Uptown Update's Million Hits

CONGRATULATIONS to our good friends at Uptown Update ("UU"), a hot blog in Chicago's "most Chicago" neighborhood. Any day now, their web site's hit counter will hit 1,000,000 (that's "one million" for those of you in Rogers Park, which a really, really big number). Why, it's like 9.5 years of an alderman's salary! Or, like a thousand times a thousand! Bigger still, one million is like having a hundred $10,000 bills in your wallet! Or better yet, like having one hundred million pennies in your pocket! How cool would that be? Uptown Update is a team of talented troublemakers who keep the folks of Uptown both informed and entertained. Like many of us north side bloggers, Uptown Update often breaks stories that the Big Local Media either miss or come into late. "UU" is a gem and a resource, with clever graphics and sharp reporting, and great links to community events. They aren't shy about voicing their opinion about local politics, either. UU staff identities are Ultra Top Super Secret! Like Batman, in a way. A team of Batmen, actually, but they don't have utility belts or conspiratorial butlers. I know their secret identities, but I am sworn to secrecy. If I ever ratted them out, they could easily gang up on me and beat me senseless. Or, at least, that's what they hinted would happen. I prefer to think they were joking about beating me senseless, but I prefer not to risk it. Now, mind you, when the Uptown Update counter strikes "1,000,000" it won't mean that a million people have visited the site. It means that their web site has been clicked that many times, but very often by repeat offenders. I mean, visitors. But that's still a very good thing. In the world of advertising, repeat visitors are desirable, whether to a newspaper or a web site. Did somebody say "advertising?" Note to Uptown Update: Why the heck haven't you guys monetized that beautiful web site? Subscribe to Chicago News Bench