Page views?

Some forums on the internet let you see how many people looked at your thread. ATS doesn't do this but I kind of wish they would, because it gives you an idea of how big your audience is.

I can sort of get a sense of how many people are reading what I write based on stars and flags, but obviously that's not a perfect system for doing that.

It would be nice to know how many people I am addressing when I run threads. Sometimes I have no clue if anyone is reading what I write here. Some people might think this shouldn't matter, but we all have limited time/energy, and personally if I have an audience of only one or two readers, it makes sense to wrap up the thread and save your energy for more effective threads, rather than banging your head against the wall trying to reach people who just aren't interested. IMHO.

What do you guys think?

Oh and by the way, happy Easter for those who celebrete it!

Hi

Interesting thought - although I am into stats, they can often tell you nothing.

That's unless you can see how they interact with other parameters.

If you only measured page views then that wouldnt really tell you anything - people could come in...look at it, decide it isn't worth it and then head back out again.

They could get pulled in by a jazzy, in your face headline, which would be an attention seeker but add no real value to anyone's knowledge. You'd have a good page view count, but actually you've just wasted peoples' time and energy. The page views in that case are irrelevant, unless you're wanting to understand what types of headlines pull people in.

There's a common understanding on ATS, and that's that you show your appreciation for the content and sentiment of a thread/post by stars and flags.

I think it works.

Data is great if you know what to do with it.

Interested in reading about everyone's thoughts.

I've considered this very thing. And I think it's a good idea.

It would be nice to know if your thread died because there was no interest, or no clicks. It helps sellers on ebay. I would think it would be helpful on ATS too.

Whaddya think Skeptic Overlord? A possibility?

ATS used to do this but it took up too much bandwidth/space or whatever it was.

EXPLANATIONS HERE

There is also another way to get a quick general idea right after you post, and that is to watch the "Trending" page for a bit. It keeps pretty good tracking of how many views it is getting. You will see the numbers fluctuate. If you are holding a decent count for a bit, it means people are actually reading it for the most part. If the numbers are going up and down quickly, I would guess that means they may just be giving it a quick glance.

Just a thought for you. Like I said, it is good to check on for your new post for a little while at least. Should give a tiny idea anyway

reply to post by Partygirl

Hmm Partygirl I smell a conspiracy, there watching you dum dum dum.

I however never cared about such things, no really just look at my thread count and you will see. In fact I go out of my way to make sure not that many people listen to me.

Never knew people cared all that much either, does the power of the little blue stars compel you Partygirl.
Come to the dark side..Ooooo.

You know that many have become little blue star gollum's, sitting there and counting there stars and going...'My precious" so twinkly and bluey.

Just joking off-course

Dont know Partygirl, but you seem to have plenty of people looking at your threads to me. It's just like you know, you should know by now that more people just like arguing about stupid stuff and touchy topics, then then they like conversing about things and touchy topics.

Not many people will have all that much to say since most of your topics are a bit touchy, and you seem to like want to break out a rational sane conversation or something. That Partygirl just might be to much to ask.

But don't worry everything comes and goes in waves, eventually people will settle down a little and your threads will pick up more.

Or you can just make the stupidest and craziest thread you can think of, and watch it take of like the wind.

What do you guys think?

Don't really care, but sure why not. I see no point in why they took that out, well other then it kind of becomes to much like a circle jerk with the same group of popular people following each other around. But then again you have that either way. So whatever, they say this is a democracy! But I think the overlord might have a different opinion.

Happy Easter.

Maybe this is off topic but I can't find a place to put this, and it certainly concerns page views.

Can ATS powers-who-be-powers-that-be consider expanding the Real Time list (on the left) of "New Topics" from eight to twelve, fifteen, or 20? At times topics roll by quickly, and I've seen good threads go away from those who don't use the firehose. Having only eight new topics highlighted, especially on a breaking news day, assures less data reaching the public, less views for particular threads, and limits the choices of the general public and others who aren't aware of the firehouse option.

And there is plenty of room to expand that list. How about it? Information wants to be free, or at least viewed longer. Thanks.

It would be nice to see the views

I was about to make a thread about it
you beat me to it partygirl

btw .. welcome back