Clustermap and Addiction

It has been a mere three weeks or so since I installed the HTML code for a Clustermap on 2sides2ron. I am already quite addicted, and have discovered that I am, to borrow a term from the gay community, a Clustermap size queen. I check each day for the addition of the previous day’s hits to my blog and evaluate the updated world map in order to find where my words might have been read for the first time.

This weekend, there was an error in the computer system of the Clustermap site. As a result, I was unable to log in and then, worse than that, I was unable to receive an update of my hit count. It has now been three days since my map has been updated and I am anxious to find what the new update might reveal. Already, my work has been viewed in Australia, Asia, Europe, North Africa, North America and South America. I guess the most surprising revelation of this new software is that I have a reader or readers in the heart of America, perhaps in Kansas or Nebraska or Oklahoma. The unusual aspect of this fact is that the Mid-western hits rival those of readers here in North Carolina. I am happy for this audience, but am perplexed about how I have reached them, or what they seem to find appealing about my work.

All of this sounds very narcissistic, I know, but the true wonder of knowing where my audience lives is in developing relationships with the people who read my blog and to read their blogs as well. I am particularly pleased to read the lovely prose of other gay men, such as CP at Coming Out at 48, and the updates about the international gay community of Dr. Chris at Creole Gumbo. Perhaps my most rewarding new contact because he is from another continent is Nelson Clemente of Perth, Australia, whose blog, Nelson Clemente: Blog details his life and career in music and the arts. I am honored to have learned of the work of each of these gentlemen, as well as the many other bloggers with whom I have corresponded since the initiation of my own site. You can find a list of my favorite bloggers in the sidebar of my main page.

If you wish to add a Clustermap of your own to your site, you can find their site at this link and from there you can register for a free trial and copy the HTML code for inclusion in your blog set-up. Then, like me, you can become addicted by the knowledge of reaching a broader audience.

Categories: clustermap addiction LGBTQ blogs