Tracking politics with changes in website usage?

[Anonymous]

Hi there - I am just wondering if you notice any changes in the website DCUM usage with political changes? Does usage go up and down with the headlines - like the stock market? I am not a reporter.

[jsteele]

Usage will change when there is a viral topic, regardless of the specific topic. For instance, the many actions impacting federal workers has grow traffic in our careers forum. A celebrity controversy might spike traffic in the entertainment forum. Frequently, developments in politics causes an increase in traffic in our politics forum.

[Anonymous]

I've also wondered website usage variations during holidays and such or even summer break. Are there times of the year it's ghost town around here and times where its very busy? And can you tell weather changes too, like way more people using this site during a big snow storm? A long rainy weekend? The long cold spell we had this winter? Do these make a large difference in usage?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I've also wondered website usage variations during holidays and such or even summer break. Are there times of the year it's ghost town around here and times where its very busy? And can you tell weather changes too, like way more people using this site during a big snow storm? A long rainy weekend? The long cold spell we had this winter? Do these make a large difference in usage?

I have not tracked those variables. The biggest factor affecting usage is Google's algorithm. When the algorithm favors us, we get a lot of usage. When it doesn't, usage drops. Right now, almost all websites are suffering from Google's concentration on AI which provides answers without users clicking on a link. However. that has mostly cause a drop in users who don't spend much time on DCUM. So, while our number of unique users has dropped significantly, our number of views remains high because the dedicated users still come here.

Another trend is that usage is normally lower on weekends. But, if a weekend is particularly nice, usage will be lower still. Traditionally, the lowest usage days have been Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. Probably because moms are busy cooking. We will see noticeable drops on days that are particular popular for travel.

However, due to the importance of Google, trends might not be noticeable if Google has made a change that radically distorts the previous usage pattern.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've also wondered website usage variations during holidays and such or even summer break. Are there times of the year it's ghost town around here and times where its very busy? And can you tell weather changes too, like way more people using this site during a big snow storm? A long rainy weekend? The long cold spell we had this winter? Do these make a large difference in usage?

I have not tracked those variables. The biggest factor affecting usage is Google's algorithm. When the algorithm favors us, we get a lot of usage. When it doesn't, usage drops. Right now, almost all websites are suffering from Google's concentration on AI which provides answers without users clicking on a link. However. that has mostly cause a drop in users who don't spend much time on DCUM. So, while our number of unique users has dropped significantly, our number of views remains high because the dedicated users still come here.

Another trend is that usage is normally lower on weekends. But, if a weekend is particularly nice, usage will be lower still. Traditionally, the lowest usage days have been Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. Probably because moms are busy cooking. We will see noticeable drops on days that are particular popular for travel.

However, due to the importance of Google, trends might not be noticeable if Google has made a change that radically distorts the previous usage pattern.

That's very interesting. I wonder what favors or variables influence Google's algorithm for the day. Like one day your website is top listed as a search result and the next day reddit is. What changes that. I wonder what all the factors are like cookies or previous searches on the users computers or is it mostly financially based for google, is it all 100% computer run programs and AI. I'm reading "Stolen Focus" By Johann Hari which touches on this subject but I still have many questions about it. It's a good read so far.