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Young Writers Society


YWS: 2015 in Review plus stats (it's yuuuuge!)



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Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:27 pm
Nate says...



Long, long ago, on a web site that no longer exists, the Young Writers Society was created at http://yws.nathancaldwell.net on Nov. 14, 2004. It wasn't long until it got its own domain though, and the rest is history.

2015: IN REVIEW



In 2015, YWS turned 11. What are some of the important things that happened this year? To name just a few...

In January 2015, Word Wars and statistics for literary works were introduced. @manisha also started the 2015 Reading Challenge and @Aley began The Sims: YWS Edition.

In February 2015, @LadySpark and @Lauren2010 ran the The Love Extravaganza, which included a contest and the "All Things Love" workshop. The submission period for the 2015 Literary Journal (http://bit.ly/amznywlj) was opened up, @Elysium ran a Banner Contest, @Firestarter ran The YWS Cup II, and @Birkhoff asked for your Academy Awards 2015 Predictions!.

In March 2015, @Pompadour asked Ready for NaPoWriMo 2015?. Other than that, March was... March.

In April 2015, things started off in glorious YWS fashion with @Iggy announcing that Nate is stepping down. But, that was April Fools, and no one took it seriously. Throughout the rest of the month, @Rydia announced April Madness 2015 and @Audy began A Poet's Universe for NaPoWriMo. @LadySpark et al ran the Think and Wonder, Wonder and Think Weekend!, and @Paracosm asked for your Your Summer Reading List.

In May 2015, Nate mysteriously began changing the YWS logo each day (because he / I can!). That led up to Announcing YWS: Cassini.

In June 2015, @Lava posted Translature - Vol I, a YWS-lit magazine showcasing the many languages that YWSers speak, @Blues reminded all of us about NaNoWriMo with Camp NaNo: Post your plots!, @Tenyo began The Last Man Standing: Round II, and @Rydia managed The Big Review.

In July 2015, a lot happened. YWS celebrated the Third Annual Christmas In July! July 18 - 19, 2015, and we asked you to unearth your reviewing power with the Avatar: The Legend of the July 2015 Review Day. @Iggy announced that YWS reached 90,000 Topics!, and @LadySpark asked you to join PawPrints: Official YWS Book Club.

In August 2015, @LadySpark announced the Shakespeare Festival Voice Actor Audtions! DEADLINE EXTENDED, @Lumi posted The Biggest Staff Secrets..., and something went Oops.

In September 2015, an idea started by @Rydia made us all say that September is NaRevWriMo!.

In October 2015, @Stranger asked If your novel was a movie, what would be its final song?. But mostly, we recuperated from NaRevWriMo.

In November 2015, we asked Who's ready for NaNoWriMo 2015?. We were also Celebrating YWS' 11th Birthday!, @Bolt sang for us in the The November 14 Birthday Radio Show!, and the Young Writers Literary Journal was published (http://bit.ly/amznywlj).

In December 2015, what didn't happen? In anticipation of some sort of indie flick, @Deanie ran the Star Wars Reviewing Challenge!. @BlueAfrica ran BlueAfrica's Narrative Voice Contest, @LadySpark informed us that Willy Shakes takes over the 4th Annual YWStival!, and @LadySpark, @Lumi, and @Kyllorac et al performed the The Shakespeare Radio Play: December 19th-20th. We asked you to Celebrate the Holidays with YWS Dec. 19 - 20, 2015! and the oldest & nastiest YWS rivalry was resurrected with the Monkeys v Dragons Review Day on Dec. 30, 2015.

A special thanks also goes to @BlueAfrica, @megsug, and @Gravity for keeping the excellent Squills running all year long.

Whew... that's quite a review. If I missed anything that should've been included (as I almost certainly did), please don't get angry or upset. Just send me a private message and I'll rectify the error!


2015: THE STATISTICS



For more, see: Where YWSers came from in 2015

Overall
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Sessions
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Pageviews
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New Members
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January - 475
February - 468
March - 396
April - 462
May - 451
June - 405
July - 384
August - 349
September - 388
October - 484
November - 385
December - 416


Literary Works
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January - 668
February - 532
March - 616
April - 578
May - 516
June - 533
July - 568
August - 474
September - 615
October - 593
November - 610
December - 672


Reviews
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January -2190
February - 1789
March - 2445
April - 2016
May - 2098
June - 1797
July - 1837
August - 1468
September - 2731
October - 1533
November - 1708
December - 1959


Forum Posts (incl. storybooks)
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January- 5429
February - 4710
March - 4688
April- 5648
May - 4781
June - 4049
July - 3458
August - 3721
September - 3790
October - 4342
November - 3630
December - 3233


Storybook Posts
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January - 1560
February - 1199
March - 1222
April - 1282
May - 1104
June - 1033
July - 780
August - 893
September - 1183
October - 1727
November - 1457
December - 1257


Wall Comments
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January - 11336
February - 7276
March - 8128
April - 9532
May - 10021
June - 12514
July - 11653
August - 8760
September - 10610
October - 9799
November - 8333
December - 9480
  





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Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:51 pm
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Iggy says...



What a wonderful year it was <3

Let's make 2016 more awesome! :mrgreen:
“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."
- Lewis Carroll
  





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Thu Jan 07, 2016 10:43 pm
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Gringoamericano says...



What do you think caused the giant spike in new membership at the beginning of this picture?

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(Also, we get about 421.9 new members a month. I wonder how many of those ended up staying past their first couple of visits)
"Can't break an omelette without making a few eggs"

From the ashes of the old YWS Chat; it's the Unofficial YWS Discord server. Come join us!: https://discordapp.com/invite/UhSr7uW
  





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Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:05 am
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Prokaryote says...



I knew it, Nate's voting for Trump
  





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Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:59 am
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Nate says...



Haha, not quite Pork. I keep whom I'm voting for a closely guarded secret ;)

@Gringoamericano ->> That'd be 93 new members on February 23! What happened is a school in California used YWS as part of their curriculum for their second semester. On that day, the whole slew of them signed up. The students were very active on the site for a while, but because their assignment didn't differ from what any YWSer would do (e.g., post a new work, write reviews), no one really noticed, though I did give the mods a heads up about it.

Regarding user retention, nearly all new members visit the site at least once more after sign-up, but most will leave after a month or two. That's fairly normal for a site like YWS, but our retention rate has gotten a lot worse in the past year. It's something I'm actually pretty concerned about.
  





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Fri Jan 08, 2016 3:54 am
Gringoamericano says...



Wow, that's extremely neat that YWS is (apparently big enough to be) used in education like that. Would you be open to other schools adding it to their curriculum as well?

Also, about the user-retention thing, if it gets to a point where something has to be done to increase it (although hopefully we never reach that point), what would you do?
"Can't break an omelette without making a few eggs"

From the ashes of the old YWS Chat; it's the Unofficial YWS Discord server. Come join us!: https://discordapp.com/invite/UhSr7uW
  





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Fri Jan 08, 2016 4:47 am
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Nate says...



Yep, always open to teachers using YWS. It usually happens about twice a year, but this was the first time the teacher contacted me first before using YWS. As a result, I was able to set her up with a private club just for her classes so that they could communicate between one another easily.

For increasing user retention, improving the Publishing Center is at the top of my list. But, the one thing that would go a really long way is a mobile-friendly version of YWS. Or, even better, an app. Nearly 40% of all visits come from mobile devices, so making it a better experience for those visits could greatly increase user engagement.
  








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