What is a Subscriber via Feedburner?

The content below the asterisks (* * *) was first published in January 2015.  It was not written with the intent to be misleading or to misinform.  It was just my understanding and my experience. 

UPDATE:  It's 2020 and I have continued using this fabulous Feedburner tool!  It serves many purposes and has proven to an invaluable tool in my Webmasters Tool Kit.  Lately, I discovered that there is a way to view the "Subscribers".  Actual eMails of subscribers who signed up to receive updates.  So!  Everything that I said in this post (below) ... I TAKE IT ALL BACK!! I can not tell you how gratifying it is to see a valid eMail address and to know that my updates are being distributed.  YAY!!  Woo Hoo!!!  If you have not been using the Feedburner tool to gain subscribers for your blog, then the question is:  WHY NOT?

* * *
What is a Subscriber?  The question is rhetorical.  Everybody knows a subscriber is someone who subscribes to sumthin!

Do you use the Google FeedBurner tool to burn feeds for your blog or blogs? There are several ways to get people to subscribe to your blog feed.

Do you see the little chicklet with the heart?

This little chicklet is just one of the ways.  

I'm okay with the chicklet and I really really love the Feedburner. But I noticed something interesting about My Feeds almost right from the very start. The Subscriber count. Yeah. (???) The number looks questionable? ... UM?  unreasonable? ... mysterious? I'm going to settle on the word squirrelly. Even though my spellchecker indicates that it's not a word.  

The numbers don't seem to make sense! So I'm thinking, they must be some sort of secret code and I've always had my theory about Rocky and Bullwinkle. So that's why I decided squirrelly was the best way to describe my subscriber count. Anyway I found the answer to my puzzle, as to why the numbers look undecipherable.

• This is the Google Support Team's explanation to: What is a Subscriber? How does FeedBurner tally them?

I am so glad that I read the response, because it clarifies everything!!   I love the Feedburner tool.  It is a valuable helpful tool and I will continue to use it until Google tells me it's no longer free OR for whatever reason OR for no reason at all, I just won't be allowed to use it.  It's theirs.  They own it.  They can tell me to take a hike!  

But I don't think I'm going to rely on the number of subscribers who supposedly hold their breath and wake up each morning checking their eMail messages or waiting to receive notifications that I've published another blog post!!

WHY?  Because based on the response I read, my non-geek reaction is: 

Oh!  That's why the number looks so funky?
IT'S BOGUS??  (O.o)

Who cares?  Love that feedburner!  
Alternative are available.  But it serves my purposes!

 

 

Related articles

• Blogger Buzz: Expanding your audience with Google+: Kelly Saks' story (Reblog)
• Lifestyle Blogs: The Art of Manliness Great...
• Is it Time to Burn Feedburner? There are Alternatives