Thank you all so much for helping me reach 4 million views. Let's celebrate with something really somber and serious! ...Yay?
First off, thank you all so much for getting me to this point. I know I say this every milestone, but I mean it more and more each time, I wouldn't be here without you.
Now on the second matter, no this is not goodbye. I have no intention of stepping away from capping, or at least not in the immediate future. The main reason I wrote this caption is I want to be honest with all of you about my thought process as far as where I see this blog going, and somehow it just seemed like now was as good a time as any as talk about it.
It's no real secret that the frequency of my updates is nowhere near what it used to be. The main reason for that is that tg doesn't do much for me anymore. I can remember back when I first started doing this I would lose hours at a time going through page after page of captions, but now doing that really doesn't interest me.
So why am I still writing tg captions? Because I really enjoy the interaction I have with you all on this blog. This is still a place where I can get consistent feedback on my writing, and I kind of like the challenge of seeing how far I can push a story without losing the ability to see it in a tg light (my recent captions "Touch Yourself" and "Fantasy" are good examples of this).
As long as those aspects still hold my interest, I don't see my self going anywhere too soon. Not to mention that every now and then I still enjoy cranking out a good button-pusher (even though I know a lot of you wish that I would do it more often).
Anyway, I think that's about it. Long story short, I'm not done with this whole tg capping thing just yet, but I'm beginning to see the end out there on the horizon. I have no idea if it's months or years away still, but for now all I want to say is thank you. You all have no idea how much your support means to me.
Thank you.
Congrats on the milestone Rauk! It's a rare treat to see someone who both has a great talent AND a large following. All too often we seem to get either one or the other, so your accomplishment is doubly special!
ReplyDeleteI knew your cap was special as I thought of Caitlyn just reading the first paragraph. Unsurprisingly you perfectly straddle the gap between straightforward TG cap and though provoking look inward. It's funny how the original draw of TG caps seems to wane, but all the connections made during your artistic times keep you coming back. In a greedy way I hope that you continue to find inspiration and continue to create, but at the same time I'll cheer you on no matter what direction you take.
Thank you, you're really too kind. I had feared that this cap might not resonate with may people here as after all this is still a tg caption blog, so most of the people coming here probably aren't going through the same things I am, but I'm really happy to hear that you were able to connect with the story so easily.
DeleteI believe that this cap would resonate with just about anybody, but specifically with a TG audience. Most of us have a femmed version of ourselves that we hide away from prying eyes, whether that femmed version is real or imagined. We keep her safe and secure, but at the same time know that by not sharing her with the world that she may pass on without any physical notice...
DeleteMost people probably can't relate with the creative process you go through or see that side of this story, but your writing always seems to allow the reader to add their own flavor to your caps. This one especially.
Thank you, I guess I'm a little too close to the subject matter to effectively judge how this cap can be read from a non-creative process viewpoint. I had hoped that the way I phrased things would allow for people with more strongly defined feminine versions of themselves than I do to relate to the story as well, and I'm happy to hear that it worked.
DeleteLove your caps! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteAny way you can add the image preview functionality to your blog?
Thanks!
DeleteI'm not really sure what you mean. My posts have two copies of the cap, the first is just a link to the page of the post, but clicking the second should open up the cap in a new screen, allowing you to view it in a larger size. I do it that way as I found the "light box" blogger uses by default wasn't showing the caps large enough to read some of my smaller text.
Ahh, I think I meant the lightbox preview. I guess I'm just used to using that and opening the image in a new tab if it doesn't fit.
DeleteAnyway you could make the image preview you see on the homepage or results page a link to the actual image? I always read your posts on something new...but when going through old posts it would be convenient to open a lot from a single page without having to click on each post.
The way I have my blog set up is so that I can track page views for each post separately. I know that it can be a little inconvenient having to click through to a new page, but it's the only way I have to figure which posts people are repeatedly viewing. I then use that information when I'm thinking about the subject matter for new captions as I have a general idea of the kinds of things my readers seem to enjoy the most.
DeleteI kind of get that, but I mean...page views don't indicate popularity. I'll go through a bunch of your old pages looking for stuff, and close them if they are not what I like...so I don't know that page views for users like me show anything.
DeleteThe rating system you have and comments would be a much better indicator, I would think. Maybe check with some other bloggers who have the image preview and links set up and see how they track popularity?
Just an idea and hope I'm not coming of as ungrateful, you are by far my favorite tg cap blogger.
Not at all, I appreciate hearing how people think this blog could be improved. And while I agree initial page views don't show much beyond whether the image I chose was overtly sexual and thus received more clicks, what page views really highlight are the captions people are viewing multiple times. Here's a quick breakdown to give you an idea of the numbers of my four caps with the most views:
Delete(The average caption I post tends to get around 5,000 page views total, and 2-3 comments, excluding my response comments)
"Home Early"
14,347 views
7 comments
12 total rating votes
"...You Lied"
13,700 views
2 comments
24 total rating votes
"Game Over"
13,573 views
7 comments
5 total rating votes
"Free Trial"
13,323 views
4 comments
48 total rating votes
As you can see there's a good bit of variation in the number of comments, and a ton in the number of ratings votes. And while I do use all of this information in making judgement calls about what is "popular" the most stable indicator is the number of page views a caption gets over 5,000, as that usually means a significant number of people are rereading that cap.
Additionally I remember back when I was just a lurker I basically never commented or left feedback, even on captions I really liked.
So that's why I give preference to page views. The numbers tend to be more consistent (even just in terms of averages) and there is no bias in terms of whether or not the people who read my work are the kind of people who are likely to rate it or leave a comment.
A very thought provoking caption. I see some of more own journey in this.
ReplyDeletedon't know why things that were once all consuming now seem less so
maturity, responsibility, practicability ?
I wish you well on the new journey
Thank you. I don't have an answer for why our interests can fade over time other than I guess everyone changes. Deep stuff, I know. With wisdom like that I should probably get in contact with Hallmark, or start my own blog. Oh, wait...
DeleteCongrats on 4 million views! That's quite a few eyeballs popping on here!
ReplyDeleteMost people tend to evolve when they create, and as much as I respect AC/DC, I wonder how they can keep cranking out the same sort of material every album.
I certainly understand where you are coming from, and along with wanting to work on newer things that are more attuned to your current mindset, there are only so many ways to skin a cat. The fact that you (and many of us that have done this for awhile now) can still find inspiration from time to time to give an alternate take on a well worn topic makes it all worthwhile.
And yes, that feedback and thrill of posting a recently completed work is so very intoxicating. Here's hoping your TG muse will keep you artistically drunk once or twice a week!
Thanks. I'm hoping to keep coming back at least once a week for a while as well.
DeleteCongrats on the 4 million views.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have my little room that I get to go to to see my girl
Thank you
Delete