This Blog – August 2016

I like to read about who reads the things I read and how many people read the things I read. Like all human beings, I’m curious about where I fit in with my fellow meat sticks. It is what defines us as social animals. There’s also the fact that if everyone like me is into something, there’s a good chance I’ll enjoy it. Alternatively, if the people into the same things I like happen to be weirdos, then maybe it is time for some soul searching. When it comes to websites and TV shows, I’m mostly interested in how many. Media wields a great deal of influence so the high traffic sites will have more influence than niche sites.

Anyway, this post on Vox Day reminded me that I have not done a post on this blog’s traffic for a while. I’m probably not alone in being curious about traffic stats so I want to post a regular update on site stats. Steve Sailer does this as part of his fund raisers. I’m always a little surprised that Sailer does not have more traffic. He’s been doing the blog thing for a couple of decades. Assuming VD is not bullshitting us with his stats, his site gets twice the traffic of Sailer. I see loads of references on social media to Sailer, but never Vox Day, but that could just mean I hang with the bad crowd.

I have installed a plugin for WordPress that lets me harvest all sorts of data. The big thing it does is filter out robots and trackers from the site traffic. I tested this on another domain and it does seem to work. I compared the stats to my server stats and there is a massive gap between the blogs numbers and the raw server logs, suggesting the robot filtering is working as they claim. According to the numbers, I have had 9,180,000 visits in the last year. Of those, 953,876 were unique visitors. The regular readership is just over 45,000. That’s defined as unique regular visitors.

I thank everyone for visiting and reading.

Now, compared to what Vox reports, my page views are half what he reports. I suspect there’s a difference in how page views are counted. His posts net three times the number of comments so maybe it is not that far off. If I were to guess, I’d say his readership is three or four times the size of this site, judging from the number of comments. Then again, some sites lend themselves to comments, while others do not. Ace gets a ton of comments, but most of them are gibberish. You see this on Breitbart where the comments often suggest the readership is missing a chromosome.

Digging through the stats, I see that the most popular post ever was this one. The most common keyword search that leads people here is “Cloud People.” The funny thing about that is someone used the term in conversation the other day and then explained to me what it meant. I know that person does not read this site so I guess the term is working its way into the language. The second most popular post is this one, so I may even get credit for the term when some TV big shot uses it. A man can dream.

I have received e-mails wondering how to donate money to me, but I have no way of doing that. I appreciate the thought, but I have not thought too much about setting up the mechanics for taking donations. In fact, I’ve never looked into how it works. I have a day job and I do this for fun. I think if the monthly readership cracks the 100K mark, I may consider it. To be perfectly candid, I’d feel weird holding beg-a-thons. Given that hitting the 100K mark is long off, I don’t have to think about it.

Again, I thank everyone for reading, linking, commenting and tweeting.

41 Comments
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5MilesOut
Member
8 years ago

No, Zman, thank you for giving us a thought-provoking blog that has some of the most intelligent commenters around. It’s a daily treat for me. We appreciate you.

Dutch
Dutch
8 years ago

I found you when you did some brilliant work about Donald Sterling and the forced sale of the L.A. Clippers. I never saw your take printed anywhere else in the media, and it was the only explanation that actually made sense. I frequently use your work to help me sort out the crazy things I see out there in the world these days, and I consider you one of the most valuable reads on the net. Thank you!

jay dee
8 years ago

I came for the Zsplaining of current events. I stayed because of the sardonic wit. =)

jb (that\'s my handle)
jb (that\'s my handle)
8 years ago

Like Quick’s joint ana specific number of others, Da Z is a daily stop. The similarites are hardly stunning- you, like the others I read, simply cut through the crap and tell it like it is.

That is a rare commodity online these days. Thank you – jb

Member
Reply to  jb (that\'s my handle)
8 years ago

Thanks. ZeeMan is heady company to be numbered in, but thank you for that, too. We all do what we can.

Ganderson
Ganderson
8 years ago

Thanks for this blog. First stop in the AM.

RW on Rt.1
RW on Rt.1
Reply to  Ganderson
8 years ago

I seldom add a comment here as I think this should only be done if one can actually move the dialog forward.”Attaboy” or “amen” just takes up space. But you have raised the subject with this post which allows me to thank you wholeheartedly for the site. The filters at work recently decided that you were a blog and accordingly your site is blocked, although scores of other blogs are not blocked. This pisses me off exceedingly as I liked to check throughout the workday to read comments and catch your new posts “hot off the presses”. Forty five thousand… Read more »

jojothedogfaceboy
jojothedogfaceboy
8 years ago

One of your 45,000. Just wanted to let you know I am still here.

BillH
BillH
8 years ago

If you ever do take donations, spend them on wine, women and song. Please don’t use them to gussy up the blog. That would ruin it.

Member
8 years ago

Thanks for putting into words the nebulous ideas that bounce around my head. You are one of my first stops, every morning.
And thanks for the opportunity to thank you without seeming to fawn 🙂

Member
8 years ago

Proud to do my Tweeting part. Thanks for showing up here to keep the Cloud People honest.

Reply to  Joan of Argghh!
8 years ago

I have a thing about paid opinion writers, even the independent ones that I like. I’d rather read the real, unbidden thoughts of a man under no obligation to do so. It has the air of authenticity that few can manage. You and The Woodpile Report are two such.

James LePore
8 years ago

I think it was Dalrymple who said salvation lies in the comment threads. Of course it all starts with you and your original thinking. Thank you.

notsothoreau
notsothoreau
8 years ago

Well, I don’t think that comments are a good indication of readership. I have tried to comment at Breitbart using my cell phone and it almost never works. I’ve commented at Ace (which I seldom read these days) and Vox Day. The commenting system at Ace is also very strange. I don’t make any effort to promote my two blogs as they are basically vanity blogs.

I enjoy blogs where the comments are intelligent. I seem to find more of that here.

Tim
Tim
Member
8 years ago

And I thank you for writing. Tim

Ofay Cat
Ofay Cat
8 years ago

I recently fou d this blog. I read many but this one stands out … I love it and appreciate Your wonderful inside and attitude.

Ofay Cat
Ofay Cat
Reply to  Ofay Cat
8 years ago

That should have read .. insight and attitude

freddie
freddie
8 years ago

Here via Sad Puppies. Nearly a year ago, I set out to discover the “truth” behind Sad Puppies, which led to Vox, and has since led me to a wide variety of interesting and thoughtful blogs.

DFCtomm
Member
8 years ago

I enjoy your essays, Zman, so the pleasure is all mine.

Zeroh Tollrants
Zeroh Tollrants
8 years ago

<–49 yr old mother/grandmother/business owner/ex pol operative

Discovered this blog thru Sailer's site about 8 mos ago, & I consider it essential reading . "Cloud People," and "Dirt People," have become permanent parts of my lexicon, thanks to you guys, thank you. Thoughtfully written, high quality posts & intelligent commenter interaction, what a rarity in blogging world! I direct folks to your site often, Zman, hoping they will become blog devotees, as well.

Rev. Right
8 years ago

If I had to guess, I’d wager that your most popular post got so many hits because you mentioned John Rivers and Ricky Vaughn it it, and they linked to it via their Twitter accounts.

Karl Horst (Germany)
Karl Horst (Germany)
8 years ago

I have very much enjoyed your blog and the various “discussions” with some of your readers. Being one of the few ‘auslanders’ on here, it is always a pleasure to argue points from a German, if not European point of view.

Only one recommendation for improvement – please…if possible, can you look into an edit feature. I believe many would “thumbs up” on this request.

Otherwise, well done as always. Keep up the good work.

Front Toward Enemy
Member
8 years ago

I’ve been reading this site for quite a while. I remember when 7 or 8 comments was the norm. Word is getting out as quality will always out. Thank you for not money grubbing and “keeping it real”.

LetsPlay
LetsPlay
Member
Reply to  Front Toward Enemy
8 years ago

Readers wanting to make a contribution is a different thang. We know people have expenses and it takes time and money to put up a site, so what’s the problem with wanting to give back a small amount that is not under compulsion? It’s not money grubbing if you can choose to donate or not. Of course, if someone is independently wealthy, they could simply not address the issue.

Member
8 years ago

If you want to set up donations, check out a site called Patreon.

guest
guest
8 years ago

Could you add a “Greatest Hits” section to the top, where you link to a few more popular posts?

Like: Home Contact Mokita My Theory of Everything Greatest Hits

And speaking of, that Ludwig Thiersch Alaric Athènes picture is a bit tall, on my 720p laptop, the picture itself takes up a third of the screen! That’s bad screen space feng shui… i have to scroll down just to see the first post.

Uncola
Uncola
8 years ago

Congrats Z-man. A parable: There was a man who grew tired of a group of kids playing in his front yard every day. In spite of him asking them to leave, they would always return the next day. He tried everything from signs to yelling at them to no avail. He bought a dog to chase the kids away but the kids taught the dog to play fetch instead. Finally, one morning the man had an idea. When the kids came back to play in his yard he went out to them and offered them a deal: He told them… Read more »

Member
8 years ago

Might I ask what WP plugin you are using?

Member
Reply to  thezman
8 years ago

Thanks much, Zman. I installed it, and now I’m waiting for it to get enough data (I presume) to provide accurate reports. Out of the box, it showed I had two unique visitors on a daily average for the past month. Now, while this would thrill some of my detractors, it’s a bit hard to reconcile with the blog itself, unless those two unique readers have posted hundreds of comments under hundreds of different names and verified accounts.

Once it’s firing on all cylinders, it looks like it will be quite useful, though.

Mike
Reply to  Bill Quick
8 years ago

Check out WP SlimStats too, Bill. Just sent you an e-mail about it. I used to use it way back when, it’s quite good.

Member
Reply to  Mike
8 years ago

Will do, Mike, Thanks!

LetsPlay
LetsPlay
Member
8 years ago

You are valuable and unique. Stay that way. And be careful how you compare yourself. E.g. Vox Day mixes issues with his penchant for gaming and sci-fi stuff. I don’t like having to parse through all that crap (not important to me).

Glenn
Glenn
8 years ago

I just found you a couple of months ago. Hang on to your hat

joe_mama
joe_mama
Reply to  Glenn
8 years ago

Who are you, Glenn Beck?

Solomon Honeypickle, proud octaroon
Solomon Honeypickle, proud octaroon
8 years ago

just put up a PayPal button dude!

LetsPlay
LetsPlay
Member
Reply to  thezman
8 years ago

And I don’t believe in PayPal. Same-same, instrument of the man. They are like Facebook and will shut you down because of your opinions. They did this to Ann Barnhardt.

Check these alternatives out

http://growingyourbiz.co/alternatives-to-paypal