Here's a humorist (via Emperor Misha) who, reflecting on the recent Blogosphere election results, displays a mood I would characterize as morose:

I think what we're seeing proves an axiom I originated here: in the Blogosphere, age equals success. There was a time when you could upload a blank page with a photo of your ass, and it would get 20,000 hits a day. Mediocre people gained popularity in a hurry. Now, you have to compete with grammy's blog and grampy's blog and your dog's blog. You have to compete with a million people posting things like, "Wow, it rained here today. More later."

Even Dave Barry doesn't do that well here. His blog is new. Yes, he's way up on the traffic list, but look at the people above him and think about how famous and talented he is, and ask yourself if it makes sense.

I know I just killed my tiny chance of ever getting an Instalanche [ED. NOTE: Disagree here!], but the truth is the truth. And who cares if I never get a sudden flood of hits from a Reynolds link? It's not like I get paid by the visit. I stopped worrying about links and traffic long ago. I like seeing the number rise, but let's face it: it has no positive effect on my life.

But when I first started this I was told not to worry about links or hits or any of that stuff "because you'll drive yourself crazy." That was the best advice I ever got. When I started last May, I saw maybe five or six hits each day, and I thought, "Wow! If five people are reading me, then it's worth doing this!"

I don't know that age is necessarily success, because there are bloggers who have been blogging for years who can't come close to some of the newer, slicker, "instant success" bloggers (many of whom started blogs after success or fame in other endeavors).

There really isn't any quantifiable justice, nor should there be. The justice (and the true magic, in my view) is that anyone who is determined to write can do this. It's just writing. If you have something to say, you say it. The rest is fluff -- a bit like social climbing. If that is why you're blogging -- to be a "blogger climber" -- that might help get you established, but you'll end up with nothing to say, because your thoughts and writing will be contaminated by worrying about what people think of you, whether you're getting hits, and stuff which in truth is a distraction from what you're doing.

(QUERY: If you could force yourself to see your blog is as a manuscript in progress, might you be able to shed any and all consideration of hits and links? Would this be beneficial?)

Sometimes I wish I didn't have any sort of counter, because the whole thing is a distraction from my real purpose. But there is no hiding from reality. I check my hits just like everyone else. And I love every last one of my hits, because they and the comments are the only tangible evidence of you, my readers.

But my goal -- to counter the absurdities of the damned Culture War -- that's the "counter" that ultimately drives this blog.

UPDATE: In light of the Blogosphere's cheating scandals, and even attempted hostile takeovers by bullshit blogs, I admire independence and integrity more than ever. Bloggers who don't have the latter can never "take over," because they obviously prefer bullshit to writing.

No one will read them!