A few years back I wanted to create a salt water fishtank. I didnt know anything about how to do it. So I did what I always do and hit the web for some research. I soon found a great forum where people were talking and sharing all about their fishtanks. I decided that I would dive in and start my own thread to document my project. My first post spoke of my plan and what I had so far. I had a freshwater tank already with a single goldfish whose time had come. I made some kind of joke about how I was going to send him on the porcelain roller coaster.

The next morning I checked my post to see if anyone had viewed it. Not only had it been viewed but it had quite a few comments.

I was so excited.

As I read the comments, there was no help offered, no comments about my plan, no input. All of the comments were from people who wanted to tell me how evil I was to get rid of the goldfish this way. As I tried to justify my point, it just got worse and eventually the moderator took the thread offline because it was too 'heated'. Imagine that a fish post ... heated.

My point in this story is that I have been following the #wa tag on Twitter with so much excitement. Almost daily I see many links and tips and great advice on Web Analytics. Just recently there have been a few posts speaking of how frustrating it is to help people and doing so is creating a generation of laziness.

I couldn't disagree more. If these guys only knew how much they have helped me as I sit on the sidelines and read their Tweets and blog posts etc. I wonder if they would say the same thing.

I believe that there are no such things as dumb questions. Twitter is a great tool because it is what you will it to be.

Thank you to those of you who have suggested and created the #wa tag. I will continue to use it as a great reference. I just wanted to make a post to my lonely blog because I felt I needed more than 140 characters.

I have been thinking a lot lately about Web Analytics. Not only because it is my job but because it is so fascinating. The internet is exploding exponentially every day and humans are finding more and more ways to absorb information on the web. Someone is going to have to record this part of history and translate it for the masses. People who are involved with web analytics will have a front row seat to watch this story unfold. The ever changing landscape of human behavior and business needs on the web make this a challenging and rewarding task.

It used to be that you would always begin with a search engine. My favorite of long ago was AltaVista. There were many irrelevant results and a lot of noise. Later came Google with its simplicity and logic to understand complex queries as complicated as a long and punctuated question. The web was a place to hunt for information, a place to harvest. I believe that the web has now become and will continue to be exactly the opposite: a farm; a garden of information, resources and tools planted and nurtured by communities of users who not only take but give as well.

A normal 'surf session' for me begins at one of the most popular social networking sites Twitter where I can see what people who I find interesting, are doing, what they kind of information they are harvesting, or what they are thinking about. Basically, micro insights into their experiences 140 characters at a time. Then it’s off to an RSS aggregator. I use Google Reader (I just like the way Google smells). RSS feeds are a step up from the Twitter micro posts. They give you a great way to have the goods delivered to your browser where you can quickly skim the cream and dump the irrelevant or save it for later. Both of these networks are created by me and consist only of content that I have requested from the web population. I am in control of what I get and use it at my convenience. There is no way I could possibly keep tabs on 48 blogs and other feeds one at a time. Avinash Kaushik (a recently discovered mentor of mine) said: “If you don’t have a blog you are committing a crime against humanity.” Avinash is known for his candid humor but that statement keeps running across my mind. I have been given so much with my access to and knowledge of the web. I feel obligated to give back. At this point I may have nothing more to offer but regurgitation and some lessons learned. I appreciate all of those who have put your inhibitions aside and shared about your experiences and knowledge and created discussions for the rest of us.

Now I intend to do the same.