First, a quick note. I don't know what happened in March. I have absolutely no idea. Even all of my theories (Spring Break for one) fail to account for what happened in March 2008. In fact, the only satisfactory explanation I have been able to conjure up is that y'all had way too much caffeine... or have some other, more nefarious addiction.
In any case, I'm not even going to patronize March 2008 by saying it was huge. That's an understatement (at least for the time being...). The amount of increase in posting is unprecedented in YWS history. So let the facts speak for themselves (along with some other new stats):
Note: The %'s are the increase from March 2007
20,937 posts 118%
2nd place is January 2008 with 14,659 posts
1,440 new topics 67%
2nd place: Jan. 2008 with 1,327 topics
Topic to post ratio = 1 to 14.5 (very good!)
250 New Members 15%
Lowest Since November '08 and far below the three month average
607,640 Pageviews 88.53%
2nd Place: Jan. 2008 with 470,346 pageviews
39,264 Visits 101.28%
Just slightly below January '08
So what the above data shows is that YWS hardly grew. On many measures, it was at or below the three month average (Dec. '07 thru Feb. '08 ), especially with regards to new member registrations. But, posting exploded.
What this tells me is that YWS did really well in March '08 with retaining old members. Plus, people stayed around the site a lot longer. The average time spent was 20 minutes, which is far above the average of 15 minutes.
By the way, this is great because it shows that YWS is not dependent on new members for growth. Most of the growth in March came from old members.
And now for some other random statistics:
Internet Explorer is used by 56.8% of all YWSers. This is down 9% from a year ago when it was 66%.
Firefox is used by 34%. This is up 4.5% from a year ago when it was 29.5%.
Safari is used by 6.85%. This is up 3.4% (that is, in March 2007 it was 3.45%).
Top 10 Countries
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Philippines
7. Germany
8. Ireland
9. India
10. Switzerland
Top 10 Cities
1. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2. London, United Kingdom
3. Colorado Springs, CO
4. St. Ann, MO
5. Salt Lake City, UT
6. Chicago, IL
7. Auckland, New Zealand
8. Glendale, CA
9. Kennewick, WA
10. Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Top 10 Days by Posting
This is for all time, not just March...
1. March 31, 2008: 1392 posts
2. March 23, 2008: 1070 posts
3. March 24, 2008: 947 posts
4. March 19, 2008: 874 posts
5. March 18, 2008: 871 posts
6. March 16, 2008: 839 posts
7. March 21, 2008: 830 posts
8. March 29, 2008: 798 posts
9. March 30, 2008: 779 posts
10. March 28, 2008: 732 posts
Believe it or not, but before March, the top 10 days by posting was spread out over several months.
Top 10 Poems by Comments
a poem (warning, this piece has a lot of adult language) by QiGuaiGongFu with 83 comments on September 6, 2005
A Prayer to Allah by Khayriyyah with 35 comments on March 27, 2006
Falling by Jennafina with 31 comments on July 1, 2005
"Our Jon" by 4evadreamin with 30 comments on October 8, 2005
Child by Suzanne with 29 comments on December 31, 2006
Act of Love by Suzanne with 29 comments on January 14, 2007
Hurt by Alainna with 26 comments on March 24, 2007
Centering Gravity by Leja with 26 comments on August 30, 2007
The Firefly's Glow by Wiggy with 25 comments on July 24, 2006
Romance, Bubble Bath by Sharty with 25 comments on August 8, 2006
Top 10 Stories by Comments
Gypsie Eyes by gyrfalcon with 164 comments on October 8, 2006
The Chair of Wind & Darkness: Draft Two [1-4]: Closed by Dream Deep with 144 comments on August 17, 2006
In Thrall by gyrfalcon with 102 comments on January 9, 2007
Prose: "Chronicles of the Dhampir: Emergence" by Hunter with 87 comments on December 27, 2004
Bound for Glory: Our Brethren by Samuel Garrison with 82 comments on December 24, 2005
Integrate This! (Now a YWS Fanfiction!) by Griffinkeeper with 81 comments on March 25, 2006
SPEW in Sci-Fi Land by Griffinkeeper with 75 comments on September 12, 2006
Oracle's Possession (Under Major Rewrite) by Myth with 48 comments on January 19, 2006
The Queen of Dolls by Snoink with 46 comments on May 15, 2006
To Keep No Secrets (Chapter Six added) by Suzanne with 46 comments on December 23, 2006
Top 25 Reviewers of All Time
Snoink: 1956 reviews
Suzanne: 1597 reviews
Elizabeth: 1152 reviews
kitty15: 1138 reviews
Sam: 1076 reviews
Firestarter: 979 reviews
Incandescence: 859 reviews
Myth: 820 reviews
TL G-Wooster: 740 reviews
Leja: 685 reviews
xanthan gum: 683 reviews
Sponson Light: 681 reviews
Emma: 677 reviews
Cade: 669 reviews
Rei: 657 reviews
Areida: 657 reviews
Chevy: 655 reviews
Via: 650 reviews
Griffinkeeper: 631 reviews
Jennafina: 608 reviews
Phorcys: 597 reviews
Adam_Atlantian: 571 reviews
Crysi: 569 reviews
Wolf: 559 reviews
bubblewrapped: 538 reviews
Oh, well, all in good time. ;P
