Antwerp Calling: counting down to 500,000

Within a couple of weeks (somewhere early Dec), this blog will have reached 500,000 readers. A joyous moment I will celebrate by over-dosing on Belgian chocolates, an experience you can share by mailing me a print-screen if you happen to be reader #500,000.

Nevertheless, I”m experiencing the slow but persistent emergence of doubt about the value of personal “user generated content” (like in blogging) from the viewpoint of me, the author. After two years I often feel like I’ve become an unpaid copywriter & photographer.

Not that I ever wanted or needed to earn one cent through blogging, but still, being an inspired author covering a multitude of subjects regarding Antwerp, I used to put in a lot of time and effort, with currently only rising numbers of anonymous drive-by visitors in return.  Visitors who just devour my content and click “next blog” 20 seconds later.

Many bloggers with a consumptive audience have already switched to alternative and more personal, more interactive social media like Facebook, with blogging slowly becoming a one way street I’m increasingly uncomfortable with. [Check the 1/10/100 rule]

At present I’m taking a yet undefined break – I’m still pondering the issue, looking at the options and will decide how to proceed when I return (“an Antwerp picture blog” was suggested, as I own thousands of shots), but I do wonder if anyone feels or has felt the same. [Update Nov 26, 2009: the 500,000 visitor mark will probably be reached within two days. Thanks for being such loyal readers.]

Is Facebook killing off your blog too?

Much like in “Video killed the radio star”, Facebook (and Twitter, and all the other Web 2 networking sites) has been killing off countless local Antwerp blogs this year. I was stunned counting the sheer number of fellow bloggers who no longer bother to post, since Facebook is a much easier medium, providing a personalized, targeted audience, fast comments & lots of interaction.  Are you still blogging?

If you are, do check my visitor counter: when it reaches 500,000 make sure to mail me a print-screen. I still got some chocolates left and I’m looking forward to join you in celebrating having been read by half a million visitors.

Thank you for loving me again ;-)

With Facebook & Twitter unfortunately luring away most of my readers, I wonder what I said to please you today

Free Belgian beer for everyone!

bollekesfeest beer festival Antwerp, Belgium - Aug 21, 2009

The annual Antwerp “bollekes” beer festival (http://www.bollekesfeest.be) was celebrated this year by a crowd of 100,000 during a three day weekend at the end of August 2009. The opening on Friday Aug 21 featured free beer, along with the entire city council and Mayor throwing chocolates in the form of small hands, an ancient tradition.

But before I happily continue posting more stories, I feel it’s time for a blog format make-over. Like Bob Dylan once said, “The Times They Are a-Changin’ “, with an ever increasing number of former regular readers exclusively focusing on social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter. I know, my hit-rate is still high at 300-400 daily visitors, with a blog counter almost reaching half a million uniques, but after three years it’s time for a format change. There’s no stopping Facebook, is there?

Parts of Antwerp Calling will be relocated to a Belgian network I’m already posting on for ages (in Dutch, the language spoken by my close friends & relatives), while I will focus on covering predominantly visual local stories at Antwerp Calling in English, whenever I find the time. I’ll make sure you will enjoy the updated format. See You Later, Alligator

Not available on Twitter, Facebook or WordPress

“Sure”, my dearest family members just told me over the phone, “feel free to use the pictures of Reinhartstein castle, the family reunion trip to the Robertville lake & dam and every shot you took during our three day weekend. But not on Twitter, Facebook or WordPress.” Since they managed to get their face on virtually all shots worth posting, I have to leave you with these rather generic images, pictures that hardly manage to evoke the atmosphere in eastern Belgium last weekend.

Privacy, it’s a weird issue, isn’t it? “Personal photo blogging is like leaving your home front door wide open while shouting “just drive in”: you lose all control”, my brother mentioned ever so polite. “Twitter? That’s like texting to the whole world. Facebook? Did you ever check how some of these ‘500-friend’ users handle their accounts?” Oh well, enjoy these first generic shots How do you feel about online privacy?

Thank you for loving me again ;-)

I’m not sure why, but hardly posting anything seems to make this blog much more popular. It may be a subtle hint

Will you be my number 400,000?

Ever since I started blogging, keeping one eye on the counter became part of the game.  I’d often noticed how some people wrote truly outstanding posts, but somehow never got traffic and I absolutely had no intention to start talking to myself.  Sure, I used the classic tabloid approach at times and my best posts were, well, ‘totally ignored’, but in the end I did manage to gather a number of loyal readers who subscribed to my feed.  And here I am, with a WordPress visitor counter that will very likely hit 400,000 this week.

Although I’m posting significantly less these days, 400,000 visitors still feels like a small milestone. My daily reader numbers may have crashed along with the stockmarket, but I still would like to thank each and every one of you, and especially all those who were and still are kind enough to follow me on a daily basis.

So who will be #400,000? To be honest: nobody will ever know, given all I will see is an IP, a location and an OS.  But rest assured, the fact that you are out there, often posting your comments from across the Atlantic, is much appreciated.  If you actually happen to be here when the counter shows “400,000″, do make a screenshot and let me know – I’d love to send you some Belgian chocolates

[Update March 7: visitor #400,000 came from Indonesia, left after 50 seconds and did not leave a message]

How safe is your blog during the recession?

I got rather unpleasant news yesterday: one of my (tiny) blogs in Dutch will soon disappear. No fault of mine: the small local blog hosting company is calling it quits, facing a dwindling number of advertisers who supported their “free” blog business model.  Moving it would entail losing my URL (myname.bloghost) and obviously, most readers.

“Sure”,  I can hear you say, “but I’m safe, my free host is way too large”. Are you sure? I mean, that’s what the crashing huge US banks/automakers/(fill in the blanks) all said: “we’re too big to fail”. But without a massive government bail-out, they would have come crashing down.

And that brings me back to the basic issue: since all “free” blogging services are directly or indirectly ad-supported, what can we expect during this major recession when advertising revenue is falling fast?

No inspiration? Let someone else write your blog posts

Bored? No inspiration? Pressed for time? Depressed? Just plain lazy? The solution is simple: let someone else write your blog posts (I once allowed my elderly mother to give it all a spin, sat back and had to save the furniture) , or use this ‘great’ blog post generator from Australia. I just clicked, producing this superb prose:

Holy crap! I just got slapped with a wet salmon – really – I have not updated this since Paris Hilton was in jail… You would not believe the phat set coming through right now. I prostrate myself in sorrow and beg thy forgiveness.. I am flat out like a lizard drinking with finding Jesus (after someone told me he was lost), homeschooling five children, just generally being a delightful mistress to anyone unfortunate to cross my path, my day is a magical flight from when the nightclubs close to when I am begging my kid to go to sleep, or so help me God that kid will be decorating my wall, ‘Duct tape still life’. I am secretly pregnant. But who cares. I will try to remember I promised you if one more person emails me to ask why I haven’t posted today,  I will start posting pictures of toe fungus, or fecal murals. You wanna test me? Assuming I don’t get distracted by counting my chest hairs..”

Before you run off and cancel your RSS subscription to Antwerp Calling,  I promise all further posts will be hand-written, word by word

The tragic demise of Technorati

I’m convinced you all know Technorati.com: those nice folks that once made an attempt to label, trace and follow the entire blogosphere. Like Google in strange sort of way, but without their resources and unfortunately, without the ability to deliver what was once promised. This blog has been mentioned on their service for over two years, with an increasingly weird fall and drop in their rating system. While it once may have been fashionable to have a significant ‘Technorati rating’, today I only find missing links: no matter how often I click their “ping” service, major incoming links get ignored, along with some quite distasteful targeted ads (Thank you, but I know where to find a parking space in Antwerp, and no, Scientology is no religion but a sect-under-investigation in Belgium). How’s your “Technorati rating?”