The Spearhead has been up and running for a week now, and things are looking good. Traffic is steadily rising – we may even hit half a million page views in our first month of operation – and we are picking up new subscribers every day. Thanks to our writers, we are starting conversations and inspiring thought about what it means to be a man in America today.
Pleasant surprises include Ferdinand Bardamu’s excellent reviews and zed’s social commentary from a “been there” perspective. I’d also like to thank editors Novaseeker and Prime for helping out behind the scenes, Whiskey for bringing his unique analysis of popular entertainment, Hawaiian Libertarian for his essay on history and the politics of suffrage, and Elusive Wapiti for bringing his solid sense of masculinity to the table.
Additionally, we have a number of new contributors who will soon bring their content to The Spearhead, adding even more depth to our lineup and helping our publication become a flowing spring of fresh perspective.
Because one week isn’t very long, there’s still a fair amount of polishing to be done, and some decisions about layout still need to be made, but the structure of The Spearhead is solid, and under the hood all is running nice and smooth. We have a nice little baby here, and we hope it will grow up to be big and strong.
When it comes down to it, this publication is a vehicle for culture, intended to have an impact beyond even its readers. Its influence will inspire ideas, conversation and actions, both big and small. In fact, we will never see the majority of its effects. Just as most people who read our articles do so silently, without commenting, many people will silently make decisions in their own lives, at their workplaces or in their relationships based in part on what they read here. That is what is both exciting and sobering about publishing — it is a big responsibility. Nevertheless, part of that responsibility includes getting the word out there if you have, or have found, a good idea or a better way to go about the business of living.
So I encourage everyone involved in The Spearhead, including readers, to spread the word and participate in the cultural movement that brought our publication into existence. These are exciting times, full of potential for change, and we intend to be at the forefront, leading the charge.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for making the effort to start this blog. I am enjoying it.
Here is a link for some food for thought….
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200812/how-be-happy
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It’s been a great first week. Let’s keep up the good work, folks.
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Strong start.
Not a complaint but it would be nice to have the newest full posts on the home page for easier reading (so you don’t have to keep clicking around).
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I’ve been thinking about that. There’s a feature box I’ve installed, but I haven’t implemented it yet because I’m not sure how it will affect the layout (I need to quit procrastinating and fire up MAMP so I can take a look on localhost). One reason I’m keeping the excerpts for now is that I’m trying to give people more choices at first glance. This is definitely still a work in progress.
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Another suggestion: a preview button for posts. Not a big deal, but I’m one of those people who rarely puts thoughts down well the first time and it’s easier to rework a comment when I can see the whole thing in finished form. Perhaps there are others like me.
FWIW, I enjoy being able to see lead-ins to many articles on the opening page. That makes it easier to follow the action when I can only check in sporadically. I can certainly see the plus to a full-length feature all on the front page though.
Very good start so far, great to see an idea that had been kicked around take form so well.
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It is interesting to know how popular site like this are. Half a million page view in a month sounds like a lot. For sure many will be multiple visits from the same person. I myself visit every day and read several pages. But that said half a million is a lot.
So far I can give you mine own evaluation and that is the quality of the ideas and articles is very high. I have to be honest and say that most of the MRA sites I visit in the end rather more alienate me than inspire me. This site both inspires me and give me food for thought. Other site just seem to want to bludgeon me and have too much egocentricity in them.
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Yes, a lot of the page views are from people who have already visited, and many of those are also writers. What’s really most important is getting lots of subscribers and starting to show up consistently in searches. That will take longer, but if we have consistent and good content it will happen.
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There are some interesting things written on here, but I really cannot take too seriously a magazine that is made up entirely of anonymous writers and posters. If you are the real men you claim to be, show yourselves, unless you fear the public exposure. Hiding behind internet masks is somewhat less than manly.
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So were George Orwell and Mark Twain not “manly” because they used pen names?
Enough of the shaming — nobody buys that garbage anymore.
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Luke, what’s your name? Glass houses, etc….
Although, Welmer, better examples are the Brontë sisters publishing as Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell — no? I don’t remember offhand why Eric Blair and Samuel Clemens wrote as Orwell and Twain, but I don’t think it was to conceal something about themselves.
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Half a million page visits a month is pretty impressive. At that rate, you’ll have equaled the same traffic in a few months that the Eternal Bachelor got in its entire life. Shows how much the MR sector has grown in just 2 years.
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Actually, Orwell did have some motive for concealing his true name — especially during the Spanish Civil War. But perhaps a better example would be the many pseudonyms employed by Ben Franklin.
One thing I have noticed is that a lot of guys are truly worried about what effect exposure might have on their jobs. I don’t think this fear is overblown — political correctness is real and enforced. This being the case, I don’t intend to pressure anyone into revealing their birth names if they don’t want to.
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Hey Welmer — just a tip: blogger Robert Lindsay often has some good posts about about male rights and the pitfalls of feminism.
Lindsay’s blog isn’t a men’s rights blog exclusively, but every now and then he’ll write something that is at least funny and entertaining, and often quite informative too. Here is a recent example: http://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/the-cunts-versus-the-men/
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There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to fiddle and fuss around about what one-half million hits “really means.” In the world of the Internet, 500,000 views/month is kickass. 15,000 hits/day. It’s very, very good. There’s nothing shabby about it at all. It doesn’t matter how many are “return viewers” or “authors” (how many authors could there be anyway?). I got 165,000 views last month, and I thought I was doing great. You’re getting three times as much. You could probably even sell ads with this kind of traffic.
It’s simply an extremely impressive showing, especially for an MRA site. It makes this a contender for the biggest MRA site around.
Kudos!
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