and a referrer link from his blog. Of course, he isnt trying to be annonymous. Things like this post are a good reminder for people. * * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: your name: your email: your url: back to the entry - Diaryland