I am going to share the results I’ve gotten from my week-long project. I am not going to respond to argumentative questions about the data. It is simply the data I collected. If you have additional or different data, please share that! But not interested in arguing this. I am simply providing information to the community.
- Sharing – I shared posts via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Mix, and a few by Reddit.
- I edited old spots that were high views but low comments.
- I shared old Virily posts of mine.
That is the initial reality of the project. Once I started sharing things, I had the following. If I shared your post and commented that was marked and I checked your post later. If you responded to my comment, I shared your post again.
What Did I find?
- Facebook was the top driver for views (which I was shocked by) for other users. However, based o where we are right now, the current state was way fewer views. Based on the greatly reduced views overall, I think this may be a false positive.
- Edited post and old shared old posts had very different views. Edited posts came into Virily as if they were new, shared old posts with high views, picked up many more views than the edited posts did (one edited post with more than 1000 views ended up growing more than any other ending up over 1200 views in total, the rest moved 10-20 views total)
- This concerns me, the value of an edited post isn’t much.
- Unless the post was high views in the first place, then it will move again.
- For this, I got much more response from twitter.
- I did not share old posts on Facebook and will have to examine that going forward.
- When I shared my posts on twitter, I got many more external views. That was not the case for sharing other author’s posts on twitter.
- Mix had virtually no increase in views for anyone.
- Pinterest also had little to any view impact.
I have a couple of conclusions overall.
What do I think?
I have thought for more than two years that twitter was the answer for views on Virily. It is for my posts, but right now didn’t move anyone else. Facebook shares go into two writing groups I am a part of and did generate some views.
All in all, I look back at this project and think it wasn’t the best use of my time. I keep thinking there has to be a way to increase views. I know there is, we will find it! The only thing I know for sure out of this experiment is if you have a low comment, but high view posts in your archive edit them and get them back into the flow of the site. That is the only thing out of this project that moved the most!
High view, high scammed older posts that are shared, end up with more views than the same type of post edited.
-
Question of
i was shocked that Facebook had better views than twitter, were you?
-
Yes
-
No
-
-
Question of
twitter did better for my own posts but not the posts of others interesting yeah?
-
Yes
-
No
-
-
Question of
try sharing some of your old posts on twitter and see if you get a bump from that ok?
-
Yes
-
No
-
Then it only says one thing: your serious followers are in Twitter. In my case, my views and following only improve when I used FB as my main platform.
it seems that is the case, i am still playing around with it to find the right balance.
I want to help other writers, but also help the site gain views!
You’ve done do great + useful research!!! Surely try to make experiment with my old Virily posts on Twitter!!!
let me know what you find out!!!
Yeah, of course!!! Try to watch old posts statistics daily.
i watch some of them overall
Let me share the result of my small experiment with publishing my old Virily posts on Twitter. You know, it was quite insignificant – an increase in views for each post by approximately 10 views (published my 10 old posts in Twitter).
But, maybe it’s normal/ quite high result for my narrow segment (All about Scandinavia + the Baltic States + stories about my trips). To my mind, your SEO articles should have a much larger audience. Also, unlike you, I didn’t compare similar Twitter statistics with FB and other social networks.
thank you for sharing and doing that. 10 views per post or a little over a 100 views is interesting.
try the same 10 on facebook!
OK, will make small experiment № 2 and also inform you about its results.
that would be amazing, i did the exact same thing and was shocked (I did it for my posts and for a couple of other folks posts!)
Let me announce the results of publishing my old Virily posts on FB + very sorry for my late answer!
I published my 10 old Virily posts on FB for about a week ago. The result was almost the same as with the publication of these posts on Twitter: + 7-8 new views (the best result was 13 new views – the post “3 Nordic countries for 11 days: tips for independent travelers”).
However, there was something interesting with statistics of these posts published on Twitter before. I’ve checked it once again and seen that after 2-3 weeks of their re-publication on Twitter the number of their views was increased by approximately 21-23 views (in comparison with the result I’ve written you before – an increase in views for each post by approximately 10 views). Maybe, the audience coverage increases over some time after posts publication.
your findings mirror what i have found.
Interestingly, I also find older posts do better on twitter for me. But Facebook does better for newer posts!
Yeah, also noticed that, although I did not analyze the statistics of new posts in detail.
i have been! i am holding off publishing this I don’t want to deal with all the self-righteous comments.
Interesting research. Your results are very surprising indeed.
thanks it kind of shocked me at first, but I have been playing with the information since then!
Q: I WAS SHOCKED THAT FACEBOOK HAD BETTER VIEWS THAN TWITTER, WERE YOU?
Yes (6 votes) – 43%
No (8 votes) – 57%
Q: TWITTER DID BETTER FOR MY OWN POSTS BUT NOT THE POSTS OF OTHERS INTERESTING YEAH?
Yes (10 votes) – 71%
No (4 votes) – 29%
Q: TRY SHARING SOME OF YOUR OLD POSTS ON TWITTER AND SEE IF YOU GET A BUMP FROM THAT OK?
Yes (6 votes) – 50%
No (6 votes) – 50%
Good job Doc. I never created a twitter account, so I know nothing about it. I used to share on fb but never got any views. I rarely post on fb anymore, much less share posts from other sites. I am surprised that old posts do so well. I will not edit old posts, with the way they are counted as new I believe it just isnt fair. I won’t be editing old posts. I am glad you tried it though, the results are kind of what I thought, and the reason I think it is unfair.
it may actually help Virkly if you edit high view low comment low posts.
It is a very fine line, and I cannot tell for sure if in fact, it makes a difference.
High view, high comment edits are a bad idea, that impacts other authors.
I’ve tested the first concept with 8 old tech posts, and each of them gained between 20-30 views in 24 hours (and only one was on most commented all the comments were brand new the post had zero comments originally).
OH okay. I just didn’t want it to impact others. So, if I were to find an old post with low comments and high views, it wont impact new posts?
unless people comment like crazy, then no impact on others!
The value seems to be those posts bring many more views in the short 24 hour period they are new!
Okay, if I run out of stuff to post this would be a good experiment for me. I wouldn’t want to make a habit though.
it isn’t as easy as you would think. I find roughly a 1/10 of my old posts meet both criteria.
Man, all of my old posts have all the pictures stripped clean. I did find a few that fit, low comments, high views. I just can’t figure out how to edit them. I never paid attention when others were explaining how to do it, because I never thought I would.
go to your profile
more button
posts
when you get to the page where the one you want to edit is located
find the 3 dots below the post you want to edit
click the dots
you should see edit post
from there it is as it has been!!!
Awe, thank you. I didnt want to actually ask. Thank you for taking the time out to explain it to me. I will try a bit later after my first cup to try. Thanks again.
my goal is to help if I can! you are most welcome!!!
Q: I WAS SHOCKED THAT FACEBOOK HAD BETTER VIEWS THAN TWITTER, WERE YOU?
Yes (6 votes) – 46%
No (7 votes) – 54%
Q: TWITTER DID BETTER FOR MY OWN POSTS BUT NOT THE POSTS OF OTHERS INTERESTING YEAH?
Yes (9 votes) – 69%
No (4 votes) – 31%
Q: TRY SHARING SOME OF YOUR OLD POSTS ON TWITTER AND SEE IF YOU GET A BUMP FROM THAT OK?
Yes (5 votes) – 45%
No (6 votes) – 55%
I have closed my FB account , I haven’t used twitter in a long time. Pinterest is the only place I have shared posts , I haven’t seen any views coming from pinterest. I guess we just need to get more active here.
i have used Pinterest as a backup for posts for along time. I haven’t really tried to grow it. i like your increasing activity on the Pinterest idea.
not sure what that would look like but love the idea.
I meant we need to get more active at Virily. I was hoping to do that but life seems to have different plans for me each day. LOL
both work!
we do what we can do! we just need to keep Virily moving forward and positive!
Interesting findings but unfortunately they do not apply to me as I do not share on any other social media platform even though I remember vaguely I have a Facebook and Twitter account. I just write and comment for the pleasure of talking online rather than verbally and or face to face. I am very happy though for your very own success via Facebook…
that is perfectly fine we do what we do!
i have found that my personal audience is on twitter. But if I am sharing Virily posts from others, it is apparently facebook.
Interesting research. I Twitter more than send off to FB now I might just do both every time. You know what I noticed today a refreshed Virily post that has over 300 views now that is impress but I know it did not happen all at once. I no longer let things bother me I do the best I can and I am glad that I can be a part of this site.
i am interested in figuring out how to drive views. without resorting to what is wrong with Virily as the headline.
i am not, by the way, advocating anyone else change their activity. just sharing what I found out!
You know what is interesting Doc that I happened to notice. The posts I make now that tell about my parents, Latvians and the old days do all right because it is something that others did not know about. However, I would have thought that is would also be interesting sharing posts about America. It seems that those kinds of posts do not bring out much interest and I wonder why. I did one about the history of the Liberty Bell and that one really fell flat. I must now consider why that is and perhaps I am not drawing too much interest in the way I present it. Eventually, I want to make it so that I have shared as many of my posts as I can because if I have written them why leave them gathering dust?
i find personally, there are easy headlines that work every time (what is wrong with Virily), and others that people enjoy.
I suspect the other side for your history posts is building an audience. i have been looking at old posts – for the wander project i used to get 150-200 views mostly external but there are 0, 2 comments.
The easy button is I am not sure now. What I thought was the driver is not.
I am certain you will work it all do and do what’s best for you and the site. Many wishes of good luck.
thank you for the kind words! I am going to keep trying!
Good research and thanks for explaining the results. You might do well on Facebook but I don’t notice a difference. By the way, I was searching for one of my old Virily posts that I shared on Twitter and found that you had tweeted some of my posts. Thank you very much.
if I read and comment, I tweeted it!
you are most welcome!
I understand that my twitter and facebook are used to sharing my blog posts. my goal overall is to help Virily get back some of our lost views.
Interesting research. I am also surprised by the result. I share very little on Facebook
well I am sharing more now! More people need to wander along with Vidocka on her walks!!!!
I gave up on trying to share my posts on social media. But glad you know now what may work and what may not do so well. We have to keep trying different avenues to get the views up.
and thank you so much for everything you do!
I am very sad but the end results, and at the end of a week views are down still. We shall see.
Glad you are continuing to try and find a solution. You are welcome. Wish I could do more.
you are always willing to help me try different things. You are always doing all sorts of new things on the site. Plus you are always encouraging!
How kind of you, I needed to hear that, thanks!
i am happy to do so!
I guess for twitter people follow you for you … while one facebook, people tend to read things that interest them.
Also I think twitter is more of a quick check-in than facebook? Just my thoughts.
But anyway, I don’t login to both… and I can’t even remember my Twitter password now
well pal I think you are dead on and i kind of knew that. But the last time I did the mover’s project twitter was still more effective.
I don’t know why it was FB this time. I am more confused than I was!
LOL. Let’s just says, time changes … :p
time changes everything, now if I can figure out how to drive more FB views for people!
Interesting experiment. I have always found Facebook drives more views of my own posts than Twitter.
So i did this last year 4 times. Each of those four times twitter so twice Facebook. I have no idea what changed but i know I need to share more on Facebook!
That was an interesting finding. It paves way of finding effective ways of increasing views. I knew Facebook rocked in generating views. Maybe it’s because I don’t use twitter.
i don’t know. I am a little confused. It is data and it is not 100% reliable (there are way to many variables for me to control)
but FB seemed better this time.
It’s interesting to see how your project worked in the end. Your results are very surprising indeed.
i realized some interesting things. I am in several writing groups of FB, that may be part of this. I don’t know.