Having just published my 100th post, I thought I’d give a little nod to myself. After all, if I don’t …
I have to admit that I’ve been helped by uploading content from my discontinued zine 34. Without these, I wouldn’t have passed 100 posts (this is the 101st); on the other hand, if I hadn’t started writing the zine I would have probably reached something like 100 by now.
I’ve had a lot of fun writing these posts (and the ones from 34), maybe too much. Who really wants to read my thoughts on Diplomacy?
Well, I’ve a number of subscribers. When I say a number, I have 16 to date. 16 is a number, right? One of them even subscribes by email. Admittedly, of the rest, most are people trying – forlornly – to sell me SEO services. I mean, come on: if I wanted this blog to be seen by anyone and everyone I could do that!
There are a lot of ways to find out about the Diplomacy Hobby these days. YouTube videos, podcasts, blogs, Facebook, Instagram (yeh, I know: Instagram???), information sites, zines (including postal zines still), books… This blog is a drop in the ocean.
How many people read it occasionally when there’s an article that they’re interested in? I don’t know. I do know I get some comments from people elsewhere – such as Reddit and (when I used to publish on there) X – from people who have read just the one post. Some of it complimentary, most questioning my conclusions. And that’s great: just because I say something is so doesn’t mean it is… and you have a right to be wrong about that!
So I’m going to keep going, both here and on my sister blog DIPLOPUPS, which is where I’ve posted the articles published in SEND NOOBS and where I’m going to continue to write articles for Dip novices.
It is, perhaps, time to take the next step, though. 34 reached people who I didn’t reach through the blog alone. That was down to my advertising on Facebook. mostly. I don’t really use X any more: Musk has destroyed that platform. I do have a presence on Threads now but there seems to be a paucity of Dip players there.
There are some changes I’m going to implement. Nothing drastic, though, more to do with improving the pages on the site. Think of it as natural maturation rather than a revamp. Or evolution, perhaps. Improvements. I hope.
So, if you’re reading this with any degree of consistency, thank you. I really do appreciate it. Keep going. If this is your first post, well, although there’s a degree of scatter strategy approach to the blog, with series being added to when I feel like it, you can usually track them all from links at the bottom of the posts.
And if this is the first post you’ve read, welcome.
It may be that you want to add something yourself. That would be fantastic. I’m going to publish guest posts under the 34 category, as if you’ve written for the zine. Or maybe you want to add something for novices, in which case ask me about having something published on DIPLOPUPS.
But, honestly, whether I have 1 or 100 readers, I’m still going to write. I blame my ego. As should we all.
THE DIPLOMATICON 
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