Saturday, April 15, 2023

Today is Genea-Musings 17th Blogiversary! Celebrate with Me!!!

 It's Genea-Musings 17th Blogiversary ... yep, I started writing Genea-Musings on Tax Day, 2006!   I've been so busy, I almost forgot about it!  Genea-Musings is still a teenager... but perhaps nearing graduation.

It seems like just yesterday that I started my Randy's Musings blog - here is the first post on 15 April 2006. I explained the name change to Genea-Musings in my first anniversary post on 15 April 2007. In my two-year anniversary post, I showed a screen shot of the early blog page. 

I like to spout some numbers on my blogiversary, so please bear with me:

1)  After 17 years of Randy's Musings and Genea-Musings, this is post number 16,238.   Over 6,213 days, that averages out to be 2.61 posts per day. In the past year, I've written 804 posts, or 2.20 posts per day (that is a little lower than last year, 2.44. I think that the most in a year was 1,053 in 2017, and the most posts in one day was 8, but I've had some days with zero posts (usually when on vacation or in the hospital).


2)  I find it mind-boggling that I have posted:

*  682 Amanuensis Monday posts
*  192 Tuesday's Tips posts
*  763 Wordless Wednesday posts
*  817 Treasure Chest Thursday posts
*  475 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks posts
*  528 Surname Saturday posts
*  726 Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts
*   818 Best of the Genea-Blogs posts


That totals only 30.8% of the total number of blog posts.

For reference purposes, 521 weeks is 10 years, and 886 weeks is 17 years!

3)  Over the 17 years, over 95% of the posts have been original content that I have written, edited and posted about my own research, experience and education.  

4)    My Blogger statistics from Google indicate that I have had 14,365,492 page views in the 17 years.  Currently, I average about 70,000 page views per month, or about 2,300 per day.  It's also 885 views per post on average (ranging from tens to thousands).

5)  In addition,  over 2,200 persons subscribe via RSS using Feedly.  I don't have a count for other feeds, blog readers and  Facebook  readers. If I had to guess, I would say that about 2,000 persons read part of Genea-Musings on an average day. A significant number of the readers (probably over 30%) visiting the actual website come via Facebook or a search engine.

Please permit me to genea-muse for a bit here (it's a given, isn't it?):

1)  I really appreciate the Genea-bloggers Tribe community and all of my Genea-Musings readers. Without all of you, we would not have as much genealogy information (news, research experiences, family history, photographs, etc.) online. Blogging and social networking has brought democratization to the world of genealogy writing - anybody can do it (and many do it very well) and the genealogy community has more information, provided faster and more up-to-date, than it ever has had before.

2)  The genea-blogger community is overwhelmingly friendly and supportive of each other and their readers.  There is very little overt competition, back-biting or flame wars.  This reflects the genealogy community as a whole, I believe, and almost everyone I know believes, in and works at collaborating with, educating, and helping others from the most famous (e.g., the genea-rock stars like Elizabeth Mills, Tom Jones, Judy Russell, Blaine Bettinger, etc.) to the beginners (new society members, new blog readers, etc.).

3)  The Genea-Bloggers community as a whole has garnered the respect of the genealogy industry - the record provider companies, the software companies, website owners, and genealogical societies.  We have been treated and recognized as legitimate media outlets for the genealogy community.  They understand that genealogy blogs are a significant way to announce and publicize their products or services, and to create genea-buzz at conferences.  This could not happen without the commitment of genea-bloggers to objectivity and collaboration.  Not to mention time, energy and lifelong learning.

4)  I'm really proud to be a member of the Genea-Blogger community and to enjoy the camaraderie online and in person.  At a genealogy conference or seminar, genea-bloggers tend to flock together - it's an instant brother/sisterhood - many of us read and comment on each other's blogs.  Facebook and other social media sites have enabled us to "know," rejoice, or commiserate with the life and research experiences of our colleagues.  
I revel in meeting my friends and colleagues at society meetings, seminars and conferences.  Because of Linda's medical and mobility problems, we will not be able to go together to another conference.

5)  Why am I still writing genealogy blog posts?  Because I can.  Because it really helps me advance my own research.  Because something I write may help other researchers as cousin bait, or as an example, or as a demonstration.  Because I want to.  Because it's therapy for me.  Because it's fun!!!

6) Life is good in the genea-cave, and it's even better when family history is made with our daughters and the five grandchildren.   

7)  Lastly, thank you to my faithful readersI appreciate your feedback to my posts and learn a lot from the collected wisdom and experience of my readers.  

8)  Can I take the rest of the week off?  Probably not.   A new week starts tomorrow and I look forward to writing about 15 posts next week.   I will likely work on the RootsMagic family tree tonight before watching the Padres game.

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Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

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9 comments:

Linda Stufflebean said...

Congratulations, Randy, on your 17th blogiversary. Thank you, too, for all you have contributed to the geneablogging community. I love your blog. Through it we even learned we are distant cousins several times over. :)

Barbara said...

Congratulations Randy! Grateful to you for all I've learned!

Lisa S. Gorrell said...

Congratulations on your 17 years of blogging!

Marian B. Wood said...

Celebrating your 17th blogiversary and now you're into your 18th year of geneablogging. Congrats and looking forward to your next post and the next after that and more.

ByAPearl said...

Randy, congratulations on your 17th Blogiversary. Your numbers and statistics are amazing. I am often inspired to imitate, but would never be able to duplicate your wonderful blog. Thanks for sharing your passion for genealogy and family research.

Kevin Augustus Long said...

Thanks Randy for all your contributions over the 17 years. I have probably followed you each week ever since 2008 or so. Cheers.

Kevin Augustus Long said...

PS I worked at Rohr Riverside from 1980 to 2007. It was a good place to work. I visited the Chula Vista plant where you worked many times. Sorry that I never met you in person.

Eva Dahlberg said...

Congratulations on your anniversary - well done and thank you for what you do for the genealogical community, and have done for so many years!
I check in several times a week (especially on Sundays to read Best of). I often learn things from your different blog posts (citation examples etc). Thanks from a very long-time reader in Sweden!

Linda Freeto said...

Congratulations, Randy, on 17 years of sharing and encouraging us to continue to knock down those walls of our ancestors. Thank you for sharing your family and your family stories with us. Like so many, I have followed you for many years and will continue to read your posts each week hopefully for a long time.

Linda Freeto, Waco, Texas