My WordPress blog has had a “Statistics” facility for some time – which has listed where my posts are being read in the world. Until recently, this has only included which “country” – but recently this data has expanded to include region and city. I attach this data for the last seven-days – and it is an interesting read. As the Western internet is (quite rightly) “banned” in China – it would appear that my blog is viewable in Mainland China (across many provinces) – and in Taiwan, Macao, and Hong Kong. Added to this is Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia – alongside Vietnam and Laos – amongst many others (although I have never attracted North Korea). I suppose as I write predominantly in “English” it is inevitable that a US audience will be attracted – if not only out of curiously – rather than any great political engagement. Surely, it would be logical to think this (of course, I exclude my progressive US readership from this assessment). Imagine my surprise when I saw that around half of the 900 or so hits my blog attracts (each week) in the US is from a single city – namely “North Bergen” in New Jersey. The name is either Dutch or Scandinavian – but the British once ruled this area. I have been reading about ths place as quite frankly I am astonished that my output would be of any interest to the average American – let alone in a single city. It could be a fluke and I am reading too much into it – but I am grateful for every read and click my work attracts – whether the content is liked or not. So, to those people of “North Bergen” who I will never meet or personally know – I thank you for the “click” – even if it was in error. Thank you for giving me something “new” to research. Thank you for sharing this path through my words!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 