Hits from the Blog: Friends, Followers or Hits?

It is always interesting that whenever I put up a blog post I want to see how many people have looked at it. It seems like each of the social media components has a way of measuring how many people are looking at the things that we post. Facebook is measured by the amount of friends you have, Twitter is measured by the amount of followers you have and Blogging is measured by the amount of hits you have. The more people that are looking the more successful any of these forms of communication are perceived to be. And in turn the more satisfied we are with that part of lives (yes, it’s scary but these components are a part of our lives). Like anything we derive a part of our identity from what we invest ourselves in. And when we do well at a piece of our lives its gives us a sense of accomplishment, helps boost our self image.

It is not surprising that many of the words used to evaluate our success on social media are social words. We are evaluated by how many “friends” we have on Facebook. We are social people and so having friends is part of who we are. No explanation needed. None of us like to be alone.

Yet the word follower is another thing all together. A follower is someone who is devoted to a particular person. A follower is being led by the person in front of them. Followers are needed for leaders, bosses and even dictators to exist. There is a sense of responsibility that comes with having followers but also a sense of power. The word evokes some deep seeded desires including the desire to be in control of others.

Perhaps the least socially linked word is “hits” on a blog. The only other use of the word “hits” that I could think of was from Cypress Hills rap song Hits from the Bong (honestly I never inhaled . In this way the word “hits” has been taken and applied to a totally different context. And yet I still look eagerly at my hits each time I log onto my blog to see who is interested in what I have written. If people are reading my blog then they are interested in a piece of me. I think that no matter if you measure success by friends, followers or hits there is always an egotistical part of us that relishes or even needs to be acknowledged for who we are, however that affirmation comes.