About a week ago on a day when I was working at home, I was glancing at my sitemeter and I saw the address of Small Green College, where I teach. That could mean only one thing: a student had discovered my blog.
Even though I use a pseudonym to prevent students from finding the blog, I didn't get too panicky at the thought. I really like my students, and I think most of them could handle reading my blog. I fully expected, when I went to campus on Monday, for student to tell me that he or she had discovered my blog.
But no student spoke up.
Then I started to feel strange. Normally, when a student googles me and reads stuff of mine, she can't wait to tell me. It seemed funny that a student would discover a pseudonymous blog, know that it was me, and not say anything to me at all.
Then I noticed that the times seemed peculiar for a college student. What college student would look at my blog at 7:13 am? The thought that the lurker was someone OTHER than a student did freak me out a little. Was this someone from the administration? Another faculty member? What reason would they have for reading my blog?
The hits indicated that this was a person who had the same schedule as me. In fact, what was really creepy is that my blog stalker seemed often to be on at the exact same time as me. And the day that I went through my archives looking for something, opening a zillion pages, my blog stalker did the same thing.
Yeah. You guessed it. My new laptop, which is configured to use both the campus wireless and my home wireless, was sometimes giving out my campus information even when I was at home.
In other words, I am my own stalker.
27 comments:
That's funny! It sounds like a Poe story, actually. What was that one about the Doppelganger? "William Wilson?" Or was it Arthur Gordon Pym? You could write this up as a modern day retelling. If Kathy Acker were writing it, she'd even give it the same title and use the same character names as the Poe story.
You are just so cute!
Yes, my laptop carries the IP for a while too and I've had similar freakouts :)
lol
That's happened to me before...but, honestly it wouldn't have been too big a coincidence that though its from your campus, it a) wasn't one of your students or b) was one of your students who didn't figure out it was you. You're pretty widely read and linked you know. :)
Very funny. It sounds like something I would think. I have a friend who had the same problem as couple of bloggers were posting. So earlier this year I gave her their URL's. You guessed it, she recognized me in the comments last month. So now someone has found me. However I like her, and trust her. But it's odd that someone you didn't intend to read your blog now has access to it. My own fault though.
Too funny!
And I agree with Liz: you're just too cute!
Laughing.
I am cracking up on so many levels. 1. I have had the SAME experience. 2. You are too cute in how you write about it.
Well, I thought my readership was up until I realized that allowing Site Meter to count my visits to RevGalBlogPals also caused it to count my visits to Set Free. It was easy to be fooled, since it kept saying this visitor was from an "Unknown Country."
You are your own stalker; I am my own unknown reader.
Yup...I have to add..I too have freaked myself out and convinced myself of my imminent firing...and then realized that I was the person from my company that was so intently reading my blog.
hee hee.
That is too funny! Lee's laptop sometimes does the same thing to my blog. At first, I thought there was someone from his large state university who was reading RoH...who was also using MacOSX...who was on just when he was reading what I wrote...hey wait a minute! A lesson not to get too caught up in Sitemeter...oh you do know that you can set Sitemeter to ignore visits from your own browser?
That is too funny. At least you figured out who it was before it drove you too crazy ;)
I've done that too with the laptop. Seems like you figured out pretty fast though!
LMAO!!
I saw that coming and it was still hysterical.
That's so funny!
Reminds me of Winnie the Pooh and Piglit tracking the woozle...
and also makes me peverseley glad that I'm too mean to pay for the version of sitemeter that allows you to see where your hits come from. Mine just tells me that I have a certain number, and that's it.
This cracked me up! I've so been there, done that.
Don't worry, a specially made tin foil hat and reflective sunglasses will protect you from knowing seeing what you're doing. /nod
I am still laughing, not at you but with you. I, too, have had similar incidents. The most recent, while not a cyber incident, was I thought someone was on my patio. EVery time I was at my desk, which faces the patio, I saw a shadow and it looked like a big old head. I didn't tell Mr. Zelda because he often laughs at my paranoia, so when my son was visiting, I tell him that I think someone is lurking outside my office door, out on the patio. He waits until dark and while I am writing away, I say in whisper, "There he is." My son laughs and laughs. Yes, it's my own reflection. The light behind me, yeah and I have a science degree. Go figure.
too funny, Jo(e)!
I, too, am my very own stalker. Kind of creepy, before I figured it out...
GOOF BALL
Dr. K...that is MY most favorite Children's song EVER!! That and Grandma's Feather Bed. Thanks for sharing it!!
-girl
Priceless, jo(e)! Not content to be our own worst enemy, overachievers must also be our own stalker too.
*raises hand*
Yes, I too have stalked myself. *grin*
It's somewhat useful information; I now know that I shouldn't ever post on an unfriendly blog from either of the wireless networks in town -- both of them have their identifying information right in the ISP.
Ah, life in blogland...
I remember Maury Amsterdam sang "I'm my own grandpa" when I was a kid. I loved it.
Ha!
Just discovered your blog through Iowadrift, and even though I'm late joining the conversation, I couldn't resist chiming in to say I've done the exact same thing. (Even worse, I've done it more than once, as sitemeter resets every time I clear my cache. Duh.)
Nice writing, btw. I'll come back to visit soon.
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