I admit to being a bit of a geek. That must explain why in the last few minutes I did something I have not ever tried before.
I copied five pages of comments on the blog into Word.
I then found that they averaged almost exactly 2,500 words a page, but some of those were blog titles and email addresses, and so on. So I reduced that figure to 2,200 a page to allow for that.
There are 5,093 pages of comments on this blog.
That's likely to be 11.2 million words.
As a sanity check I divided that by the 102,000 total number of comments published (near enough). That's 110 words a comment, which seemed fair.
Put that 11.2 million words another way and it is at least 160 books worth of comments.
I am not looking to publish them though.
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Well, if you will post erudite, easily undestandable, honest, blogs on important subjects, so that non-specialists like me can understand them, what do you expect?
I wasn’t complaining
I was, to say the least, a little surprised just because I’d never tried it before
You are a star of clarity in a universe of obfuscation – carry on, never mind the comments
It’s occurred to me I could do the same on what I have written
Later….
Hope you have better search tools for comments than the contributors do! Very difficult to search for comments. I know it’s a blog rather than a forum but some fora allow for quite complex searches.
WordPress is quite annoying in that way, I agree
I can’t for example, pick out comments on a day
I have no way I know of getting round that with the shoestring I run this on
If you ever do get curious enough to bother with it you could access table data for your comments directly from the database your site runs off and then pull them all into an excel file. There are fields to identify the date, post, author etc.
You could most likely achieve this yourself by using an application called phpMyAdmin commonly provided by most webhosts. You’d look for this in the control panel for your web hosting and send a ticket to them if not obvious where you can locate this.
That all sounds a bit more techy than it actually is, although I appreciate it’s not merely a question of logging into the WordPress dashboard.
I pay someone (I admit modestly) to do that stuff
I was trying to work out when you first started blogging but failed! Frankly, I don’t know how you manage to achieve so many postings. I started Learning from Dogs in July, 2009 but rarely publish more than one post a day. Plus I’m retired (whatever that means!).
You’re an author, teacher, frequent interviewee, if not much more, and a very active blogger. Do please tell me, and the rest of your devoted readers, just what pills you take? 😉
I started ten years ago
You missed out researcher and book author
No pills
Just the energy I was born with
And a lot of desire to change the world
The last few days would have shoved the averages up a bit! YOu seem to have survived with your sanity intact.
Wait a mo……you’re counting the words in all your blogs?………(smiley emoticon)
I am pretty tired
Dog just walked
Now by the river – book about to be read
A clear sky to do it under
This is how the world changes, I think. Be interesting if anyone has done a study on the dissemination of ideas through blogging e.g. if you have 30,000 direct followers how many people are you influencing indirectly?
I have no idea what the answer to that is.
I am continually surprised that people seem to know who I am
Like many writers I am an introvert (I know those who have seen me ‘perform’ find that hard to believe, but it’s true: introversion is a much broader spectrum than the usual stereotype) so I find writing in this way a very comfortable ways of communicating with the world
I admit I consciously wortk on style, and fail miserably on spelling
I was pleased to write my shortest paragraph ever this morning: ‘If.’ was it from beginning to end. I don’t really care whether it’s sad to enjoy that or not.
What I never do is assume that anyone will listen to me. Some clearly thought for example that I should have planned the consequences of writing about Jeremy Corbyn this week because I might lose influence. But that’s not my game.
I write that I think. I am not playing power games.
If others think the ideas useful I admit I am pleased. But I’ve never doing this for power, fame or anything else. If things happen I haven’t asked for them.
Comment numbers seem to be ‘calming’ at present. Should allow you some respite.
Tells you something very positive about what you are tapping into and the constructive energy and thinking that is out here, looking for ways to channel that energy
Once again, many thanks for all you’ve done. Please keep it up – between dog-walks
I’m an introvert too so am not remotely surprised. Regarding Corbyn you said what you truly believed. I struggled but came to the same opinion. One defining character of every good leader is that once you decide on a position you fight for it with every ounce in your being. You do not do it half heartedly. It was interesting reading Mandelson’s article in the FT today. (I know I will get flack from the anti-Blarites who would say Mandelson would want to put the knife in anyway). He says Corbyn was not only luke-warm but often obstructive to the stay campaign. He was certainly ineffectual. Mandelson also said that he was unable to persuade the Torys to stray from their negative finance message but to broaden to the positivity of both the EU and immigration but was ignored.
Richard, I have read your latest Guardian article. Although I am a great admirer of your financial skills and understanding of tax system, I am slightly perplexed at the timing and reasoning why you think another leader – with appropriate skills you mention – is required now at this moment. I’ll start with your reasoning that John Mcdonnel has grown into his role, while Corbyn hasn’t, because you feel he is still the “reluctant leader who cannot do up his tie when necessary…” and that “such messages are rather important”. I must admit that I have laughed at some of Jeremy’s jumpers, but isn’t it about time we moved away from the stereotypical politician image and concentrated more on policies, and that other financial experts have been delegated to deliver.
I have dealt with all these issues many times now
I am not doing so again
Sorry Richard, I have just read your recent twitter comments, but still can’t find anything about why we can’t accept that some people prefer to dress informally,and for that reason we can not gradualy learn that style over content is best. If you have written about this please direct me to the material.
For heaven’s sake understand what I was saying
Correction: Content over style is best.
It seems to me that more people read your blog than contribute which gives me hope that – as others say – your ideas are reaching more people than assumed.
And this is good. And in the coming months/years – it will be sorely needed.
Apparently the Chilcot report is some 2.6 million words which will take some reading!
I’m not sure how many people will have the time to read it in full, but I’m sure there will be plenty of very noisy commentary about it within minutes of it being published on Wednesday.
I hope that Corbyn is still the Leader of the Labour Party when it is published and the detailed analysis undertaken, despite the on-going attempts to remove him beforehand without putting the matter to the party members.
I fully accept that these things may well not be linked, however the recent re-appearance on the UK political scene of certain faces seems like more than a little coincidence to me.
Give us enough time & we’ll inadvertently write Hamlet 2.
I have a rough synopsis, but my Doctor says to keep using the ointment.
Early one morning on the walls of the Palace of Westminster young Geo Osborne accompanied by 2 devoted servants (Janaan Ganesh &, er…no, one devoted servant) hears a horrible wailing. “I am your philosophical father, I am free-trade, laissez faire neo-liberal economics. Now I am died, I’m but a ghoul”.
George ” I shy away from Ghouls, I’m just like Raheem Sterling”
Spectre ” Not a goal, a ghoul, you fool”
George “oops, soz”
spectre: “There was a time when I was master, welcome at every banquet, now look at me. First I’m rejected by the Bank of England, I go to America & Donalld Trump splashes poison in my ear, at least it may have been poison or his Trump “the aftershave for winners”, then I come back here & people in Gainsborough lkick me in the Goolies!”
“Fie, fie, even in the Nasty Party no-one wants to speak my name. May, Crabbe, Fox (& why mayn’t s/he?) none of them even dare talk about me.
George “I shall be loyal O market economy & avenge thee even against Trump”
Janaan “& I shall be more liege than he is, swear, honestly”