Feb 06 2009
blown away!
I’m taking a break from observing, comparing and celebrating Malaysia, Switzerland and the USA in terms of stereotyping, trip preparations, proverb research and the like to say THANK YOU to everyone out there who reads this blog. I am blown away by the fact that so many of my recent posts have comments in the teens if not just below the 20 mark. Wow. I didn’t think what I was writing would garner such quantities of responses, but I am more than happy to have my assumption proven wrong! 
And for whoever it was who first Stumbled Upon my Heaven and Hell: European stereotypes post - muuuuaaaaaahhhhh here’s a big wet sloppy kiss for ya :) Over the past three days, I have had over TWENTY THOUSAND visits (not necessarily unique page views, but still!) courtesy of Stumble Upon. Again, I am blown away. And admittedly, rather surprised, because I would have thought my punny nude hikers post was funnier, but I suppose the internet’s capricious like that. You won’t catch me complaining, though, no way! I’m grateful for the attention, while it lasted 
I’ve tried to go back and respond to everyone’s comments - either in a separate reply, or in bold at the bottom of the comment itself. The latter was almost a must when replying to eighteen at a time, y’know?
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And yet another reminder: please join in the fun of the Postcard/Link Exchange! It’s a really simple concept - I send you a postcard from Malaysia, and you blog about it with a linkback here. I’ve had a handful of people already participating, and another handful who have expressed their interest but haven’t furnished their details yet. Come join the fun - the more the merrier! :) You can get the full details here.
Have a good weekend!
*lynne*
Wow! 20,000 visits is incredible!!! I noticed that your traffic had sky-rocketed (through the today.com hot lists) and now I know why! It’s interesting that it was because of something someone else did (although that was a result of your post!). Too often we think that we have to promote, promote, promote to get traffic, but I guess that this is not always the case.
Here’s to the future!
Best wishes,
Roz
Roz: I was amazed too.. I checked my stats a few days ago and my jaw dropped! The Stumble Upon traffic has tapered off greatly, but wow, what a rush!! And like you said, it was through no “marketing” effort of mine. The internet is capricious, but hey, I appreciate the 3-days of traffic fame! Now watch me drop waaay back down the hot list, LoL!
Wow! 20 000 views….that’s crazy.
I think the article is so popular because it’s (as well as being extremely well written), a very hot button issue. A lot of people feel entitled to the opinions they have of people, even when those opinions are arrived at through stereotypes alone. I remember when a high school english teacher of mine started a class discussion about stereotypes….everyone was outraged at the ones directed towards Canadians (we live in igloos…have no idea what’s going on in the world…we don’t have electricity and ride around on dog sleds. oh and if you watch south park then our heads also flap around ridiculously when we talk
) but at the same time they were very content with the stereotypes they forced on other people.
jennij: you bring up a good point… many people “absorb”/pick up and embrace stereotypes without thinking about it… it takes a bit of self-awareness to step back to question your own opinions, to see how you arrived at some of these conclusions.
Congratulations to your success, your hard work pays out! SY
SY: thanks! I didn’t do a thing specific to Stumble Upon, though — that’s like a majorly unexpected bonus