Previous scorecard: Keeping Score on my Visibility — January 2026
I keep this monthly record for one reason: momentum is easier to trust when you can measure it. I don’t want “I feel like I’m improving” to be the whole story. I want receipts—followers, subscribers, visitors, time on page—plus the real-world context of what I actually did (or didn’t do) to earn them.
The headline
In the last month I published 41 blog posts, which I estimate translates to roughly 140–165 book pages, and about 3–3.5 hours of reading if someone sat down and read the whole run in one go at ~255 words per minute.
That’s an output rate I’m proud of—because it’s not random output. It’s the engine. These posts are the raw material for the YouTube videos I’ll record in the coming months.
February 2026 scorecard
Date: February 7, 2026
| Platform | Nov 9, 2025 | Jan 7, 2026 | Feb 7, 2026 | Change (since Jan 7) | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky Followers | 1,462 | 1,571 | 1,620 | +49 | +3.1% |
| Facebook Friends | 247 | 262 | 255 | -7 | -2.7% |
| Instagram Followers | 77 | 79 | 82 | +3 | +3.8% |
| Threads Followers | 58 | 77 | 82 | +5 | +6.5% |
| YouTube Subscribers | 14 | 14 | 17 | +3 | +21.4% |
| Website (last 28 days) | 0 | 164 unique visitors | 192 unique visitors | +28 | +17.1% |
| Website time on page | 0 | 7m 04s | 5m 05s | -1m 59s | -28.1% |
Context that matters
Why Facebook went down
Facebook friends dropped because I deliberately purged people I no longer want in my orbit. I’m not chasing a number at the expense of my standards. If anything, this is a reminder that “visibility” isn’t just reach—it’s who I’m reachable by.
Why YouTube stayed quiet
I ignored YouTube in January on purpose.
I wanted my voice to come out through writing first, and I wanted to build a stronger foundation by working through Ansel Adams’ trilogy—The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. I’m currently on Chapter Two of The Print. The plan wasn’t “pause.” It was “re-tool.”
Writing is where I’m sharpening the blade.
Toronto winter forced a pivot—and I used it
The cold snap in Toronto kept me indoors. I only got out for two outdoor photography sessions, but I countered that with 19 home studio sessions—almost all focused on the self-portrait project and learning one-light portraiture.
This wasn’t a detour. It was training.
Here are the posts that mark that pivot and what it’s teaching me:
- From Self-Portraits to Real Portraits
- Learning Empathy Through Self-Portraits
- Winter Can’t Stop the Work — Using Self-Portraits to Learn Portrait Photography
- Selfies vs Self-Portraits: What’s the Real Difference?
- The Home Studio Isn’t a Detour — It’s the 28mm Discipline Indoors
- Chiaroscuro Portraiture — Why I’m Letting the Dark Do More of the Work
- 3-Flash Home Self-Portrait Setup — Experimenting With Personal Expression
And I’m still feeding the “why” behind the work through influences and study notes, like:
What the numbers are actually telling me
The website is growing and earning attention
192 unique visitors in the last 28 days is up 17% from January.
That’s not viral. That’s real. It means the archive is starting to behave like an engine: posts are stacking, internal links are doing their job, and the site is slowly turning into the home base I keep talking about.
Time on page dropped, and that isn’t automatically bad
Time on page fell from 7:04 → 5:05.
That could mean a few things:
- People are skimming more (normal as traffic increases)
- Posts are getting tighter and more readable (a win)
- Visitors are landing on “utility posts” and leaving once they get what they need (also fine)
It’s a flag, not a failure. The next month’s job is to improve pathways: internal links, “read next” prompts, and series navigation so readers don’t stop at one post.
Social growth is steady because writing is doing the work
Bluesky continues to be the strongest social platform for me. The growth isn’t explosive, but it’s consistent, and consistency is what compounds.
The plan for February into March
- Keep the writing cadence, but start clustering posts into mini-series so the site feels like chapters, not a feed.
- Turn the best-performing posts into YouTube scripts (one post becomes one video outline, then batch-record).
- Use the self-portrait work as a bridge into photographing real people—same lighting logic, same discipline, higher stakes.
- Strengthen internal linking so every new post points to:
- one foundational “start here” style post
- one related post in the same theme
- one project page or long-term goal post
Closing thought
This month proved something important: winter can slow my feet, but it doesn’t have to slow my work.
Two outdoor sessions. Nineteen studio sessions. Forty-one posts. A stronger voice. A thicker foundation.
Visibility isn’t a miracle. It’s output, directed.
And I’m happy with the direction.