Somebody emailed us anonymously to ask a critical, but fair question. And since we make it a point to not behave like the HH Stalinist bureaucrats, we're going to answer it. This person said they liked the blog, and said we were creating a "History Hunters Hell" (which we liked), but wanted to know why, if we're getting as many hits as our indicator shows, so few posted comments or participated in the polling.
Let's first address whether our hit counts are accurate or above board. The hit counter you see on the lower right side of this website is a downloaded piece of freeware that (magically!) counts visits to our website in the background. We have nothing to do with it nor are we able to manipulate it (check out the link to their website, if you like). Now, could we sit at our computers and refresh our browsers every 3 seconds to drive the count up one click at a time? Sure could. Would we do that? Uh, no. We'd much rather spend our limited time parsing the HH website for the extraordinarily stupid postings that make this site so much fun, and we think, popular.
Regarding comments posted to this site, we too are surprised more people don't add commentary. We certainly welcome it, and we will not moderate or censor them like some folks we know (within reason, of course). As one friend told us, he didn't even know posting comments was possible. So maybe you don't either. So please, by all means, add your two cents to the fray.
Finally, regarding poll participation, how do we know why only 30 or so people voted in our last poll? Not everyone who goes to a baseball game buys a beer, but that doesn't reduce the final attendance number, does it? The only other explanation we can think to provide is that perhaps most people find the polling to be silly and sophomoric, which of course it purposely is.
So there you have it: we don't manipulate our website hits (though we don't doubt there are those at HH who'd like to think so), we welcome and encourage your comments, and if you don't want to vote in the poll, we understand. Though, we hope you'll at least enjoy the super scientific objective results.
6 comments:
Here is the first comment. Of course I posted it anonymously.
Okay....
Your point is?
You get a triple "F" from me for your blog. No, not a failing grade. Quite the contrair, Fair, Factual, and best of all, Funny!
Quick
So I have a question. If you liked my comment (not an email as you stated) well enough to write a public response to it yesterday, where is my original? I've searched the site and it is not there. You say you do not 'moderate or censor' the comments, so a bit of explanation is in order. Yes, I enjoy the site immensely. It is very cleverly written, a huge upgrade from the gibberish over at Yahoo OMEX board, and HHI does need to hear how they sound to others,(often foolish), and be held accountable. But shouldn't I hold you to your own mandate of free and open commentary? Thanks again for a fun blog.
Dude, are you suffering from some kind of attention whore deficit or something? Your first post disappeared into the Internet netherworld, there's no conspiracy afoot.
What don't you understand about us addressing your "anonymous" comment specifically on the blog? That's much bigger play than being in the comments section. What, you want that badly to see your "anonymous" name in bright lights?
We're glad you like the blog and all, but give it a rest already dude. We've published all your comments to date, and that's that.
Thanks for the kind words, Quick. We're also admirers of your work over at Yahoo, which is often very funnty as well. Give 'em hell and please keep reading!
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