Last night I started, but never finished, a post about the reaction button numbers being lowered. I have seen this countless times especially on popular posts. One example is this past FFF. I know many enjoy it from the comments section and the PM's I get in email.
When I got up this morning and sat down to surf I checked to see if anything changed.
Well, lo and behold, I was right. Last night I screen shot the reaction buttons. Top one is yesterday, bottom one is this morning. You can compare with your eyes:
Now:
According to blogger these are the stats:
Interesting? According to stats that one post has almost 6000 hits. Sure there are bots and crawlers and who knows what else tracking all of us, but the numbers from reaction buttons don't match what I encounter first hand.
Really?? only 22.. oops I mean 17 of the thousands liked that post? Even if many of you choose not to click the reaction 17 is .2% of viewership. 1% would be 60 likes.
Look, I do this to stay connected and as a hobby. I don't do this for the fame and cash and strippers and late night underground parties drug soaked with booze and loose woman. The invites to swanky hollywood parties to hobnob with the elite and make backroom deals and fuck over John Q Puplic. If I wanted to do that I would be a politician.
I do it for fun.
I do it share something that is funny, cringe worthy, newsworthy, tinfoil hat worthy or titillating.
What get's me though is the fact that for some reason, someone or something, is changing the numbers. If I do a poll there are WAY more hits on the answers to my stupid questions.
If "they" are worried about a bunch of people liking a post on my little site then what other numbers would "they" really be determined to "adjust"?
Here's more data. From statcounter last night it maxed out my allotted data collection for downloads from FFF. A lot of people enjoy the various images.
Look at the hits for downloading images. Here's a quick video of my desktop:
That's 200 downloads in four hours. Is that all automated? I opened a few to show you the various images. I'm glad that people found them worth downloading like I did when I created the post to share them.
Here's the daily stats from statcounter:
I guess my point is the fact that The Feral Irishman gets thousands of hits. The most popular posts are usually Friday Femme Fatale, I know shocking huh? With all the information I see in my stats, I find it quite odd that only 22... oops 17 people chose to hit like the like button.
Humor me if you will. Only answer if you DID stop by on Friday for the Friday Femme Fatale post.
Thanks for playing, here's your free coffee!
Unknown and Papa Bear thanks for the comments. True, some of the surfers are on mobile devices that don't show the reactions. I didn't think of that. Thanks. BUT you're missing the desktop view of some fine images :) Also it doesn't explain the numbers going down.
Here is more data from blogger about devices:
There isn't a reaction button displayed on mobile phone.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I noted that in the update. It also doesn't explain how the numbers are deleted.
DeleteI think I know your problem. I was thinking, what reaction button? I mostly use my phone to surf the Internet. The only options at the bottom of the page is Share and Post Comments. If I tell it to open as a full webpage then the reaction box shows up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Papa Bear, you're missing out on the larger resolution! :)
DeleteDear brunette, my coffee cup is over here, thank you.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I'm one of the people who doesn't always check one of the boxes, but do appreciate your blogging, boobs or information. I did check the like box this time.
Thanks Grog, let's see what happens to that number later today.
DeleteDude,,,,yer my home page.I never comment.great blog links.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
DeleteTo paraphrase Bob Hope "Give me a cup of coffee and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the coffee"....he actually said that about golf....
ReplyDeleteBack in the good ol' days.
DeleteYeah, I wouldn't trust those numbers either. Odd, because there is little benefit to manipulate...
ReplyDeleteWhat about page counters? Remember back in the day they had a little cgi-script that would put an odometer-style counter on your page?
I understand, It was just an observation. I did have revolver at one point but it messed with the blog so I deleted it. This was just something that I noticed about the numbers always being lowered. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI pretty much stopped commenting on the internet, just read and drink coffee in the morning. But I truly enjoy your page. You, knuckledraggin, daily time waster, and bustednuckle are my morning wake up routine. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Don.
DeleteThanks Don!
DeleteOK Irish. I am really going to look stupid here. I have never noticed the "like" button in all of my visits.
ReplyDeleteI could cry and tell you how insensitive you are for exposing my flaw, and ask for a safe space. Or I could just say that I'm a moron and just clicked LIKE and MORE PLEASE for the first time.
More Please!
No worries Bob.
DeleteI have noticed this deletion of "likes", "more please", "what the hell", etc. for YEARS. If you find out WHY, I'm sure you will let us know.
ReplyDeleteYou know I will 😬
DeleteIt seems in the stats that people in Nevada and Utah don't seem to like your blog... That could explain your floating numbers. The left and sjw are manipulating important number and stats like beer virus, deaths, how many mexicans are actually here it doesn't surprise me they manipulate your humble blog numbers, damn commies.
ReplyDeleteTried to leave a comment, but the editor wasn't working.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know a reaction was required (thought you figured anybody clicks on FFF likes it) and assumed (y'know) they were part of the blog setup.
Anywho, I always leave a comment as I appreciate your work.
Thanks as always for stopping by edutcher. What I don’t understand is how the reactions get lowered. Like above. Last night 22. This morning 17. It was just something I found weird.
DeletePrograms can go bad, counters, especially, if there's a memory leak or something.
DeletePS Nice tush on the coffee.
I just lurk. My opinions don't mean shit, so I never comment.
ReplyDeleteI really like your site and read it a coupla times a day.
Thanks Irish.
Same here...and I visit once a day.
DeleteThanks Irish
I have noticed fuckery like this on my stats while using different platforms entirely. I have no clue why anyone would even bother with something that only means much of anything except to the blog owner.
ReplyDeleteI know we like to keep track of stats somewhat but I don't stress it anymore. It is what it is. I do know that for years now, I get the majority of my hits coming from here, Wirecutter and as of late, Daily Timewaster.
All of which I personally visit multiple times a day myself.
All I can say Irish is that I know you have a massive and loyal group of readers, no matter what the stats say. I'm one of them.
Does the hit reduction have anything to with how you are compensated for advertising or computing the worth of the blog? I know that some blog owners use advertising to defray the costs of running the blog. If you don't want to answer this it's OK. I'm just suggesting it as something else to look at as motivation for your hosting service to muck with your data.
ReplyDeleteNemo
Nemo. Hi. I don’t monetize the blog or use any advertising. I’ve been approached but I never looked in to it.
DeleteI apologize sir, for never clicking the "like" button. I've been visiting your blog for years (can't remember how many), so you could call me a regular. Possible reasons: content is too distracting; we're not paying attention; many comment tools force account creation to make a comment or like, and we're avoiding it cuz fakebook has trained us to; oh yeah, boobs.
ReplyDeleteFrom the survey you posted, the results show that 120 people said that they did hit the 'Like" button, the majority like me simply view it and in my case, forward the web address to several friends that appreciate the content of FFF.
ReplyDeleteSo, either about 100 people that completed the survey are lying OR the figures are being manipulated for reasons unknown.
I'd go with the second reason.
You are only paranoid if you THINK the whole world is against you but what if the whole world really IS against you? >};o)
Phil B
tried to post a comment earlier but it isn't showing now. They screwing with those too now?
ReplyDeleteBut great blog and bloglist is my main go to. All your content is great but friday just kicks ass. TY for your efforts, hope this one makes it through.
Like some others have said; I lurk here most every day, but never comment or hit the like button. Your blog is 3rd on my morning coffee read, behind wirecutter and woodsterman. Phil, I hit your site at work during lunch ;) Keep on keeping on, you do an awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI didnt even realize there WAS a button I could press, lol. I'll start using it now.
ReplyDeleteI am one of your Linux visitors. I very rarely poke the button or comment.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, greatly enjoy the content!