In case you were wondering, yes, I am the bomb
Hey hey, everybody!
Alexa.com tracks the traffic on nearly all websites out there on the Internets. Feeling curious recently, I checked out how my former employers at Whyville.net are doing these days. Despite the impression they give on their site -- what with the big-name sponsorships, ads, and so forth -- I was rather surprised to find that, well, they're not doing too well, at least not in terms of traffic totals.
Go to http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/whyville.net . Click "Max" and then click through "Reach," which peaked in late 2004; "Rank," which peaked in late 2003; and "Page Views," which peaked in early 2002.
What does that time frame have in common?
Me.
a.k.a. Bigfoot, The Original Times Editor. OTE, dawg!!
Hot damn. These numbers are an uppercut punch along with my resume's already daunting cross and jab.
But there's a knockout blow remaining! Click "3y" and note how all three stats dropped off DRAMATICALLY in the last quarter of 2005. Some sort of exodus occurred at this time that cut Whyville's "Reach" (i.e. active users), "Page Views," and "Rank" (a calculation based on the first two) by more than half. What could have caused it??
Well, school started -- Whyville's numbers are always depressed in September. But they usually bounce back by October... but they didn't in 2005, nor have they gotten above that halfway mark since then.
There was a particularly nasty "WhyPox" virtual virus that hit the town that summer, followed by a "nutrition" game, both of which badly mangled most user's pride and joy, their virtual faces. But both the virus and the game were reined in within a matter of months.
So what happened in the summer and fall of 2005 that was never really rectified? I'll tell you what: I "retired" as the beloved City Worker Bigfoot AND the Whyville Times Editor in July 2005. My replacement in August 2005 never seemed to catch on with the more devoted citizens, especially the veterans.
Yes, there is an increase *following* my departure, but as I recall from my Chinese history class -- taught by a specialist in tracking real-world populations -- changes in population either follow dramatic events (such as a drout or a government coup) or, occasionally, lead them (such as economic collapse due to lack of citizen).
Whyville, cut in half. These are stunning numbers. I can't claim to have caused all of it -- like I said, September's numbers are inevitably depressed by the start of school, and that WhyPox and nutrition game really did a number on the kids' "faces," but the fact that the numbers never bounced back... well, I take that as a major indicator of my value to the site, especially in light of Whyville's addition of a professional marketing director, real-life "street teams," the Whyville Magazine, and other promotional efforts they've made over the past three years.
I knew I made an impact on a lot of Whyvillians. I just didn't realize how many.
Cool.
Alexa.com tracks the traffic on nearly all websites out there on the Internets. Feeling curious recently, I checked out how my former employers at Whyville.net are doing these days. Despite the impression they give on their site -- what with the big-name sponsorships, ads, and so forth -- I was rather surprised to find that, well, they're not doing too well, at least not in terms of traffic totals.
Go to http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/whyville.net . Click "Max" and then click through "Reach," which peaked in late 2004; "Rank," which peaked in late 2003; and "Page Views," which peaked in early 2002.
What does that time frame have in common?
Me.
a.k.a. Bigfoot, The Original Times Editor. OTE, dawg!!
Hot damn. These numbers are an uppercut punch along with my resume's already daunting cross and jab.
But there's a knockout blow remaining! Click "3y" and note how all three stats dropped off DRAMATICALLY in the last quarter of 2005. Some sort of exodus occurred at this time that cut Whyville's "Reach" (i.e. active users), "Page Views," and "Rank" (a calculation based on the first two) by more than half. What could have caused it??
Well, school started -- Whyville's numbers are always depressed in September. But they usually bounce back by October... but they didn't in 2005, nor have they gotten above that halfway mark since then.
There was a particularly nasty "WhyPox" virtual virus that hit the town that summer, followed by a "nutrition" game, both of which badly mangled most user's pride and joy, their virtual faces. But both the virus and the game were reined in within a matter of months.
So what happened in the summer and fall of 2005 that was never really rectified? I'll tell you what: I "retired" as the beloved City Worker Bigfoot AND the Whyville Times Editor in July 2005. My replacement in August 2005 never seemed to catch on with the more devoted citizens, especially the veterans.
Yes, there is an increase *following* my departure, but as I recall from my Chinese history class -- taught by a specialist in tracking real-world populations -- changes in population either follow dramatic events (such as a drout or a government coup) or, occasionally, lead them (such as economic collapse due to lack of citizen).
Whyville, cut in half. These are stunning numbers. I can't claim to have caused all of it -- like I said, September's numbers are inevitably depressed by the start of school, and that WhyPox and nutrition game really did a number on the kids' "faces," but the fact that the numbers never bounced back... well, I take that as a major indicator of my value to the site, especially in light of Whyville's addition of a professional marketing director, real-life "street teams," the Whyville Magazine, and other promotional efforts they've made over the past three years.
I knew I made an impact on a lot of Whyvillians. I just didn't realize how many.
Cool.