Jeff, ever done a poll of DCUM readers?

[Anonymous]

I know it would be wildly unscientific, but I'd love to know who reads DCUM -- at least some general idea of people's age, sex, race, what ward they live in, and broad category of HHI.

I admit that I'm thinking of this because I'm trying to figure out how to interpret posts about Catania. Is this just an echo chamber or does what I read here reflect broader views? I was surprised at the performance of Settles in the AL primary because it seemed like people posting in the political forum were solidly backing him.

I know some forums have poll software built in, but if that's not an option you could use surveymonkey or something like that.

Thanks!

[jsteele]

This is not a survey and I don't actually know how accurate it is, but there is a lot of demographic information here:

https://www.quantcast.com/dcurbanmom.com#!demo

I don't know if I want to go the poll route. I really hate answering those myself and wouldn't want to ask others to do one.

Your question about the echo chamber is one that I've often pondered. The Settles results did suggest that we are a pretty small universe. A couple of things that are different regarding Catania is that the DC Schools forum has just gained a lot of new users since the beginning of the boundary process. So, while we might still be a small universe, we are not as small. Another thing is that while Catania is running strongly on education, that is not his only base of support. East of the River, he also has significant support due to his health care efforts.

I'll try to do a quick analysis to see roughly how many users we have in the DC Schools forum. I'm not sure if that will be completely possible, but I'll give it a shot.

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much.

So we are a little younger, richer, more female, and better educated than the U.S. average, which is not really surprising considering the DC area itself and that the site is likely to attract people with young children. We're also whiter than DC more generally, which supports the echo chamber theory.

On the other hand, the readers of the DC Schools forum are probably more representative than the Politics forum, where Settles was discussed.

[jsteele]

According to Google Analytics, the main DC Schools page, which we assume almost all DC Schools forum users must view, has been viewed by 55,170 unique users over the past 30 days. My mind is actually blown right now because I had no idea it was that high. To put that number is perspective, 55,170 people is more than voted for Muriel Bowser in the primary. Even if you divide that number by 2 to give users credit for both a home and work computer, it is more than 25,000 users.

By my own quick analysis, there have been 1,682 distinct posters in the DC Schools forum over the past 30 days. So, if both Google Analytics and I are correct, there is a huge difference between the number of people who read and the number who post.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:According to Google Analytics, the main DC Schools page, which we assume almost all DC Schools forum users must view, has been viewed by 55,170 unique users over the past 30 days. My mind is actually blown right now because I had no idea it was that high. To put that number is perspective, 55,170 people is more than voted for Muriel Bowser in the primary. Even if you divide that number by 2 to give users credit for both a home and work computer, it is more than 25,000 users.

By my own quick analysis, there have been 1,682 distinct posters in the DC Schools forum over the past 30 days. So, if both Google Analytics and I are correct, there is a huge difference between the number of people who read and the number who post.

I'll put just a touch of cold water on that by pointing out that there must be a huge number- even a majority- who log on from more than one location. I log on from home, work and sometimes my phone. So I might divide that number by 2 or so.

Still, impressive!

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:
According to Google Analytics, the main DC Schools page, which we assume almost all DC Schools forum users must view, has been viewed by 55,170 unique users over the past 30 days. My mind is actually blown right now because I had no idea it was that high. To put that number is perspective, 55,170 people is more than voted for Muriel Bowser in the primary. Even if you divide that number by 2 to give users credit for both a home and work computer, it is more than 25,000 users.

By my own quick analysis, there have been 1,682 distinct posters in the DC Schools forum over the past 30 days. So, if both Google Analytics and I are correct, there is a huge difference between the number of people who read and the number who post.


I'll put just a touch of cold water on that by pointing out that there must be a huge number- even a majority- who log on from more than one location. I log on from home, work and sometimes my phone. So I might divide that number by 2 or so.

Still, impressive!

Save your cold water since Jeff already suggested that the number be divided by 2 for exactly the reasons you mention.

I'm sorry (except I'm not), but sloppy reading really gets on my last nerve.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Wow.

Curious to know, how many people reading the politics board?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Wow.

Curious to know, how many people reading the politics board?

There is a considerable drop-off. I should have mentioned that the DC Schools forum is the third most popular behind General Parenting and Off Topic.

According to Google Analytics, there were 6,513 unique users of the Politics forum over the past 30 days. According to my data, there were 671 unique posters over the same period. The ratio of readers to posters is lower in Politics.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jeff. A while back you posted some information about where in the country/world people were posting from outside of the DC area. Is that information still available?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Jeff. A while back you posted some information about where in the country/world people were posting from outside of the DC area. Is that information still available?

https://www.quantcast.com/dcurbanmom.com/geo

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi Jeff. A while back you posted some information about where in the country/world people were posting from outside of the DC area. Is that information still available?

https://www.quantcast.com/dcurbanmom.com/geo

Interesting. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

What forums are the viewers from Australia, Canada, UK and India are going to?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:What forums are the viewers from Australia, Canada, UK and India are going to?

I have no idea, but a lot of those are probably spammers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What forums are the viewers from Australia, Canada, UK and India are going to?

There are several pages of lists. All kinds of countries you would not imagine.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jeff for that link- it's very interesting! Half do not have kids - and this is DC Urban Moms and Dads! Of course, there is a lot more here than just parenting or schools. BTW, I put DCUM as one of two sources of information in the recent Fairfax County Public School survey!