It’s been a big week for Kevin Shalin, author of The Mighty Rib food blog. His 5-word post dismissing supper from the national lexicon in favor dinner has sparked more than 40,000 comments and at least three articles. When I texted him on Monday the post had 20,000 comments and Shalin told me that it had become an uncontrollable force. When I checked back in Thursday it was just shy of 40,000 comments.
“I honestly thought this would be one of my typical threads,” he said. “Some back and forth, then on to the next thing.”
He said around day four or five is when he started noticing the post really started getting out of control.
“Generally speaking, anything over 1,000 comments really starts to get my attention. That’s about when the shares started escalating, followed by the comments coming from folks outside of Arkansas. That’s when I knew we were dealing with something a little different.”
Within hours of posting a story yesterday morning on the Eat Arkansas blog, Buzzfeed became a part of the dialogue.
And Shalin contacted me today after getting off the phone with a reporter from The Today Show. It posted tonight and is one of the top featured stories on the website right now.
I asked Shalin if he’s surprised that after 12 years of blogging, this 5-word post is the one that blew up.
“Nothing surprises me anymore,” he said. “And I mean that. I never for a moment thought this would rise to the level it has. But you never know with the internet. Certain ideas and words connect with folks and things can get crazy in a big damn hurry.”
The post now has 48,000 thousand comments and surely after The Today Show piece it will continue to grow. Other outlets will likely reach out to Shalin, even though it sounds like he’s ready to move along.
“In the end, it’s been a lot of fun and a little national exposure is nice, but I’m ready to get back to focusing on what the blog is truly about, covering and highlighting the food community in Little Rock and Central Arkansas,” he said.