Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Raising the roof, again

It's one of those semi-rare events, when the Blogger stats break another level.  For months on end the graphic box stays the same, and then signs loom of a coming change of ceiling.  For a few weeks I wonder 'will it, or won't it'.

Well, the bubble was set to burst, with less than a day's pageviews before the ceiling would pop up, and I couldn't just let it go unnoticed.  Without a pic, it just didn't happen.

Stats-guy, with his latest stick-figure exploit, helps to provide context.

He started his trek way back in January 2012.
He reappeared back at the end of March 2012 and we didn't see him again until...
... we caught up with him two years later, again in March, earlier this year.
And now here he is again, helping to raise the roof once more.
I need to take some drawing lessons from fellow blogger Stephanie Yue, because this little game of mine is only barely workable now. Stats-guy keeps shrinking.  Next time he shows up, he'll be a fly speck.

8 comments:

RichardM said...

You'll need to dye your hair if you want to draw like a superhero...

Unknown said...

David:

at least you're not slipping down the mountain. I'm like that guy 3 up, hanging onto the tight-rope

bob: riding the wet coast

The City Mouse in the Country said...

I am still in the foothills. Or is that a mole hill? :)

David Masse said...

Bob, you are the guru on the mountaintop.

Psychically you may be rappelling down a gulch or shimmying along a rope, but it's all cerebral, I'm sure.

David Masse said...

You're in good company Rob. As long as Trobairitz is paying attention that's all anyone really needs. She can rally the troops at a moment's notice, should the need arise.

Canajun said...

Guess it's time to check out my stats as well. But I don't think my stick guy will have had such a strenuous climb - more like a stroll in the park, or a good walk spoiled on the golf course. :)

David Masse said...

Foiled by Blogger on my own blog :( It blitzed a nice thoughtful response into the ether.

I'll try again, but as Bob remarked, the second time around is rarely as good.

My fascination with the stats is really my fascination with the internet and how it works.

I remember when it started for me. I was on the commuter train headed home and reading the New York Times when I read an article about the World Wide Web and how it was destined to replace Archie, Veronica and Gopher. I thought the world was going mad. If it hadn't been the New York Times I would have thought it was all a bad joke.

The internet is like this huge huge beast that doesn't even know you're present. You're like a tiny tick on the ankle of a massive elephant, only much, much more insignificant. And yet it's possible to adopt a blogging strategy that will result in more pageviews.

Nothing drives pageviiews like a fresh post. But you can also mine pageviews from old posts. All you need to do is to make them accessible.

I have some posts that have generated close to a thousand pageviews a piece, and they continue to attract views. There is one post that's north of 3K pageviews.

So I watch the stats in the same way that a scientist might try to determine the physiology of an animal by examining a single hair. Call it obsessive (and it may be) but I find it to be a continuing source of wonder.

But it's not like I'm trolling for dollars with AdSense or anything. As many pageviews as I have any given month, as near as I can tell, the most it could be worth is maybe $15 a month. Definitely not worth the hassle.

So that in a nutshell is why I'm like a cat tracking a stupid laser pointer when it comes to stats.

David Masse said...

Oh right, Blogger ate this comment too.

The fact is I am not much of an artist. Stephanie is amazing because she does self-portrait cartoons that convey so much about her and her adventures. With the cartoons she is able to explore points of view no camera could capture without a film crew or a drone. I'm not jealous, just a little envious.

The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.