Please stop changing things…
Sometimes more information is just too much information.
If you go to your stats page, you will notice that on top of telling you how many views you got today, they now break it down into not only number of views but number of visitors as well. And it turns out I have been living in a dream world. I thought that 100 views meant that 100 people had stopped by. But it can also mean that 25 people stopped by and read two or three things to catch up, or so it turns out. It isn’t the end of the world, but it does mean that we are all reaching a much smaller audience than we may have thought we were.
It is sort of like if you owned a small museum or art gallery, and you had one of those little electronic counters that told you whenever someone opened the door. You thought that 100 people visited your gallery and enjoyed looking at some of your artwork. Then you find out that the counter was broken. You really had 25 people come in, but some of them looked at more than one of your exhibits. And the counter is still counting all the people who open the door, glance in, realize the place holds nothing of interest to them, and they don’t come all the way in at all.
Don’t get me wrong. I am still amazed that 25 people care enough about what I do here to take time to really look at it. And 100 views is still 100 views. I just don’t see how this new information helps us.
I should have kept in mind that statistics are more or less useless on the individual scale anyway. You can tell a guy that airplane travel is safer than car travel, but if he drove all his life and lived 50 years, and then dies in a plane crash the first time he gets in a plane, what the heck do those numbers do for him?
Pouring My Art Out 
Yeah, I definitely enjoyed my stats page much more a week ago than I do now. Oh well.
People seem to agree with me on this one… what’s up with that???
Although, in retrospect, after having had plenty of time to think about it during a sleepless night, I actually think it’s a GOOD thing when I have 3 visitors with 6 views each, because it means they liked my stuff enough to stick around. So it’s all good.
I kind of go both ways on that…
Absolutely!!!
Positively!!!
When I first saw the changes, I thought the same as you. Then I thought, oh, well, at least somebody’s reading it.
It is pretty…
I think the stats are largely irrelevant and are aimed at people looking to use the blogs as a marketting tool and flog advertising space/products on it. Interestingly wordpress is becoming a de facto place for companies to set up websites as it is much simpler and cheaper than paying a web design company to do it. Hence the numbers will be important to them.
I am guilty in a way. I need numbers to impress publishers. But mostly I like to mess with wordpress.
Oh man, I wish I didn’t know that!
It pays to pay attention… or not to pay attention… either way…
i think they change stuff just so they can get a mention from you…..you’re such a puppet…..
I am easily manipulated.
but the rewards are superb
They can be…
You can’t stop the signal, man. You can’t stop it. Information is king, even useless information. If it’s any consolation, I love your stuff and read it ardently (if not every single post, but I try), so feel the love man, feel the love.
Now I feel like diva, but I just like teasing wordpress now and then. It is a love hate thing… with them, not you…
Don’t get all mushy on me now.
I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry… sniff…
It’s okay. I forgive you the man-crush.
Hey now, as long as you know I don’t just do that with everybody…
But each eyeball is looking at your post, so you can double that number, my friend!
True enough. And if I add in the number of hairs…
WordPress should give us a breakdown of how many people look at our posts with both eyes or with just one eye. This is a clearly important statistical information.
They should tell us how many people viewed our posts using only one hand.
ummmm….eeeewwww… but then again, beggars can’t be choosers.
Buggers.
Buggers can’t be churros???
They should put a flag by the pictures of those people who just go down the readers and ‘like’ every post without reading.
You are saying this as if this is a bad thing 🙂
Why, yes, yes I am.
Yes, it took me a while to realize that too. However, I would rather people read a few of my posts than just one. It’s good to know I’ve caught their attention!
I can sound a little spoiled and whiney sometimes… But I do love to poke fun at WordPress.
No you didn’t…not at all. I don’t like the changes either.
No, I didn’t mean you were saying I sounded that way… it was more of a self-realization kind of a thing. But the changes are just silly. Although the bars inside bars do look sort of cool. And that map thing. It is like playing Risk.
And why is it snowing on some peoples blogs, it makes my system weird when I read them. I ignore stats, if a few people comment then I am happy
It’s a seasonal option that becomes available this month every year. Only the blog owner can turn it off, though. 😐
As long as they are going to send someone around to shovel it all away…
Will they change it to flaming rocks on Friday when the world ends?
That would be awesome.
It is just that stupid end to a means thing. If I have 50,000 views, I can use that with a publisher.
I see…
Self publish, then you have something you can show on a future book
I am leaning that way. Jess is helping with the final edit. Still can’t decide between Arthur and Rufus…
That will be an ebook though? I can’t read ebooks, I need something on paper.
I don’t know… so many options…
It’s odd that they’re fannying about with such redundant changes when share stats are still bugged to uselessness.
I don’t even really have a point to make. I just like to mess with wordpress. Sometimes they even answer me. And for some reason wordpress traffic tools is following me on Twitter…???
I actually appreciate it, now I don’t have to count on other sites to give me a break down of how many visits/who read what.
Some people like numbers. I think they are the spawn of Satan.
well all I’ve got to say to that is …. pft….
those of us that love algebra, calculus and statistics are not spawns of Satan I’ll have you know…any more than those of you who can spell worth a hoot are either…so….8-P to you too Mr. Magoo!
I tease. I am all art-side-of-the-brain. I don’t have my multiplication tables memorized. When we move, it takes me a year to remember my new address. We make fun of that which we do not understand.
Think of it this way, if you get 100 hits from 25 different people it means people are not just stopping by then hitting the road, they’re sticking around looking for more. Not much more, but more nevertheless.
Stop paying attention to numbers so much. Most of my hits come from people searching for images of big goats.
And your images of big goats suck!… ha!
Yeah- I already avoid my stats page, and now I will try even harder to do so!!
They are taking away all the magic.
I’m not sure I ever had any magic to be taken away in the first place ;o)
You have lost the inner child… you did not pay attention to the words of my ‘Walls of Stone’ song. The best line is;
If you forsake the lessons of love that you were shown.
Throw away the child inside you, insist that you are grown.
What will you do, when you find yourself alone?
Inside those walls of stone…..!
Amen, Brother! Amen! However, they did reinstate the Freshly Pressed page the way it used to look. Phew! I could not handle it in the reader!
I doubt I will ever reach that promised land…