Another milestone has been achieved at Wonders in the Dark this past week as the site has published its 3,000th blog post. A remarkable accomplishment to be sure, but even sweeter when one considers the general apathy online for blogs in general, what with the continuing prominence of Facebook and Twitter. Blogs are far from dead, but let’s just say they are less dominant than they once were. Ironically, the mid-week post- Aaron West’s review of “My Life as a Dog”, which gave cause for celebration – came to pass during the now running Greatest Childhood/Adolescent polling, which at least by way of comments is the least exceptional of the six genre polls we have staged so far. Still the page view for the project have remained solid and the quality of writing exhibited in the reviews themselves has been of the first rank.
Simultaneously, the site marks its seventh anniversary in two weeks. Launched in September of 2008, the speculative venture was planned by Allan Fish and myself, and supported mightily by Tony d’Ambra and Dee Dee, before gaining steam by a fraternity of blogger friends. The site’s trademarks have been the weekly Monday Morning Diary, (instituted in 2010) a community forum where readers share their weekly viewings and activities, and the primary announcement board; the many decade and genre countdowns (populated not only by the site’s staff writers, but by fellow blogger friends from other sites, and an extensive archives of opera, book, and music reviews. Though the present time has been difficult for blog sites in general, the site is alive and well, and will no doubt thrive for some time to come.
Many thanks to all our friends for making this place so accommodating for so long. By any barometer of measurement this has been a remarkable run.
Incredible accomplishments! Congrats to all. I have been following this ride from the start, and can say it has been part of my life.
Many thanks my longtime friend and site trouper! can never thank you enough!
Quite the accomplishment, Sammy. Wow. Keep up the great work! 🙂
Thanks for the beautiful words and for always being there for us Robert my great friend!
What’s funny is that the 3,000th post was My Life as a Dog, although we had a few other things to talk about. Congrats, Sammy. Great place you’ve built here.
Aaron, your post was what put us over the top, and interestingly and appropriately enough it is the single post that has so far attracted the most comments in the countdown! Fantastic! And many thanks for the very kind words my friends!
LOL. Yes, it attracted some comments. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. 😉
Aye I hear ya Aaron!! 🙂
Congratulations, Sam, Allan, and everyone involved. You’ve certainly made Wonders in the Dark the home of cinephilia for me. It’s become an archive of inestimable value and I am grateful it exists.
Duane, your input at this place for a very long time has been deeply appreciated. You are a film scholar and a gentleman extraordinaire my friend!
Many congratulations to Sam, Allan and all at Wonders. Here’s to the next 3,000.
Many thanks Judy!! Needless to say you have been a revered part of our equation for a very long time my friend! 🙂
Sam, that big number is a tribute to your energy, invention and love!
Those are beautiful words Jim, and I can’t thank you enough for posting them my friend! Your stupendous writing has been a vital part of our success story my friend. 🙂
Congratulations! I just hit 7 this year too (though I’m still shy of 1000, let alone 3000 posts) and remember discovering this site not long after it debuted that fall. In fact, for an anniversary piece a few years ago, I dug up a screen-cap of Wonders near its debut via the Wayback Machine. I think Wonders readers may get a kick out of this blast from the past. I agree that blogs have kind of taken a backseat to other forms of social media. However, I think they’re still the best place to find in-depth commentary and to organize one’s online activity. When the month-old tweets and Facebook posts have gotten buried in various timelines, Wonders essays from 2009 or 2012 or whenever will still be getting discovered and treasured by new readers. Keep up the great work, Sam!
Joel, I did remember that your first blog THE DANCING IMAGE was launched at around the same time as WONDERS. And your presence in those days was incomparable – your scholarship and humility was miraculous, and as a site cheerleader you stood alone. I’d love to see that screen-cap again! What you say about the fleeting nature of FB and Twitter, is so true, though of course I’ve at least tried to do some worthwhile things with the former. That is quite a testament to the site what you say about the permanence of the archives, and you can take a lot of credit for the site’s success in so many ways my friend! Thank you! 🙂
Click on “this blast from the past” in my above comment, and your wish will be granted. 😉 We’ve come a long way…
I just clicked on it Joel! Wow what memories there! Coincides in a way with today’s countdown review by Marilyn Ferdinand! But yes we have come a long way and I dare say we have kept our word with the promises made in that original announcement, what with an archives of many theater, music and opera reviews to go with our main thrust of the cinema. Thank you!
Congratulations Sam and Allan.
An achievement for sure and a worthy holdout against the trivialisation that largely defines the new micro-blogging platforms. Another milestone this week was a billion Facebook user logins in a single day. Now days it is all about the “brand”, getting likes, and seeking a banal kind of fame.
To another seven years.
Tony, as I mentioned in the post proper, your invaluable insistence in getting this blog off the ground when technical know-how was practically non-existent, and then nurturing us over the full span of the blog -I have lost track of the number of times I have said that you saved our hide for all sorts of reasons- has not only maintained the blogging status quo, but has forged a priceless friendship that will be cherished to the end of my days. As far as the other social media, you speak much sense methinks. Thanks again my friend!! 🙂
Congratulations to all concerned on achieving this tremendous milestone! It’s something that makes the rest of us just gape in awe.
John, many thanks for those spirited words. Let’s just say I have consistently been in awe of all you have done, which really is incomparable. You have been just incredible offering support for so long a time my friend! 🙂
Congratulations, WitD writers! What a wonderful achievement for a truly inclusive and creative film blog!
Marilyn, thanks for posting those wonderfully supportive contentions here. You have been a godsend for us since you made your first appearance here, and as tomorrow’s countdown post again proves you are one of the most talented writers out there! 🙂
I’ve discovered so many films I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered and enjoyed many debates and conversations thanks to this blog – which I contend is still THE best independent film blog out there. Many thanks to all those who made this happen and keep it going…especially Sam!
David, those are blessed words, and to be sure I deeply appreciative them! You are another who has been here for a long time, and has made some sensational contributions on all fronts. A charter member if you will. THE SCHLEICHER SPIN has given film lovers endless miracles and I am proud of our fruitful affiliation my friend! 🙂
Congrats on reaching this milestone. Over the years, this site including the excellent reviews have been very valuable for me in discovering many precious films and in revisiting films.
Thanks so very much for that Sachin! Our own friendship and online association has been a glorious one my friend! 🙂
As David says above, I discovered many films by coming on this blog since 2009. For that, I thank you and every other WITD writer through the years.
Maurizio, it has been a real joy maintaining a sturdy friendship with you, and your contributions as a writer and commentator here have certainly been legendary. For one who can ever forget that Greatest Noir Countdown you handled all by your lonesome. Your piece de resistance that one!
I’ve read that the (traditional) social media impact on blogging as a negative is a slightly erroneous claim and numbers back it up (relevant stats like new blogs created, and new posts authored per day/week) as they’ve largely stated the same or in some cases increased. It’s how people interact with a blog that is slightly different—mainly comment numbers—which just points to using social media in a savvy and appropriate manner (if traffic is so desired).
Blogs that offered the type of content Wonders does, and on as regular a basis as Wonders does (you don’t get to 3,000 posts in 7 years by sitting on your hands a lot! [and in reality it’s probably closer to 3,250 posts if the several hundred I authored hadn’t been taken down]—that is an average of more than one post a day!) continue to thrive when social media is used as an enhancement of the blog content. Posts on twitter or facebook should be then drivers to essays (it’s estimated that 80% of shared content is via a facebook recommendation) not content unto themselves. When facebook is used to do a poll (that was already done at Wonders years prior!) it’s seen as content in and of itself when it’s really not. In the case of Wonders this is especially true, as no one in the immediate circle is using facebook or twitter in anything resembling a meaningful way (jokes about the ‘meaningful’ potential of social media aside).
Now, whether or not anyone would use the facebook post (or said article) to have a discussion or do it under the actual Wonders post is another matter entirely. Several others above also allude to how a certain demographic interacts online (breeze through content, don’t engage) that facebook only makes worse, but then I sort of think that type is never the type of ‘core’ user that Wonders would—or should—seek to attract.
Now my blog gets minuscule traffic but then it’s sort of always going too; I don’t use social media at all, and designed the blog in a way to be used for other stuff too (design work, etc), and sometimes .
Oh, and obviously my congrats to this milestone (and all others to eventually come) goes without saying. I’ve been a heavy, to semi-regular for at least 5 of those years. It’s a blog I love and use in equal measure.
Actually I can see exactly when I came here first; I was linked from another side (Ari’s old The Aspect Ratio) midway through Allan’s highlighting the 1960’s. The first day I visited Allan just happened to post a piece putting Godard’s Pierrot le Fou at #45 for the decade. It was April 12, 2009. So I’ve been here for more than 5 years!
Pierrot le Fou might just be my favorite film ever made, or at least the one that I say in conversation when asked. It was fate…
Jamie, somehow I was thinking your first appearance here was on the day the blog was unexpectedly highlighted on the IMDB, but you may be right with that link from THE ASPECT RATIO, which was run by Ari, whom I well remember. In any case, your thorough delineation of the situation is more than food for thought. Yes, I was inclined to think that social media didn’t necessarily impact blogs negatively, if anything they spotlight and remind people of posts without committing the mortal sin of being provocative. (ha!) In any case, your previous contributions -regardless of their longevity- were fantastic and brought page views, comments and a welcome measure of diversity to the site. The ‘Getting Over the Beatles” series was a massive achievement by any barometer of measurement. And your very long association with the site speaks for itself. You have pretty much perfected the art of the ‘comment’ bringing a full measure of fruition to what Tony rightly contends is really the heart and soul of any blog. Without comments and interaction you have nothing but an unaddressed archive – page views may established it is being monitored, but by no means does it insure it is even being read. Wonders in the Dark to be sure is not what it was three and four years ago, but it remains incredibly resilient, and as this glorious thread attests to, many continue to stroll through these hallowed halls, regarding the place as a treasure trove for the arts, and a hotbed for passions. We’ve had our contentiousness, but in retrospect that is what brings the color and deep rooted opinions, which at the end of the day mean more than blind agreement. Your continuing presence has been invaluable my friend!
Twitter and Facebook are overrated as traffic generators. Actual click-through rates are abysmally low. Liking something on Facebook does not mean engagement, and Twitter is ephemeral. Facebook wants to build a closed system where all content is within their ecosphere. You will get more interest from just posting images – no need to think. Instagram and Pinterest are the next wave. Blogs can’t survive long term without hooking into these channels.
Only 5% of blogs survive longer than a few months, and how many of those host meaningful discussion forums? A microcosim.
In this context the achievement of WitD is big, and as Sam alludes to in his post, it is principally the readership that defines this success. You can post great content but if you don’t engage with your readers and build a sense of community, you may as well go the way of Saul Bellows’ Herzog writing amazing letters to nobody. Unless writers acknowledge they can learn from their audience, they might as well close-up shop.
Yes, all true here.
Especially the last paragraph; and one I see as almost common sense (but since it’s so routinely not followed around the internet, I can’t assume it is!) and it seems in the age of the internet it’s even more true in all forms not just blogging. In any art form open engagement is key, and makes the often authoritative delivery of this place (and its comment section) seem much more approachable and welcoming.
This wasn’t always true in the arts; there was a closed off presentation before and the democratization that the internet has afforded leads to an overall humanizing of creator, audience AND (probably most importantly) delivery system.
I happen to feel like you that much social media is overrated (I just read that direct mail pieces—old print advertising that’s been ‘dead’ for about a decade—on average gets 6 replies to every one that social media gets. 600%!) and often counter intuitive to the audience it’s speaking to or the product/communication it’s presenting. But, this is my argument to avoid it all together, but if you are going to engage with it (as, say, Sam does) it should be done to service you (not you service it). Sam’s long been the little engine that could here, tireless promoting and conversing around, and this is where his talent is. No way does this place see this milestone without that.
(now, if we could just get Allan off his duff and back in these threads…)
I do absolutely agree with Tony (and with Jamie is agrees) that the impact of Facebook numbers on blogs is overstated by way of the actual numbers. I am an active member of FB and often post the WitD links with brief lead-ins. The WP stats confirm that those who are clicking are a small group for the most part. There have been a few notable exceptions, but in large measure the traffic at the site is self-generated. How true what you say about most blogs lasting only a few months Tony! And I do love your example of Saul Bellow to make a point I have been preaching to my site associates for a very long time. Comments are the whole kitten kaboodle. Any notion otherwise is narcissistic and devoid of any appreciation of the sense of community. hence Tony when you say this:
Unless writers acknowledge they can learn from their audience, they might as well close-up shop.
…..you really say it all. Amen.
Thanks again my great friend!
Two remarkable accomplishments for a blog I have long considered a second home. Congratulations to Sam, Allan, Tony, Jamie, Jim Clark, Maurizio, Joel, Jaimie, Dennis, Jon and all the others who have given this place an unequaled prominence. The numbers and the duration do speak for themselves.
Peter, I could never thank you enough for all you have done. You really heightened the rhetoric and your taste is impeccable my friend. Many thanks!
Congratulation on this very impressive milestone. I don’t participate as much as I like but I certainly am an avid reader of the content on this blog and am always amazed at the high quality. Great stuff!
J.D., you have actually made many contributions here and for a very long time. As such you have been invaluable to us, contributing brilliant comments and many superlative essays. A charter member for sure my friend!
My first experience with the blog was during your 2013 Caldecott Contender series. Your work with that is unsurpassed – the best reviews in the children’s book community. Your 2014 was even more amazing, and the film reviews have gone above and beyond. Congratulations on these incredible milestones.
Celeste, I thank you many times over for your superlative insights and information in your comments for the Caldecott series, and bless the day I met you online here. Your appreciation has now extended to the film reviews as well. 🙂
Congratulations Sam! You have orchestrated greatness and this blog, and your stock company as per your title have managed wonders.
Thanks so much Tim! I like the reference to the “stock company” who have done so much to make this blog fly for these amazing seven years. Your own input has been a super addition my friend.
Congrats to my favorite film blog! Here’s to another 3,000!
Many thanks to you Karen! Your tuning in for a very long time has been deeply appreciated my friend.
Amazing words here from Richard Finch on Facebook earlier today in response to the link posted:
Congratulations Sammy and Allan. You have the best film blogsite going, all the more remarkable because it’s a collective endeavor that invites contributions from many sources and though well managed is not dominated by one personality–just by its consistent quality!
And Aaron West’s remarkable response to Richard (Richard and Aaron run the hugely popular Foreign Film Classics Forum, which is one FB venture that is successfully doing what it set out to do:
Agreed with Richard that you have the best blog site. Pretty much everything anyone could want in a film blog is there. Cheers, and I’m proud to have posted number 3,000.
Here is Pat Perry’s response to the FB link:
Somehow missed this when first posted, my congrats! A great achievement that represents a lot of dedication and quality work. Well done!
Here is John Greco’s response to the FB link:
Congrats and many more years to follow.