MOG stats: Overload
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Artist:
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Track:There is a Light That Never Goes Out
After CodyB brought us his MOG stats last week, I started wondering about whether there really had been a drop in comments, and whether this was a long or short term trend. So, armed with my slide rule and Excel (for Mac), I did a little investigating of my own.
Crunching those numbers, the old school way.
I decided that the best data to look at would be the comments my posts had garnered over the past two and a bit years. As of sunday morning, I had made 427 posts, and received 5025 comments, working out at about 11.8 posts per comment, with a standard deviation of 10.5. But this didn't say anything about trends, so I bunged all the figures into a rather nifty graph:
As you can see, the number of comments has fluctuated quite widely, and apart from a boom between posts 20 -70, there has been no real upward or downward trend. So, why do we feel that our posts are less popular now than they used to be?
To find an answer to this question, I broke the figures down into 8 batches of 50 (ignoring the 27 most recent posts), and played around with those figures. Initially the answers backed up the theory that their had been no great trends:
Mean averages for each batch:
| 1st: 12.9 |
| 2nd: 11.4 |
| 3rd 15.0 |
| 4th: 11.2 |
| 5th: 12.1 |
| 6th: 11.0 |
| 7th: 11.0 |
| 8th: 10.0 |
(For completeness' sake, the last 27 posts averaged 11.7 comments per post)
The standard deviations however, showed more variance:
| SD |
| 1st: 11.2 |
| 2nd: 9.3 |
| 3rd: 21.9 |
| 4th: 7.0 |
| 5th: 7.0 |
| 6th: 6.0 |
| 7th: 6.9 |
| 8th: 6.0 |
(Last 27 = 6.5)
And a visual comparison of the two data sets:
But (if you've persevered this far) I hear you cry, "what does all this mean?" Well, if we take what happened in my posts as symptomatic of all MOG, we can observe:
1) There has been no significant trend in the number of comments per post over time.
2) There has been a significant decrease in the standard deviation of these figures.
- This indicates that while posts still on average get the same number of comments, there is less fluctuation, meaning that less posts get a much larger than average number of comments.
3) I have far too much time on my hands.
4) You don't need a PC for number-crunching, a Mac can do it just as well :P
Hence, if anyone feels that MOG is less well populated than before, it is likely to be because less "big hitting" posts are getting huge amounts of comments, not because there has been a drop in the average number of comments. Or at least that is what happened to me.
And if all those numbers have left you confused, just press the red button to hear The Magic Numbers covering The Smiths, and wait for someone to post some Jessica Biel pics ;)
Comments (32)
Ok, my graphs have been chopped slightly by MOG, go to my profile page if you want to see them in their full glory...
Uh huh.....oh....erm....OK...ummm...WHAT?
Too much math and statistics in one post!!! What does it all mean! Does it mean that I have to make a MOG crushes #2 post?
{change your pics' resolution to a smaller one, and repost them, they'll be fine}
Oh, and here's a Biel photo:
;P
Haha, this is both mind boggling as well as very fun. :P
I say yes to another MOG crushes post, if there is one thing MOG needs to liven it up it is a return to the days of talking about lesbian sex farms... and thanks for the tip about the graphs...
And as for that pic... I think I need to be alone with my post for a few moments
ahhhhhhhhhh.
that was far too mathmatical for me.
(shudders)
although, i think comment # depends on a lot of variables such as title, content, topic, execution, opinion taken etc.
i.e. more interesting or relevant posts get the most comments. that is the only trend ive noticed. its kind of a duh.
Cripes Jox, I come here to GET AWAY from work - you may have found the perfect formula to reduce the number of comments though:
(music + statistical graphs) / relative complexity = death of fun
Oh, never mind...
And, Anna, that tip about changing the "JPG" to "jpg" is the shiznit!! Nice observation!!!
i have nothing to say other than this post serves to maintain average
You're welcome, gentlemen. I'm all about pics lately :)
PS
Cold shower time :P
And as a real thank you, Anna:
i don't get it....i mean i reallly don't get it.
but i LOVVVE the song. (I like the original much better tho)
And Anna geeez that photo is quite a racy one for such a young girl like Biel. What photographer asks her to sit in a freaking sink.
Joxy, I can't see the picture :/
Faith-Ann, I'm sure many men would ;)
Im only hear because i heard someone mentioned "lesbian sex"
is this true?
*Here
I plead distraction.
I agree... but mainly because sinks strike me as a fairly unstable thing to sit in... but anyway, here is your eye candy Anna (Why does mog hate my pictures today?)
Wow. Jox, seriously, step away from Excel. Yeesh! ;)
Worried about losing your Data Demon crown? :P
My name is Troy Powers, and I approve of this post.
Terrified, yes, thanks for rubbing it in. :P
More numbers? Head...hurts. (I guess when they told Jessica that show business was "sink or swim," she chose "sink.")
ARRGGGHHHH!!! Now you've done it! Merged realities...HELP!!!
i want to put it out there that maybe it has to do with the amount of users on mog. at least for me, it's harder to comment on every post on every trusted...
So, Mr. Excel, what are the average number of MOG posts related to Lesbian Sex Farms?
traffic?
Jox - from one numbers geek to another - I get it, AND love the work you put in to this.
Cheers!
uhm, I was under the understanding that there was no math allowed here on mog
It touches me deeply that you would care enough to do this investigation on our behalf. And besides that, you're just flat out stinkin wonderful. So thanks. And I get fewer comments because I rarely post, so I don't worry about it. Label my graph, "I'm so tired," and consider that the number of posts I've made this year converges or parallels or whatever with the number of papers I've had to grade and how many glasses of Jack Daniels I've had, and whether or not I've been sleeping.
And isn't Rawkiddo just the cutest? I like following him around.
what's the statistical impact of using combining images of female starlets with confusion-producing Excel charts? awesome post. !
Jox, i approve of you 100% because: "You don't need a PC for number-crunching, a Mac can do it just as well".
but let me ask, how do these trends fare in relation to the trends in new Trusteds you have over the same period of time using the same variables? or you can f that and do the lesbian sex farms post instead. i am curious either way. ;d
Hah, that was fun...Of course, you were just calculating your posts, which are routinely stellar. There are some who would kill for 11.8 comments per post, especially when something like 60% of posts now receive ZERO comments..The main thing I think we've both proven is that posts about or that become about, Jessica Biel,lesbian sex farms, and MOG (as long as they aren't about music) are very popular.
A+
She came
She saw
She conquered
The end