Today is the one-month anniversary of Gaiatribe: Ideas for a Thinking Planet. This blog was launched on January 14, 2009. So far, it has established a favored subject area and attracted a modest following of regular readers. Now I’d like some audience input on progress and possibilities.
Where We’ve Been
Gaiatribe displays a dynamic tag cloud, and the list of categories also includes the number of posts per category. This makes it easy to identify the most prominent topics. These include Environment, Community, Homestead, Transportation, Three Questions, Blogging, and Commerce.
We use the basic Wordpress Stats function, plus the StatPress and Popularity Contest plugins, to gauge traffic. The highest number of visitors we had in one day was 194 on Jan. 20, shortly after announcing the blog’s launch; followed by 117 on Feb. 2, when the Imbolc posts attracted a lot of search hits. Most days, the traffic is in the 20s-30s range, gradually tending upwards.
According to Popularity Contest, the most popular post is Three Questions: California May Kill Plug-In Hybrids. The post with the most permalink views is Imbolc Food and Decorations and the post with the most homepage views is Reusable Shopping Bags. The post with the most comments is Plugin Review: CommentLuv by Andy Bailey – unsurprising, given that the CommentLuv plugin seems to attract the most gregarious Wordpress users. The category of Politics has the highest average activity.
Gaiatribe is now listed on various blog directories and other social networks. The Gaiatribe community over on MyBlogLog currently has 15 members, and the blog’s profile page on Blog Catalog has four reviews with a present score of 4.8 out of 5 possible stars.
Which Gaiatribe post(s) have you enjoyed the most so far? Which post(s) have you enjoyed the least or skipped over? Have you found the writing style to be clear and engaging? What else has caught your attention about this blog?
Where We’re Going
As a new blog, Gaiatribe is still evolving; and so is the Geek Universalis Network to which it belongs. You may see some minor changes in layout and labeling, or the addition of cool new features as we discover and add useful plugins. Those of you comprising the regular audience at this time have the opportunity to help shape what this blog becomes.
The first interview went well enough that I think I’ll do more of those in the future. A few people have asked about President Obama, so I’m keeping an eye out for good talking points and articles regarding his stance on environmental and social issues that touch on Gaiatribe’s sphere of influence. I’m hoping that the newly added Weekend Meet’n’Greet (along with CommentLuv) will help audience members get to know each other.
What would you like to see more of? What topics would you like me to cover that I haven’t approached yet? What else do you think would improve Gaiatribe?
How You Can Help
If you want to see Gaiatribe thrive, there are many things you can do to help. Here are a few ideas:
- Join the Gaiatribe community on MyBlogLog. If you’re on that service but haven’t added me to your Contacts, here’s my profile page.
- Watch for some Gaiatribe posts on Digg and help promote them. Here is the latest one on Words for the Water Economy. If you’re on Digg but haven’t already added me to your Friends list, here’s my profile page. My main interests on Digg include environment, space, general science, and politics; I’ve blocked out sports and health categories as outside my interest range.
- Leave comments! Feedback is candy. I’m hoping to build up a lively audience on Gaiatribe, people who will join conversations and share exciting ideas.
- Mention Gaiatribe on your blog, or anywhere else you think would be appropriate. Word of mouth helps spread beyond the audience within immediate reach.
- Links: If you want to put a link to Gaiatribe on your page, go right ahead. Do you have a blog or other website that deals with the environment, community, activism, Paganism, or other related topics? If so, perhaps we can exchange links. (Check the link list first. I’ve already linked to several folks I know.)
- If you can think of anything else that might be helpful, go for it, or ask me if you’re not sure how to make it work.
Thank you for all your support of my various projects. You folks are a terrific audience and I really appreciate you!
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John 02.15.09 at 2:28 pm
Elizabeth,
Congratulations on your first month! Your energy and enthusiasm have propelled GU from a neat idea for “someday” to an actual functioning thing.
As for suggestions, I’d be interested in reading your take on humans being active or passive stewards of the environment; for example, wildfires. Let them burn, be preemptive in clearing the underbrush that serves as kindling, or something else? If the argument against GM foods is that we don’t know enough to foresee the consequences, does that apply to everything having to do with the environment?
~ John
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Elizabeth Barrette Reply:
February 16th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Thank you! I have made a note of your proposed discussion, for later coverage. In general, I think humans have displayed poor judgment and comprehension of the environment; we usually don’t understand it well enough to avoid harming it, even when we’re trying to be helpful. That does argue for a very conservative approach with intervention.
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tempo dulu 02.11.10 at 8:26 pm
I hate shopping bags so enjoyed the post on reusable ones.
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