By The Way...

I'm awfully cheery this morning. I have no idea why. But do I need an excuse? Anyway, let's get to a couple of AOL Journal-related notes before we get on with the rest of the day.

* Remember, as noted the other day, that AOL is performing an install today to take care of some technical issues. Ideally, you shouldn't experience any glitches, but as I've seen a couple of people noting their entries mysteriously vaporized as they uploaded, some glitches might be out there and randomly firing. So be aware.

(Incidentally, this is one reason to cut and paste any entry you're writing into a temporary text document as you go along. I've never had an entry here vaporize on input, but I have had AOL suddenly disconnect, and when that happens it automatically closes out Web page windows -- but not the AOL text editor. Just a tip.)

* Some of you have had your hit counters glitch out. AOL Journal's tech people are looking into that, so hopefully we'll figure out why soon and fix that. In the meantime, some of you have asked if there's any way to get back the hits you lost when your counters glitched. The answer: Pretty sure not. When the counters reset, whether intentionally or accidentally, they don't keep a record of previous entries.

I'm personally ambivalent about counters. I think they often make people worry about whether they're getting as many "hits" as other Journals, and consequently cause them to try to change their writing to appeal to the "crowd" at the expense of saying what they really want to say. I also worry people see a lot of visitors as a measure of writing quality, when there's often very little correlation between the two. One of the reasons I don't have a public counter is that I want the focus here to be on the writing, not the numbers.

Now, this is not a criticism of people who keep counters -- counters are great to let you know people are visiting. Just don't let them become a focus.

* Sometimes, Journal Funk happens -- that is, you find out you don't have anything you want to say. When that happens, take a break. Remember: AOL Journals are supposed to be fun. Don't worry, you'll think of new things to say soon enough. Trust me on this.

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• #1 Comment from andreakingme 
  11/10/03 3:04 PM | Permalink

  Well, there are cheery people and then there are CHEERY people. Just don't giggle.
  
  That said, Wacky Mary in a funk is better than no Wacky Mary in a funk.