This weekend, probably on Sunday, I will make the switch from having a free and open blog to having a custom-readers-only blog. The term custom reader is fairly new to me, but the concept isn't: The blog will become available only to the readers who receive an emailed invitation to access it. Those readers—who must all have Google accounts—will have to click on a link and/or type in a password only once, and after that, they'll have free access to my blog. I expect a huge drop in my visitor numbers as a result, with the number of visits I receive being roughly equal to the number of people on that email-invitation list.
Thus far, only two or three people have shown an interest by either leaving their email address in the comments or saying "You know what my email address is." Please don't assume, though, that just because I know your email address, I'll include you on the invitation list. If you don't actively express interest in being included, you will not be included. I'm being strict about this because I'm utterly sick of all the bots, and extreme measures now seem most appropriate. So speak up now or be shunned forever. And as I implied above, "showing interest" doesn't mean you have to leave an email. It's enough to leave a comment reminding me that I already know what your email address is. But still—do leave a comment, or you will be excluded. You've got until this coming weekend.
Meanwhile, over the past hour, my visit numbers jumped from 8900-something to 24,800.
Ridiculous. And this happens almost every day lately.
But none of this is happening to my walk blogs, thank Jeebus.
That bot swarm thing is so weird. At least they don't leave nasty comments. I started my blog on Blogger all those years ago, then moved to WordPress. Glad I did. Anyway, I've previously expressed my interest in continued readership, so send me the invite, please.
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