“It takes every kind of people To make what life’s about, yeah
One of the interesting elements of writing this blog has been experiencing its growth not just in total numbers, but in the diversity of its readers. To say that the readers of this blog are an interesting blend is like saying there are a few bricks in the sidewalks of Gay Street. Initially, I thought my audience might be people who live downtown or people who might like to move here, but weren’t certain for a variety of reasons – such as no nearby grocery store. It makes sense that people who are from here might also be interested. All that’s been true, but . . .
While I can’t identify many of the types of readers I have, consider some that I can:
The Healing Community: I wrote a blog, early on about a memorial held on Market Square. I was moved by the experience and I suppose that showed in the tone of the article. The group holding the memorial included massage therapists, meditation teachers and others concerned with wellness and well-being. They found my blog, sent it to each other, put up links and suddenly I had readers from this group all over the country.
Realtors, Engineers, Contractors and Developers: The first wave from this group came when I blogged about the installation of the sign on top of the First Tennesse Bank. Also, I often comment on Josh Flory’s Property Scope blog because he sometimes writes about downtown properties and related issues. Much to my surprise, Mr. Flory featured my blog on his blog and suddenly groups who normally read about property started reading my blog. Many have continued.
Neo-Nazis: Who would have predicted this one? When the neo-Nazi rally hit Knoxville I blogged about it pretty extensively. I devoted many hours to taking photographs, editing and selecting the best of them and writing the blogs – there were three by the time I was able to move on. What I didn’t expect was that neo-Nazi websites would link to my blog – apparently because they like to see their pictures just like the rest of us – it certainly couldn’t have been anything I said. They all, helpfully, labeled mine a non-racist website. Still, they came and they return from time to time. That post continues to be, by far, my most-read.
