I'M NOT SO VAIN to think that this blog is so important that it could change the world. But, apparently, the Russians love my little contribution to the bubbling cauldron of babble online. On some days, Views From the Edge gets more views from Russia than any other country.
In the Big Picture, Views From the Edge barely registers a blip on the world of the Internet. Hardly anybody knows of its existence.
Originally conceived as a conversation starter with my far-flung family, especially the "next generation," the blog has evolved into something more. It is not true journalism, in the traditional sense, i.e.. objective, original content, verified. My one-man operation is too small to be able to encompass all that. Besides, in story selection and writing, my personal biases get reflected in its content (my style preference since I'm my own boss and I write the rules).
A lot of the international attention it might receive, (again, not verified) I believe, is due to the Filipino diaspora. The Philippines 'greatest export is its hard-working people and mainly due to economic and political reasons, Filipino workers in almost every field can be found around the world.
I imagine a steward on a cruise ship, a roughneck on an oil rig in the Middle EAst, a nurse in Great Britain, a maid in Hong Kong or a nanny in France, feeling lonely for home, might Google "Filipino" and somehow this blog would appear among the listings.
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| Information provided by Google's blogspot shows that Russia is more interested on Views From the Edge than Americans are. |
Russia is not known for hiring a lot of Filipinos. In 2013, the number of Filipinos in Russia numbered 4,335 according to statistics from the Commission of Filipinos Overseas. However it is estimated by the government body that there are about 8,000 Filipinos in Russia when illegal immigrants are taken into account. 93 percent of Filipinos in Russia are in Moscow.
Most of the Filipinos work as domestic help and over 90 percent of them live in the Moscow area.
For some reason, I'm getting a lot of hits originating from Russia. A hella lot. As far as I know, Russia is not one of the countries recruiting Filipinos to become part of their labor force.
I imagine a Russian computer, programmed to pick up certain words or phrases, stumbling on this blog to evaluate it for ... what? I don't know.
I know what you're thinking - I'm being hacked. I've alerted the folks at Google on that possibility several times but I've not received a response; not a single word. Hello? Is there anybody out there?
The biggest uptick of Russian interest was during last year's Democratic and Republican conventions. Does that tell you anything?
Even though Russian "views" of this blog improve my metrics, I wish I find out more why they are reading this blog when there are so many other sources of information about America and Asian/Americans than this one.
When I have more Russians than Americans reading my blog, that tells me something is amiss.
Google? Any answers? Bueller? Bueller?
In the meantime, to all my Russian readers out there:
Добро пожаловать в мой мир!
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