almost famous

I've seen a surprising increase in views of blog entries here. Between mid November and early December, views of similar entries (eg CB features, always blogged to the same protocol and promoted the same way) have gone up by a factor of 5-10, and stayed high since. Until November they were on a gradual decline curve, sliding to fewer than 100 in some cases.

I've selected one type of entry for clarity, but it's the same phenomenon for other types as well (eg family history), which is what makes me suspicious. It can't be that all these very different topics are suddenly finding a lot more interest. It could be something like improved visibility in searches. Or at worst, some kind of accounting glitch or increased activity by bots? If anybody has any idea what may have happened (or developed a surprising addiction to this blog since November), I'd be grateful for hints.

The one thing I did change around that time was giving up on the regular (up to four times a week) science news entries, which had also slipped in viewing stats since I introduced them a couple of years earlier. I absolutely don't see, however, how these would have scared away 80-90% of my audience.

Screenshot from today - you can read the actual numbers when you click on the pic.

PS (29.4.) I have now updated the profile info with a new photo (the other one was around 10 years old) showing lockdown locks and grey moustache. Might keep the views in check.