Be careful what you wish for...

... because you just might get it!

I'm pretty sure that almost all bloggers/journalers secretly (or even openly) wish to amass a large readership and even attain a certain measure of fame/recognition for their on-line literary efforts. 

Oh sure, most of us say we would continue writing even if nobody showed up to read... and on a certain level a few might sort of mean it.  But if anyone tells you that they wouldn't get a strong sense of validation from having hundreds, or even thousands, of daily readers... scores of inbound links from other websites... and a consistently high number of topical comments... well, I'll have to throw out the 'liar, liar pants on fire' card.

Like money and chocolate, few of us can imagine having too much traffic, too namy comments or too much attention. 

At least I couldn't.

Then, this past Thursday I made one of my ill-advised forays into the political realm and posted my feelings of disappointment over the results of the Palestinian elections.  I made it clear that my disappointment was entirely with myself for having misread things so completely for so long.  I mean, let's face it... I'm no political pundit.  I'm just a 'daddy-blogger' who happens to live in a part of the world where even daddies can't completely ignore politics. 

But suddenly I was faced with thousands of 'hits', and over 70 (at last count) very erudite and complex comments.  It was gratifying to see that pretty much everyone presented their ideas respectfully and that tangents were often as interesting as the original topic.  I smiled to see several polite requests made and granted for off-line exchanges of data... and as far as I can tell nobody has yet sworn off my site as a result of the post. 

Not bad, right?

Well, because of the sheer volume of comments and the extent to which several commenters attempted to thoroughly 'fisk' one another's contributions, I quickly lost the ability to be much more than a spectator here on treppenwitz.   

I'm not complaining, mind you... it's just sort of like when that sleepy little watering hole where you nurse your occasional after-work adult beverage suddenly becomes 'trendy'.  Overnight instead of being on nodding terms with 90% of the clientele and 100% of the staff... you now have to shout to remind the harried waitress what your 'usual' is.

I'm sure when I go back to writing about non-political stuff most of the commotion will die down and treppenwitz will go back to they way it was... and I'll go back to secretly wishing it was more crowded.  But while I'm wishing, I'll be enjoying the lively and intimate repartee with the 'regulars'.

As long as I'm already most of the way down the path of admitting what a transparent hypocrite and attention whore I am, I may as well bring up a few thoughts that have been bouncing around my head regarding the Jerusalem Post's JIB Awards as they wind down to the last few days of final voting:

I can't help but wonder if a few competitors aren't missing the point of the awards completely and wishing for things that will do them no good. 

For instance, when I see a blog leading a category with hundreds of votes and absolutely no tangible evidence of site traffic (one or two inbound links, no comments, single or low-double digit daily visitors), then I have to figure that these people have come up with a 'system'. 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that with enough friends/relatives/business associates and a well designed strategy of 'get as many people as you can to vote for me and then have them get as may people as possible to vote for me...' nearly anyone can turn in a strong showing in the JIBs. 

But to what end? 

Will hanging that coveted 'BEST OF...' icon in their sidebar where none of those people they coerced into voting will ever come and see it accurately reflect that this blog is in-fact the 'Best Jewish or Israeli Blog' in that category?

People have cried foul over there not being enough left- or secular-leaning blogs represented in the competition, and that is true, to a point... though only through the fault of those who failed to nominate more of them.  But in my opinion the real flaw in the JIBs seems to be one that is impossible to fix... specifically that for some, winning the little award icon will always take precedence over paying the dues in order to actually create a blog that is worthy of the words written on the JIB 'BEST OF...' icon.

Last year I loved that I was able to mention the awards in passing exactly once, and from there it was up to the readers to poke around and figure out who they liked for each category's top slot.  This year there are 'sticky posts', overt campaigning and even frantic 'election updates' sent out via electronic chain letters imploring entire far-flung geographic communities to get out and vote, vote, vote! 

What's the point of that?  There are no tangible prizes or responsibilities that comes with winning a JIB! 

I guess it seems eerily like a Rosie Ruiz-type victory these people are shooting for.  Not only am I having trouble imagining what possible pleasure anyone could take in such an empty 'triumph'... but I can't understand how they could fail to see how they are cheapening the competition results for those whose blogs have put in an honest year's effort to achieve both excellence and a faithful readership.

So, yeah... it feels nice to get some traffic and see people who actually know what they're talking about linking to a treppenwitz post.  And yes, it certainly feels wonderful to see treppenwitz's popularity validated with reader votes in the JIBs. 

But numbers and prizes can't compare to reading the goofy comments from the regular readers... or seeing that regular 'hit' in the stat counter from a friend's sister in Brazil who has never once left a comment.

Sometimes just being a sleepy little 'boutique' blog has its charms.