On Being Named A 'Must Read' Blog

A rather unexpected surprise arrived for this humble-but-lovable blog, from Michael Silence at the Knoxville News Sentinel this past week - he listed this blog among his favorites in his post of "If I Could Only Read Five Blogs."

Many thanks Michael, to include me among your choices.

And for new and regular readers here, I say hold on to your wits as I am gearing up for some very important posts in coming weeks and days dealing with some most important issues affecting every person in our state.

Also in the past week I have been contacted by several national groups who are organizers of something called "Influencer Marketing", a trendy buzz concept from traditional media marketing groups. One definition of the idea is mentioned here and says "In the context of Influencer Marketing, influence is less about argument and coercion to a particular point of view, and more about loose interactions between various parties in a community."

One of many aspects of the blogging and internet world I have discovered is that more than 'blog influencers' impact is the impact that readers have on local and national opinions.

Making info available is certainly valuable. How we use and share that information among our friends and peers is the true power, so people who read news and opinion remain the key to shaping debate on issues.

So my thanks to those who see value in this blog, and thanks for the work all of you do every day.