My name is Carol. I’m addicted to web stats.

There. I’ve said it. Every day, I look at the statistics for my blog. How many visitors? Which countries do they live in? Which browsers do they use to access my site? Which posts are people reading?

My addiction began when I was in Italy. It was during that month – when I challenged myself to post every day – that more than about 10 people began to visit my site. I admit it was fun to post a story of my day’s adventure and get comments. To see how many people read and when they signed on. 

Since returning to Iowa, I eased off and post 2-3 times a week. I’m delighted that some who joined me in Italy have apparently stuck around.

Just to set your minds at ease, I don’t know who you are specifically, but it’s fun (to me) to know that while the vast majority of readers are from the U.S., substantial numbers also read from Russia, China, and Germany. I know that my bike trail posts on the High Trestle Trail attracted many. No doubt thanks to a reTweet from a former colleague. My persistent posting about the prairie has also developed a following.

Since I don’t sell things on my blog, all this info falls into the ‘interesting but not particularly useful’ category. If there’s any payoff to me, it just to think that the ideas and information in some blogs are thought provoking or entertaining or helpful in some way to readers.

You’re probably thinking, ‘She doesn’t have enough to do!’ You may be right. I’ll probably loose interest in tracking the stats. But for the time being, I’m having fun. And now that I’ve admitted my obsession, perhaps I can work to break it.

Thanks for reading!