Stats

It's kind of weird, I don't do this anymore, but I used to obsessively compulsively check my stats. I don't know why I did this. Who should I care how many people read my blog? It's not like I'm getting paid or rewarded in any way by who reads my blog. Heck, I don't even really have to blog at all. But I still felt an intense happiness when when my stats were up, and a sudden disappointment when they were down.
So why did I rely on how many people were reading it? the same reason that people post links to their own work when reading other peoples stuff on the internet. Because they want exposure.
Not to long ago, if you could do something really well, short of doing it in the street in front of a crowd, you would need some organization to show it off. Say you can review books really well. You would need to work hard to get it in a magazine or other form of distribution. Now, you just type it up, put it on a blog or other website. Instant exposure to tons of people.
The only problem is, you need to get people to see it. If you get people to see it, they might like it and you might be a world famous reviewer. Of course, I do not expect my blog to get really big, but I still cared about exposure.
Now, I realize it doesn't really matter how many people read it. What matters is I like writing and so I blog.
Not that I'm complaining I don't get enough views.