The lurker

Blossom 02.08.09


Power Lines 02.07.09


Mustard Field with Trees 02.06.09


Thorn 02.05.09


Parking Spot 02.04.09


Fence 02.03.09


When you start a blog like this, you always know that not only your friends and family are checking it out, but it is open to the world to see.

I use some great tracking software, just because while doing this project I wanted to also learn some interesting stuff about unique visitors, length of visits, what photos people are looking (clicking on), etc.

It also tells me where visitors are coming from, which I find very cool. I have visitors from all over the world. The UK, Norway, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia, Romania, Greece, Japan, Mexico, India and of course here in the US. I can tell how people find me, perhaps is following a link from BlogSpot or LinkedIn or if they Google my name.

I can also see what kinds of browsers they use and what kind of connection speed they have, DSL, Cable even dial up (sorry my photos are so big, that must feel painful waiting for those to load, but I thank you so much for being a part of this journey).

I check these on a daily basis part of making sure this project is moving along and the site is working. But I have seen this funny, as in intriguing, pattern with one of my visitors.

I have a lurker!

What is a lurker? They are a person who does not want to say who they are, but wants to hide in the background. For an accurate official description see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker

Well in this day and age there is no hiding. So here is what I can tell you about my lurker.

• 
  They often Google my name to find my site. I guess they have not figured this whole bookmarking thing out, oh how fun it would be to have a browser that was not full of bookmarks
• They have a cable connection (Which I have questions about, do they like cable more than DSL and how is that working out for you?)
• They live in area of Petaluma, CA, which is about a stones throw from where I dwell
• They lurk often, which I find funny. I have 4 peeps in Petaluma and I speak to them on a regular basis, so it is not them.

What is a person to do with a lurker? Do they not know they can join the party and do not have to hide in the corner? They come so often, it feels rude to ignore them. It’s is like they are coming to my home and not saying hello to the host.

Like they say “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” And with new my software updates are coming soon I may soon know even more about you.

So please lurker person, say hello, you can do, I know you can. This could be the beginning of a great friendship, if I only knew who you were.

Allow me to start, my name is Monique and this is my blog, come on in, you may recognize the view but let me show you around a bit, it is really fun here.

-Monique Jervan-Chilton