Thursday, December 14, 2006

Happy Monthiversary!

Well, Blue Monster made it one month as of today! Woo-hoo! or woo-hooo... depending on your perspective. So, it's time to assess the state of the beast. I was going to poll you, the readers, to see if you like it and if I should keep going, but I've gathered enough statistics on my own at this point to realize that the BM is wildly popular and that there would undoubtedly be a massive public outcry if I were to cease publication.

Here's a few little stats that will likely be of no interest to you whatsoever:

  • Profile views: 481
  • Posts: 37
  • Comments: 178
  • Most commented post: The Status of Status Tags
  • Percentage of Posts Containing Sophomoric Humor: 73%
  • Percentage of Posts Modified after Initial Posting Due to Typos: 100%
About two weeks into the enterprise, Brad Wright hipped me to Google Analytics, which is a page hit tracker that is more sophisticated than any blogger could actually need, but as a result is incredibly addictive. And because it is there, it must be shared (isn't that the motto of blogging in the first place?). In the two weeks I have been running it, my blog has experienced 2,385 hits and 1,024 visits. I've had 351 absolutely unique visitors (not sure how they determine this). 96% of my hits are coming from the U.S., but I like to think I'm global. Check out this map:


Finally, the data are a lesson in the power of networking with influential friends. I display the hits and visits over time below. On Thursday Dec. 7 (although somehow the date on the post later changed to Friday?), Jeremy Freese, blogger extraodinaire, recommended my blog in one of his posts! You can see the obvious surge in interest. Every academic yearns to have something named after her or him, and thus in appreciation of the increased traffic, I shall dub this phenomenon the Freese effect (Be sure to cite Myers 2006 when you mention this effect in the future).


Unfortunately, the new visitors then ran headlong into my content (Knock-knock jokes, Bob Gates, and my Grinch tie), which apparently turned them off and they haven't returned since! The lesson: fame by association can give you an opportunity, but if you can't prove yourself, it will be fleeting (see Kelly Osbourne, or Nelson if you're more in the power ballads mood, for more information).

13 comments:

Sara said...

I started reading when Jeremy mentioned you, and I haven't gotten scared off yet!

yan said...

happy 1/12th anniversary! (i used 'anniversary' in a prophetic sense!)

wise to not poll your readers. i've noticed that among your former students (that i know of), tiffany and i are the only loyal readers/commenters, which, curiously speaks well of micah's intuition to call us both "tiffany" when he was 5 -- we have similarities beyond our asian looks!

tiffany said...

Each day when I arrive at work, after I check my work email, I check my personal email and think to myself, Should I check Dan's blog now or should I save it for later? Please continue with the blog and keep it up the good work!

Micah got me and Yan confused? Did I hear this story? Do Yan and I know each other?

Yes, yes, keep up with the blogging! I'm impressed you've been doing it daily. I do look forward to the read.

Jeremy said...

I am pleased to have brought people to your blog! And, not only is it your month anniversary, but you are also over my informal over/under of 35 posts for any new individual blog.

yan said...

ttifany,
you do know me -- but under the name 'elaine' which i used in my past life at ND (i was Dan's graduate RA and TA for a while). once at a dinner, i was playing with the kids under the table (yes; i think we divided the under-table space into different rooms and they each had their own color), and micah kept calling me tiffany. later he said we had the same hair color, etc. :)

Elizabeth said...

Yan and Tiffany are not the only loyal former-student readers. Some of us just don't comment as often. :)

yan said...

oops, i really meant commenters rather than readers... but hey, i did make one of you contribute to the comments... :)

brewright said...

In celebration of your 1st month, Three signs that Dan was (is) a rock star:
1) Shows pictures of rear end on blog (something rock stars do on album covers)
2) Said pictures are well received (which would not happen to many of us)
3) Uses the word "hip" as a verb.

Anonymous said...

It's a remarkably versatile word: He hiply hipped me to some hip hips.

Dan Myers said...

Thanks all! We'll see how you feel after another month of this stuff--if I can even locate any of you at that point!

Simpleton said...

But in fact you should be citing Flynn 2005. See here.

Dan Myers said...

Caught in another of a long string of acts of plagiarism....

<a href="http://m2.aol.com/itykil/index.html">Anonymous</a> said...

Do you can write anything else about it? Great article!