Hello? Can you hear me now?

The Internet, My Telephone

I can’t afford access to both the internet and a cell phone, so I use the internet like a phone. And what do we use phones for?  Why, to communicate, of course.  To pass on information, stories, interests, “likes” and love.

And where do we get our information these days?  In the good ol’ days, you could find all the news, information, and entertainment you wanted from just one or two sources (although younger people will find that hard to believe).  So when we choose to visit a website — click on a link — there’s more at stake than just what’s capturing our attention at that moment in time. For instance, if we click on more stories about women, then the media will focus more attention on stories about women.  And then they will hire more women… to cover more stories about women.  🙂

Here on WordPress, and on the internet in general, life is like a game of telephone.  I don’t post — pick up the phone — for every headline that interests me (although it is my blog).  I also try to post information and news that may interest other bloggers; issues that I’ve read about within the WordPress community.

Of course, my blog is about my life (as a pain patient) and the stuff that interests me. And since boredom is the constant enemy of chronic pain, my interests are numerous and (shall we say) eclectic. But just like the media, I also have access to statistics about what’s popular on my site. And if this was about likes, hits, or followers, then I would mold my content to what is currently popular.

Sure, I get a kick out of watching that orange bar get taller when I check my stats page — no one wants to be invisible.  But since I’m trying to help both myself and other pain patients, my happiness is not about being popular.  Heck, I’ve never been popular before, and I don’t expect that situation to ever change. 🙂

What I like about the stats page is seeing the traffic that clicks on links to other pages, meaning they were interested enough to read the whole story, not just the parts I decided to post.  When I find something related to my site while surfing on WordPress, I pass it along — I pick up the phone. And then, when others pick up the phone to pass along that same information, that makes me feel good. Whether they agree with me or not, it’s a good thing that we’ve started the conversation — here on the internet, and hopefully, from person to person.

As a side note, my free WordPress software has a few problems… I love posting visuals, but when you click on an individual post, the picture gets distorted.  I think I’d have to change themes to fix it, which is a hassle.  (And I don’t have time for hassles — I’m busy procrastinating.) So, I’ve learned ways to get around it.  I’ve added the calendar widget, so you (and I) can search by day.  This kind of viewing leaves the visuals intact.  Visitors can always choose to view by category, although some categories will obviously be too large for some to navigate.  I’ve found that the search function works pretty well, but it doesn’t recognize words and phrases unless they are entered exactly right.

No more drug war. (And Honest Jon for President!)  Pick up the phone and pass it on.  (You know, if you want to.)

And now, back to procrastination (and chocolate).