Tagging: The Ultimate Cyberspace Game

"This is about exposing and creating communities. It's helping people find each other. I think that in the end is the fundamental power of tags," Dave Sifry of Technorati

Generating visits to my blog has been one of my most difficult challenges. I've only been blogging for a few months, and only two friends of mine blog. Though many of my friends comment at my blog, most of them don't. I'm not sure why.

• Maybe it’s because they feel it’s so permanent. (It’s not! I can delete a comment if you want me to!)
• Maybe it’s because they feel it’s too public. (It is, but you can be anonymous by creating a pseudonym and even use a fake email if you don’t want people to know your email address.)
• Maybe it’s because they can just email their responses. (And you do!)

The way to generate publicity and to get more people to read your blog read is to get tagged. For example, Typepad, the blogging software that I use, offers me the option of sending pings out to b.logs and weblogs.com. I also use Technorati.

Want to know more about tagging? Check out a fantastic article Steal This Bookmark! sent to me by Big Bad Bob from salon.com viaThe Guardian. I realize that I’m not alone in wanting to get more people to read my blog. Getting tagged and sending pings is a big, big deal in the blog world.

How do I generate readers? Well, when I make a comment at some of the links that I’ve added on the left panel, visitors at that site who read my comments often link to my blog. The biggest success I had was a fluke. Because a journalist mentioned my blog on a posting he made the day after he appeared on National Public Radio, I got 500 hits within a 24 hour period.  The amateur blog world, this is big. 

Then, there’s Google. Today I got two hits from a Google search: one from someone who searched for “American lifestyle European” and out of 276,000 hits, today I appear as number 26.  (“On French Fries and Being American”) Then, on a search on “Peter Cheyney”, I’m number 37 out of 2,350 hits (“Dames Don’t Care: A Valentine from the Past” ). These visitors found my blog through Google… how cool is that?

Then there are the helpful hands of friends who pass on your blog address to everyone in their address books. Thanks, Datta! You da bomb.

The moral of the story: if you want to get visitors, you have to get tagged. I’m just now  learning about RSS feeds and syndication via other blog sites. Ironically, haven’t had a single face-to-face conversation about tagging with anyone.

One day, I’ll sit down and have a verbal chat with bloggers.

As for now? It’s all in the blog, baby. It’s all in the blog.

UPDATE: via 43things I've connected with Michiel.  A thorough, informative post about tagging is at Musings from the Void

Comments

[Datta]

Wow, you sure know lots about technology stuff huh?
Did anyone I sent your link to post yet? Those deadbeats.
Congrats on the hits mama!

[Michiel]

"Ironically, haven’t had a single face-to-face conversation about tagging with anyone."

That's funny, I am a regular tag-junkie (my blog should make that fairly obvious) and I see a lot of bloggers talking about tags and metadata and such. It feels like the whole world is talking about them. Of course, only a VERY VERY small subset of humanity even has the slightest clue of what it is, and even less seem to know what it means, or where it's going.

I too am fairly unsure of meaning and direction, but I'm pretty sure it's big.

BTW: I found you via 43things; guess you succeeded in your goal "get more people to read my blog" ;)

[Noga]

I don't know who you are? But I like your words :)

I found your site in my search about cyberspace then I want to say:

Hi :) can you help me in my searching?

if you can send me an Email, if you can't thanks for your reading :)

Good Luck