If you run into a blog with comments that keep referring to Michele, you know you have stumbled onto a blogfriend of Michele Agnew. In the sociological lore that led to the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, Stanley Milgram determined that we are all connected, but some of us are more connected than others. These people are known as, duh, “connectors”.
In the blogosphere, Michele is a super-connector. She has over 450 names and growing on her blogroll and all she asks for is a linkback and occasional commenting on her site. And it’s a popular site: #571 on TTLB, #4428 on Technorati, and most impressively, 147,748 on Alexa.
The site itself is bare bones elegant, simple, and uncluttered. The sidebar has a 4k jpg, site info links, her massive blogroll, and the archive. There are no weather pixies or webpets or silly things. And no ads. Let me repeat that: no ads. Any site I know of with a fraction of the traffic of hers has ads somewhere. This blog is a true labor of love.
There are several posts a day, all inviting comments from the readers. It’s not unusual to have several posts get dozens of comments in a single day. These are usually breezy, light and occasionally thought provoking. The real draw is The Comment Game. Here she picks a blog and random and directs everyone to make a comment on that blog and the blog of the last person to make a comment. Being Site Of The Day is a big deal. I was SOTD way back on September 14 of last year and I got about 35 comments from MicheleManiacs over two posts, which was stunning for my little blog and it took my game up a whole level.
And on weekends, it's the The Three Day Meet N' Greet and everyone just throws their keys into the middle of the living room and Michele's becomes a floating cyber swap party with everyone just running around visiting everyone else. It’s very addictive and not unusual for the weekend post to get several hundred comments.
A GoogleSearch for her trademark phrase “Michele sent me” gets nearly 40,000 hits. Variations such as “here from Michele’s” and “here via Michele” add about 20,000 more. That is a lot of commenting going on.
The comment games are a great way to sample new blogs and find ones you like. Ten of the blogs on my Blogroll are also on Michele’s. If anything, that’s the one weakness. You tend to keep coming across the same heavy players time and time again. And they skew to the mommyblog-ish. Heck, 23 of the blogs in her blogroll have some variation of “mom” right in the title. But they all tend to be good people and active bloggers.
She does love reading. Her booklist is longer and more highbrow than mine can ever hope to be. She is also a real person that left a comment on my blog when I did a book review.
If you already know about Michele, you know how much fun her site is. If you have never heard of her, go check it out. And say “yellojkt sent me.”
Blatant Comment Whoring™: How did you hear about Michele?
21 comments:
Very coincidental that you've posted about this...as yesterday I first found Michele's site...I'd seen those comments everywhere, but didn't know what they were about!
So Michele sent me to say "Konnichi wa"!
Yep! I know Michele, but I'm not on her blogroll.
Hi, Michele sent me!
Tryin to earn some brownie points with her? Great idea! LOL!
Michele sent me tonight...I learned about Michele by doing a search. I would visit various sites and see the tagline so I thought I would try to figure out what it was. Lots of fun and I love visiting new places, as well as old, during the three day meet and greet. People pull out some funny stuff during those.
BTW, I got a new place and redecorated. Stop by and tell me what ya think sometime. :)
You know what? I really don't remember how I found Michele. But I have met a lot of great people at the key swap!
I remember seeing the tagline in several people's comment lists. Finally I managed to spot Michele's name in someone's blogroll (might have been yours) and made the connection.
It's not as exciting as I made it sound here, really.
haha! excellent post, yellojkt! am sure michele would be flattered to hear you took time to make her a post.
you know, i actually stumbled upon her blog about a year ago, got to reading her posts, found her interesting then blogrolled her. it was later on, several visits on, that i got to learn about the meet n' greet. ;)
here via michele's this time btw...
I found Michele while surfing BE in early '05. These days, I never see her blog show up there, so I'm glad to have found her when I did.
I know a little more about her than you do, but I'll never tell....
;)
Michele sent me, how odd, huh? LOL
Great post, Yellojkt. You're right. There's a lot of mommyblogs in the weekend game but that's no doubt due to so many active blogs being of that type. The professional blogs don't tend to visit so much. They're too busy making money. Tsk-tsk-tsk.
Michele doesn't include all that much biographical info in any given week but if you read her weekday posts every week they do build up. I first followed a comment to Michele's site about a year ago, I think it was from Judy in NC (Kenju), however I've never been elected site of the day.
I think Michele is great, so gracious!
enjoyed your post via michelle
Glad I came! This has a little science fiction feel to it. Michele sent me. Yellowjakcet sent me back.
I came across Michele pretty early on in my blog life via someone's site. I still remember my first couple of visits, feeling shy and trying to figure out what it was all about. I think of the meet&greet as playing spin the bottle sort of.
I seem to recall once hearing her say that she was a political speech writer.
Love those legs....who's ever they are.
Well, Michelle sent me today! I first came across Michelle's blog on another blog that was chosen as site of the day.
Michele's site is such a great resource for hooking up with other bloggers. I love it! I don't know how I found her -- must have just stumbled in from somewhere else, I suppose.
Stumbled across it in my first couple months of blogging. I made a total ass of myself screeding about a comment that, at the time, I didn't realize came from a cartoon.
And shortly thereafter, I got to guest-post :)
Michele does have a wonderful site.
You know, I don't remember how I found Michele. She's been on so many blogrolls that I just ended up there one day - and started playing along with the comment games.
I do know that I've picked up readers from being a featured blog - Trusty, in fact! (This is a wonderful gift that I'll never be able to repay to Michele!)
I can't recall exactly HOW I found her. I just remember playing around, commenting here and there and sending an email (and comment as well) asking how the hell I could get on her blogroll. Then one day, like magic, I clicked on and there I was, Site of The Day. My traffic increased and boom, here we are today.
I met many a blogger via Michele - either the weekend game or SOTD. I recall MG was one of the very first blogs I ever read. And Foma was next, then Trusty, both of whom I found via MG. Small, small world. I'm glad I stumbled in.
Just left there. Her site is fun!
"And they skew to the moomyblog-ish."
I'm guessing you meant "mommyblog-ish," or as would write it "mommy-blog-ish".
SNOOTishly yours,
adouble
And I knew I would do that. Of course, what I meant to say was "or as I would write it".
Still SNOOTishly your,
adouble
hi! michele sent me! i learned about michele's site through blogexplosion. i sure am glad about that! :) i've come across lots of great blogs through her site.
Hello yellojkt,
What a wonderfully kind and flattering post. Thank you!
Now, You have questions and I have answers - so, please watch my blog for more information - you don't mind if I link to you, do you? I will say yellojkt sent me.
Post a Comment