As I mentioned in Thursday’s article, Raptitude is officially six months old.

I’m thrilled with how fast my readership grown, I really never expected this. I want let you know I’m very grateful for your time and attention.

This week my RSS subscriber count hit 700 for the first time, and I know that doesn’t account for the many regular readers who don’t use RSS or even know what it is. This last two months I’ve averaged over 1,500 unique visitors a day.

There is a fairly regular group of commenters (mostly fellow bloggers) whom I’ve come to know through their feedback, and I get emails from fans telling me about themselves and their stories. When I picture my audience, I tend to think of that small group of familiar names and avatars.

But the numbers indicate they are a minority, and there are hundreds of regular readers I know absolutely nothing about. I’ve published 68 articles, each one a mishmash of my own personal stories, opinions, rants and reflections, and there is a sizable group of people who invest some of their day to come here to read them.

I just speak my thoughts into my keyboard, but for the most part I don’t even know who I’m speaking to! Yet they listen. It’s so bizarre.

I was talking with someone last night about writing for one’s audience versus just writing what comes to mind. Some argue that your writing should not be shaped by the thought of who is reading it, lest it become pandering. It’s an understandable point, but I don’t agree. Readers are a necessary and equal part of the equation. Writing is communicating, not just pondering. This is not a journal; you are a part of it too.

So here’s my question:

Who are you?

Yes, you! The person staring at the screen right now. I would love to know a little bit about you. Even just where you’re from and how you heard about Raptitude. Something.

I know most people generally don’t leave comments on blogs, and I’m not asking that you start doing that. Most commenters have their own blogs and commenting is an essential part of promoting a blog.

But it would be so great to hear from long-time (and new) readers who have never made their presence known here. Even if it’s just this once.

One thing many people don’t know is that commenting does not require you to sign up for anything. The blogging software requires an email address, but it is kept private and is never used for anything. You can even enter a fake one.

So please, if you’ve enjoyed any of my articles over the last six months, I ask this tiny favor of you. It doesn’t need to take longer than thirty seconds. There is a living, breathing audience of everyday people behind those faceless statistics, and I am so, so curious to know who they are.

Photo by Izzie Whizzie