My comments about Africa did not mean to say that you *should* have said something about Africa, but rather that *without* saying something about Africa, your blog still ranked very highly to people in Africa who were searching for Ellen Degeneres. This is part of my ongoing project — which is also the project of search engine optimizers and other interested parties — to “black box” or guess how search engines work. Their real workings are jealously guarded by search engine companies, so it is hard for everyday citizens to know for sure. I think the fact that this information is hidden from people makes it hard for us to understand where we are, and how to accomplish what we want, on the Internet.

Hence my concern that people who really seem to be looking to *speak* to Ellen are being given web search results which don’t really help that goal: Your page is interesting information about Ellen, but, I assume, cannot give people direct contact. I am left wondering whether they know they are not in contact, but write as if they are anyway — a kind of writing which feels like a kind of prayer.

And of course people all over the world have the right to be fans of Ellen! I was pleased to see she has fans in Africa — I did not know her show aired there. This is an interesting piece of information for me, as I am always interested to know what kinds of media people all over the world are being exposed to. It helps me understand what is helping shape people’s worldview.

reallyme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Knock_First