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I’m definitely not smart enough to pull inferences from quantitative data like what Chartbeat shows, but surely it can’t get everything? Like, even if the canned ham bumper story doesn’t top the metrics, there’s no telling if the whimsy of its very existence doesn’t help. People might not click on the article but maybe the headline makes them smile. Maybe it’s a subconcious vibe-enforcer that helps with the love of the site. Maybe I’m talkin’ out my speculum, who knows. Not me, I said that at the beginning of this.
Jason, I’m a little concerned. This is the third time you have used the word speculum out of context ( I think, maybe I’m missing something). However “timing light”, “bar’s leak” and “dwell meter” , three terms I would expect on a site such as this appear not once.
Has anyone administered a Rorschach test?
Well if you were trying to get traffic over all else, it would have been streamed hams, not canned.
Don’t want that, you have principles!
I have experience with similar analytics I won’t get into for dumb reasons, but coming from the creative side analytics are fools gold that tempt the money men to demand stunts. Be wary. Some stunts will raise your numbers, but unless the they are authentically on brand the new visitors won’t be sticky AND you run the risk of peeling off loyal users who feel like the site/show/whatever has lost its way. For example, casting Wade Boggs in a Cheers episode is a good stunt because the Sam Malone character had been a relief pitcher for the Red Sox so it made sense. It drove baseball fans to a show they hadn’t seen before, some of whom stuck around for more.
On the other hand sometimes you just have to say fuck it. The most successful stunt ever was pairing Run DMC with Aerosmith, which launched one career into the mainstream and relaunched the other. Neither entity wanted to do it, it wasn’t on brand for either one, but Rick Rubin insisted and the rest is history.
Always trust your gut Torch. Though you had your’s worked on, so..,…
Matt: make sure someone has remembered to pay the AWS bill. The first couple of years they let you run on credit but eventually they’ll invoice you.
I bet those invoices are being used to stabilize Jason’s Apple IIe.
Matt hit the nail right on the head: Yin and Yang. The mesh of David’s analytics and Jason’s gonzo are the engine driving this site. Either alone would likely be too much for readers to handle, and neither individual can (nor should) deny their true nature.
Personality helps keep this place great.
Torch’s stuff usually has some sort of a Donnie Darko/Princess Bride/Shawshank Redemption/Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe to it. Under appreciated at the moment, but eventually recognized for the masterpiece that it is.
Stay strong Torch. I love the stuff you write.
So, being a musical theatre nerd, every once in a while there’s a group on my feed that pops up, where they sing a famous song from a famous musical, but one person doesn’t know the words. They go back & forth a bit, and the one person just has to use context clues to fill in their part of the song.
It’s hilarious, and that’s why I think one person not using Chartbeat sounds like a great idea.
Obsessing over stats like this killed the passion I had for the small business I used to run, to the point that it broke my brain. I applaud this decision.
Matt, David….let the boy do his thing.
Yeah, fuck Chartbeat! We like this place because you write what you want to write.