Untitled Post – Epilogue

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At last count, 510 people follow this blog (up from 472 at the end of March). Many follow based on one post, and are never seen again. Others still occasionally stop by to give a ‘like’. Some (too many) have stuff to sell or seem to follow just to generate traffic at their site.

It was particularly interesting seeing the password-protected chapters of my NaNoWriMo novel get a crap-load of views even though I know exactly 4 people have the password enabling them to read each chapter. Even more interesting were the ‘likes’ I got on the posts announcing the release of the protected chapters, often from editors and other writers.

I suppose I could charitably assume they were just glad I was writing. On the other hand, they could not be bothered to even read the first few chapters (those chapters don’t have a password). No one aside the initial four readers has asked me for a password. Perhaps all the likes were the equivalent of a cheer and a wave as the readers headed elsewhere. Moral support, as it were.

But, as Mal would say, that’s air through the engine. Plus, since I don’t understand it, I don’t worry about it past shaking my head.

However, this post is about the Untitled Posts. This is the 102nd untitled post, although this one has a title of sorts. 

Since February 1st, I have posted 201 posts. Most days had at least two posts a day, and sometimes three. Of those 201 posts, 102 were the Untitled series; basically photos with little or no writing.

The untitled posts (including this one) had enough photos to fulfil a typical 365 day project. That’s right; 365 photos. I did a full 365 project in under four months.

No telling how many additional photos were posted if one counts my regular posts, but I want to concentrate on just the Untitled series. It started as a way to show photos that did not fit elsewhere . . . and to see if people would faithfully view each and every post, and each and every photo.

The answer is . . . no. Most people used the WordPress reader, and as such they saw exactly one photo for each post (you have to visit the blog to get the full post). Too bad for them because I purposefully put what I considered the better photos at the end of the posts (of course, tastes vary, so it could be they saw the photos they would have liked best).

Part of me also wanted to show people how 365 projects can overwhelm both the creators and the readers . . . after a while, all them pictures blend into a mishmash of jumbled saturated memories. I follow a number of photographers who are doing 365 projects, and while I don’t want to piss them off, I have to be honest and say all them photos begin to blend together.  Plus, sometimes it appears to me people load up photos just because they need to fulfil their daily quota.

I mean, be honest . . . how many of my 365 photos stuck in the memory banks? Not many, I’d wager. I know because I don’t remember them all, and I posted them. If one wants to see them all, they are all in this SmugMug Gallery (HERE). They are sorted by date created, but might not be in the correct order of appearance. (note, there is a little discrepancy . . . the Brown Chinese Geese were originally scheduled as Untitled Posts, but ended up having their own post; I still count them in the 365 photo total)

So, what did I learn with this exercise? Well, I learned that no matter what I tried, the numbers of actual visitors remained fairly constant at about 25 per day. Occasionally it would jump to 30, or drop to 20.

I learned pictures with no words got me about the same amount of engagement (comments) as some of my more elaborate and descriptive posts.

I learned that polls don’t add to the amount of interaction. I learned that I got the same amount of interaction regardless of whether I took care to have related photos, or took care to have widely different photos. Same for filters, post-processing treatments, and most subject matters (a slight uptick for animals).

I learned there is no advantage or detriment to having only one photo per post (what many, many bloggers do), and no advantage or detriment to having multiple photos. That makes sense, as most people only saw one.

I learned it matters not if the posts are Tweeted (they are), Facebooked (they are), or Google+ed (they are). All them stories you hear about social media, consistency, being brief, etc., are mostly that; stories.

I learned that I could add captions or leave the captions off, and it had little impact on the number of views and the number of visitors (I was happy with this one, and only three readers commented on it).

I learned that I prefer to create longer posts with narratives rather than to slop some daily picture up here, although I can truthfully said I never ‘sloped’ anything up there; all photos got the same attention as I usually give my work, and I like them all.

Still, all things must come to an end.

The Untitled Posts have ended, and I will stop posting every day, returning to my more elaborate and themed posts, probably every two or three days (won’t that be a surprise to my follower! . . . probably not; they will likely still only see one photo, if any).

There is one benefit to readers; being that I’m returning to my usual longer posts, it makes them easier to rationalize ignoring them (no time, you see).

I think four months of daily posts (and multiple posts per day) is enough, especially since the numbers show me that I did not engage that many more readers, and I likely taxed the loyal readers I do have, demanding more of their time. 

Demand is a strong word, but I think most of my regular readers felt obligated to at least look at everything I posted, thus reducing the amount of time they had for other activities – – – very selfish and inconsiderate of me. Well, enough of that . . . I aim to be less of a burden.

Finally, the photos from this post are included in the 365 photos total . . . all of the above are different treatments of this shot . . . 

That happens to be a closeup of a latte I made myself last week. I thought it looked a bit like Jupiter’s storms (the planet, and not the Florida city).

Thank you for reading.

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Note: if you are not reading this blog post at Disperser.Wordpress.com, know that it has been copied without permission, and likely is being used by someone with nefarious intention, like attracting you to a malware-infested website.  Could be they also torture small mammals.

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Please know I will decline blogger-to-blogger awards.   I appreciate the intent behind it, but I prefer a comment thanking me for turning you away from a life of crime, religion, or for making you a better person in some other way.  That would mean something to me. Find out more by clicking any of the links below.

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.