The Final Problem

Anonymous asked: You mentioned that your tumblr is now the first result when you search for information on the rubber ball pulse stopping trick, and an anon called you "the authority of all things Reichenbach." I kind of stopped searching for other theories when I found your tumblr, so I have no gauge of your popularity within the fandom, but do you have any idea how popular your blog is? Do you know how many hits you get? (Is it anywhere near 1895 in 8 hours?)

The Google thing is just their algorithm being a pain. It’s floating my blog near the top of some of the combinations of query words relating to that topic because I use those words a lot and people link back to me. But that’s not any kind of big deal (at all), and is actually rather annoying considering I want to be able to really use those search terms.

And I’m sure that Anon was just giving me a compliment, which is kind. But really it makes me uncomfortable to be thought of as the anything. I like my theories and stand by them, but I think it’s healthier for a fandom to listen to lots of voices and opinions. If you’ve stopped looking for other people’s theories, you could always check out the list of Sherlock theory blogs I posted the other day. Maybe you’ll find some different ideas you like. Or ideas you don’t like—sometimes you can figure more out by considering things you end up disagreeing with.

I don’t quite know how to translate the concept of “hits” for Tumblr… I do have over 1895 followers right now. I had less than 1895 yesterday morning. (That’s Tumblr for you.) I don’t track the RSS feed or keep any kind of hit counter.

I have no gauge of my popularity within fandom, either. I’m sure it’s not much—I haven’t been here long. But that’s another thing that I don’t think it’s healthy to get very focused on. I won’t come up with better theories or sillier Photoshops just because there are more people watching me, so who cares? I started this blog to talk to myself, so as much as I like having everyone here I’m already achieving my original goal by posting anything that suits me.