Site stats= Pageviews, favs, etc.

I'm wondering if it's wiser to not give your site stats out, even if you're proud of them.
Can/would it cause jealousy and alienate some of your readers who also draw comics?


I'm asking to see if it's happened to anyone or if they themselves got resentful.


Me personally:
I've never gotten resentful personally, just impressed or even proud when it's one of my favorites- I can understand how accomplished and happy it makes people feel that people are even reading your webcomic. though i can get pigheaded arrogance from it ;)

I've never felt resentful when someone with high site stats posts them - especially since these people tend to talk about how they managed to get so many pageviews, etc. (posting a lot in the forums, got featured, etc., etc.) - but I always think a lot before I post my own.

It's probably a Swedish thing - you're supposed to be "lagom [en.wikipedia.org]", and then there's whole whole Jante Law [en.wikipedia.org], which is pretty deep-seated in almost all of us. Even when I'm outright asked about it, and am just being honest, it feels like I'm bragging. >.>

When a thread starts like that, I don't post until after there are a few replies. I like to see those threads because I feel more "equal" to the other people here, which is a big deal for me since I feel fairly inferior to most everyone on the site. (Not resentful, just impressed/awed.) There's just so much talent around here. If anything, I'm usually shocked that some of the fantastic comics don't have higher numbers. -- At least I can assure the newer talent that their stats will increase simply with time.

Skullbie: I have to admit my jaw hit the floor when I saw You had more views Best Single Day than I had over six month lol! But I don't think I'm jealous. I WOULD like to have as many readers - but I'm not gonna hate You just because I don't ;) I don't post in the forums much and I update like twice a month, so I'm hard to fish out in this OCEAN of comics on DD, and perhaps easily forgotten by the time I post a new page. But I have a faithful bunch of readers, most of whom show up on the day I update. So how can I complain? :) And I'm always happy to see one of my friends featured

I have to say, I don't normally post in those threads, mostly 'cause what could I say? I always feel out of place, like I'm getting involved in a fight with the big boys. lol!

But I've never once felt jealous. I mean, there are so many different comics here, for so many different readers. Why get jealous? If you've got even one fan that enjoys your comic, you're doing good.

I actually feel uncomfortable with my rising stats. It makes me feel like I've got more to prove with each successive strip. Pressure, you know?

Steely Gaze
I have to say, I don't normally post in those threads, mostly 'cause what could I say? I always feel out of place, like I'm getting involved in a fight with the big boys. lol!

That's why I post. The "big boys" have stuff to show off and be proud of but it's sort of bad for other users to not have a variety to compare to. The stats help you measure something, but it doesn't mean much without a comparison. If only the top comics and previously featured comics are posting in those threads, it really can discourage someone who has been here for just a month or two and not had a chance to be noticed yet. Those threads are really for them to have some idea of what the stats mean, so it helps for the "non-big-boys" to post their numbers. ;)

It's not a competition, at least not to me, so why would your success cause resentment?

Even the top spot in the ratings has other web comics out there that put their numbers to shame.

It ain't braggin' if it's a fact. You deserve all the success you've earned.

Later,
Chip

Frostflowers
It's probably a Swedish thing - you're supposed to be "lagom [en.wikipedia.org]", and then there's whole whole Jante Law [en.wikipedia.org], which is pretty deep-seated in almost all of us. Even when I'm outright asked about it, and am just being honest, it feels like I'm bragging. >.>

As a Brit, I can identify with that. I only recently downloaded the DD Alerter and I was pleasantly surprised by how many readers had added my comic to their favourites - not a huge number but more than I was expecting! Nevertheless, my deep-rooted British reserve would make me feel uncomfortable about "advertising" the number!

It's silly really. I recently started looking at how SmackJeeves does things and, there, everyone can see not only how many favourites a comic has but who the readers are. DD's FAQ's state that it is important for this kind of reader information to be kept secret, but it doesn't seem to have caused any problems over there and so I'm not convinced all this secrecy really serves any purpose.

I felt the same. I didn't post my pageviews for the longest time because of that. I only did it in the end because I wasn't getting that number anymore and I thought a little showing off was finally in order ^_^

The closest I've ever come to resenting anyone else's pageviews is probably sitting in my chair going "WANT!" when I see those numbers. I just end up wondering how they managed to get that big that fast, get people to continually come back, etc. I have more curiosity about how the bigger people promote themselves to get the numbers they do consistently rather than get jealous. I barely even keep an eye on what I get, so I don't even really have a whole lot to compare. Though I will say, that looking at the numbers on PW contrasted with the DD stats is a rather sobering experience.

Though I am intensely curious to see what Carly gets on Creepy Carly just to compare for kicks and giggles since I think her comic is about the only other single panel comic on DD that updates regularly.

I don't post to brag, I like the fact that other people post their stats, so I do too. Transparency is a good thing, and it's not like we're telling each other our income here.

cs3ink
It's not a competition, at least not to me, so why would your success cause resentment?

Even the top spot in the ratings has other web comics out there that put their numbers to shame.

It ain't braggin' if it's a fact. You deserve all the success you've earned.

Later,
Chip

I concur.

Now if every post or most of a person's posts deal with pageviews, well...
It does get annoying.
The people who are successful with their comics don't normally brag about it or complain about it.

There are more pressing concerns and more issues worthy of stress in real life, than how many hits one's free webcomic gets.

Also, I wish more of my readers commented. In the end, hits is just some number. But it makes my day when a reader posts out of nowhere telling me how he just read my entire archive, and then gives me his in-depth impressions of my story.

mlai
There are more pressing concerns and more issues worthy of stress in real life, than how many hits one's free webcomic gets.

Having big viewing numbers actually gets you into a new tier... You get offered interesting opportunities that you probably otherwise wouldn't ;)

But even with that, the thing about my comic that has helped me most is the quality. That's swung jobs for me, for people who could care less about numbers. That's why I don't really get thus comic==hobby, real life/online life separation. For me it's always worked together pretty seamlessly. Take your work more seriously and you might get more benefits out of it.

That said, creatively fulfilling as comicy things are, it's nice to take a step back away and to be earning more doing other easier things. Even though my comic helped even in that :)

ozoneocean
But even with that, the thing about my comic that has helped me most is the quality. That's swung jobs for me, for people who could care less about numbers. That's why I don't really get thus comic==hobby, real life/online life separation. For me it's always worked together pretty seamlessly. Take your work more seriously and you might get more benefits out of it.

Easy for someone who is single with no kids. ;)

It might be. So what? It's true.
Whatever you do, if you like it enough you can make something more out of it.

Treat stuff as a hobby and that's all it'll ever be for you, but you have to understand that there are more possibilities out there for those that are willing and able to put more into it. A lot of commentors in the comic forum here specifically only go off their own personal comic making experience and base all their opinions on that: Web comics must always only be nothing more than a hobby.

That's only true for the hobbyists.

----------------------------------
An example close to home:

Dylan started this site as a personal side project for fun. he stuck with it and eventually there was quite a pay-off. ;)

ozoneocean
It might be. So what? It's true.
Whatever you do, if you like it enough you can make something more out of it.

Treat stuff as a hobby and that's all it'll ever be for you, but you have to understand that there are more possibilities out there for those that are willing and able to put more into it. A lot of commentors in the comic forum here specifically only go off their own personal comic making experience and base all their opinions on that: Web comics must always only be nothing more than a hobby.

That's only true for the hobbyists.

----------------------------------
An example close to home:

Dylan started this site as a personal side project for fun. he stuck with it and eventually there was quite a pay-off. ;)

I was joking. :)
I agree with you but it is pretty hard to dedicate more time to my comic due to life's constraints. I would love to do this full time but being married and having a child and paying bills makes that a bit difficult. I do look at my comic as more than a hobby.

Ah cool :)
I'd hope so, your work is impressive ^^

I look at my comic as more of an obsessive and maybe self destructive hobby.

I think it is a big reason I don't have kids, female interference, or many bills.

Though not having many bills also goes back to the kids/female interference thingy.

I guess the only thing I still need to do to really step this hobby up into another category is take some kind of art and writing classes. Though I fear that would make the process much less fun.

I dunno - I toy with the idea of art classes too - mostly I think I'd benefit from them. You'd probably find the process even MORE fun, JNP - art classes will give you new things to try, new ways to improve...that's always satisfying.

Let's remember that there are easier, more reliable, more respectable (yknow, to the folks), and more profitable ways of earning a living than drawing comics...

So treating a hobby as a hobby is nothing to mull over.

mlai
So treating a hobby as a hobby is nothing to mull over.

That's if it is a hobby.

For me, I'm an artist, that's what I suppose I always wanted to be, I trained for it, and I eventually made it a job. My comic is simply a part of my art practise. I look at it as much more of a longer term thing than any of the stuff I do to make more money. And as I've said, it's helped me get better paying jobs whenever I've needed them, even when those jobs don't involve making comics. ^_^

All I can go on saying is that you get out of things like this what you put into them.

If I may barge in with my stupid little opinion, I don't really understand why anyone would want to split their pursuits in life into "hobbies" and "serious stuff" to begin with. This isn't a dig on anyone directly, but I happen to have a dayjob that I love, and I love doing comics/art in general, I just happen to get paid for one and not for the other (very rarely, anyway, I almost never get commissions.) I have a bunch of other "hobbies" (i.e. activities that don't pay my bills), and I take those seriously too. Otherwise, what's the point? Life's too short to waste it doing things you don't care about.

JustNoPoint
I look at my comic as more of an obsessive and maybe self destructive hobby.

I think it is a big reason I don't have kids, female interference, or many bills.

Though not having many bills also goes back to the kids/female interference thingy.

I guess the only thing I still need to do to really step this hobby up into another category is take some kind of art and writing classes. Though I fear that would make the process much less fun.

I have kids, a female spouse who has been known to interfere a bit, and I certainly have bills. Yet I do this anyway.

Yes, I am a masochist.---Al