I have been writing this column in one version or another since 1994 for a variety of long-suffering publishers, currently Tribune Total Media’s “The Signal-Item”, serving Carnegie and Bridgeville. The version published in the newspaper these days is about 550 words long, satisfying the requirements of the printed newspaper, which is circulated to about 9,500 homes.
To produce this version I begin with a rough draft that, typically, is about one thousand words long, then edit it meticulously to reach the desired length. In the early days I compiled a book each year made up of the original drafts. In the summer of 2016 I decided to enter the twenty-first century and archive the longer versions on a blog.
I determined that this capability was readily available for anyone with a (Google) gmail account. When my application asked me select a username, I fell back on an old favorite – “wiseoldowl” – my “Indian name” when my children were in the YMCA Indian Guide and Princess programs.
I chose the name in those days because of advice my father gave me in the form of a familiar poem:
“A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke,
The less he spoke, the more he heard.
Why can’t we all be like that bird?”
I was not surprised when the system responded, “Sorry, but that name is already taken”. No problem, I will use “wiseroldowl”, as I have done in the past. “Sorry, but that name is already taken”. My next suggestion, “wisestoldowl”, turned out to be a winner. Consequently Google, the world’s premier Internet company has anointed me as the “wisest” of all wise old owls. If you don’t believe it, send an email to wisestoldowl@gmail.com and see who responds.
As a result I have been able to archive the long version of the most recent 122 columns at the website mywutb@blogspot.com, a convenience for which I am quite grateful. The Bridgeville Area Historical Society also began to archive them on their website at about the same time; you can find them under the pull-down menu “Water Under the Bridge”. Unfortunately, logistical problems with the volunteer organization has interrupted that process recently.
In addition to publishing the edited versions weekly in the printed edition of the Signal-Item, Trib Total Media occasionally includes them on their digital page, “Trib-Live” in the “Local/Carnegie-Bridgeville” section. These columns are also archived; searching for “Oyler” turned up old columns as far back as 2015.
An added bonus to the “mywutb” blog site is the information on viewers of various columns. To date, there have been 4,230 page views, about five per day and thirty-five per column. The frequency of viewing, of course, continues to increase as more columns are added. The most views in one day was fifty-two on January 5 this year. This January has also seen the most page views – 358.
To put the thirty-five views per column in perspective, it is constructive to estimate the size of the audience for the column. I have a mailing list of twenty-seven friends and family who receive the long version each week.
The Signal-Item circulation is large, perhaps 3,500 adults in Bridgeville; how many of them read the column? Five percent would be 1. Add a handful from the Trib Live website and a few from the Historical Society website, for a total of, say, 125. In that context, thirty-five is a significant audience.
The site also records the source of the viewers. Sixty four percent of the views are folks in the United States – about 2,700. Then come German and Poland at six percent apiece, followed by France, “Unknown Region”, Ukraine, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Netherlands. Today, for example, there were thirteen views from India and ten from Bangladesh. What suddenly generated interest in that part of the world?
The blog also records statistics for each column. The current all-time leader is a column I wrote in the Spring of 2017 about the Pitt Civil Engineering Senior Design program. Its popularity comes from the fact that it is referenced on the Department website. I have no explanation for the other columns on the list.
Second is “The McLaughlin’s and Saw Mill Run Railroad” with fifty-four views. Since “The Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad” is fifth most popular, with thirty views. I suspect that there is a small clique of rail-fans in the audience. A column I wrote on, the demise of the “Bridgeville Area News” newspaper came in third. Along with “The C. P. Mayer Brick Company” (4), “Catfish” (8), and “The Flannery Brothers” (10), it is an encouraging endorsement of our interest in local (Chartiers Valley) history.
A curious entry, at number seven, is “A Wandering Octogenarian Mind”. It is a tongue-in-cheek discussion of my inability to retain my attention on any specific subject, hardly a topic that warrants any popularity. Nonetheless it has moved up the list recently, at the same time the views from India and Bangladesh increased.
Coincidence? Have I unwittingly struck a chord with some bit of Muslim philosophy? That column had eight views today. Perhaps it is about to go viral on the Subcontinent; I will keep you posted.
Despite the thousands of page views, there has only been one comment posted on the blogsite. It was in response to a column on “Upper St. Clair History” that I wrote last summer. The author was a great-grand-daughter of Joseph Lutz, looking for information on the Lutz family. A dialogue between her and the Historical Society has been initiated on this subject.
So far, my involvement with the blog has been very positive. It is an excellent place for me to store old columns and a great source of amusement following the statistics on viewership.