Newbie question about views

[FrancesScott]

I hope it’s OK to mention @old_prof here.

His story was #1 on the LS category new page yesterday and I was #2. He was #3 on the all stories new page and I was #8. He has 400+ followers and I only have 100.

But his story has 8,000+ views and mine a paltry 1,700. I have two LS stories with over 18,000 views, so this is kind of a new experience for me. Neither of us have clickbaity titles or subtitles, so I don’t think it’s that.

Do the slight differences in positioning I mention above scale up into such a wide discrepancy in views? Is view count actually dumb luck as to where you land on a list? Or is something else going on?

The only other major difference is that mine is a very short story at only 2,000 words and his is novelette length at 17,000. I’m speculating here and maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment. But do you get views for each page of a story clicked on, or is the first page viewed the only one that counts? The former would explain the view difference in entirety.

I’m rather at a loss to understand the dynamic unless it is something like this. Or it’s just random of course.

 

[Bazzle]

Literotica witchcraft and magic beans.

Somethings on this website are a mystery.

 

[StillStunned]

I don't think the difference in position explains the difference in views. I've regularly had stories published first on category pages and (three times) the All New Stories list. The only time that top spot has led to significantly more views was a T/I contest story. Second spot, third spot? Not really much difference.

As @Bazzle says, it's a mystery.

The only other major difference is that mine is a very short story at only 2,000 words and his is novelette length at 17,000. I’m speculating here and maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment. But do you get views for each page of a story clicked on, or is the first page viewed the only one that counts? The former would explain the view difference in entirety.

First page only is the general consensus.

 

[ronde]

As far as anybody knows, clicking on a story title results in a "view". The number of pages has no impact.

 

[FrancesScott]

First page only is the general consensus.

Then I am at a total loss to explain the discrepancy. I know it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, but I am uncomfortable with things I can’t analyze and understand.

If @old_prof will forgive me, while he is a much more prolific and established writer, and has won a competition, I’d argue that I’m at least as established as him within the LS category.

There is some factor here that I can’t grasp. I thought at first that the view counter was glitching again. But it works for other people. Discounting @silkstockingslover who is as close to royalty as it comes here, every other LS story published with mine (including those below me on the new list) had more views. It makes no sense, and that bothers me.

As I say, it’s meaningless minutiae at the end of the day. But I don’t like mysteries.

 

[SimonDoom]

Views aren't entirely predictable. They result from a number of factors, and I think there's a healthy dose of randomness, as well.

Views also don't necessarily translate to high scores, either, although sometimes they do. The reverse also is true. While, all things being even, having a higher score will get you more views in the short and long term, it won't necessarily do so, and having a lower score won't necessarily mean you won't get many views.

Here are some factors that, based on my observation of my own stories over the years, and those of others, will tend to result in higher views:

1. An appealing, titillating title that appeals to readers of the category.
2. The story is published by a popular author with many followers. That way, they all get a notice when the story gets published.
3. The story appears on a toplist, so more people see it.
4. Being nominated in a contest
5. An appealing tagline
6. Correct category choice
7. Having one's story appear on a "similar stories" list at the end of a popular story. This is a big one, but it usually doesn't happen until your story has been favorited enough times.
8. Where the story appears on the new story list. Higher is better. It's also, as far as I can tell, totally random.

As for your story and Old Prof's, I checked them out on the list. Here are possible factors that might explain why his has more:

1. His story is higher on the new story list. That's just random chance.
2. He has more followers than you do.
3. His story has a higher score, though yours has a good score too.
4. As a result of the score, his story appears higher on the category toplist. Note that there's very little relationship on this list between vote totals (which we can guess correlate to some degree with view totals) and the score. Wanda's at the top with a high score and lots of votes, but that's in part because she has been around and has many loyal followers who I am sure read her stories as soon as they get noticed that they'r epublished. But look down the list from there and you'll see a big difference between scores and votes.

 

[crookedletter]

The only logical explanation I can imagine is that @old_prof , as we've all long suspected, is a cult leader.

 

[FrancesScott]

1. An appealing, titillating title that appeals to readers of the category.

Neither of us check this box IMO.

2. The story is published by a popular author with many followers. That way, they all get a notice when the story gets published.

I don’t think either of us qualify as popular - that’s 5,000+ followers or something.

3. The story appears on a toplist, so more people see it.

I don’t think this is a factor on day one.

4. Being nominated in a contest

We are both in the same contest.

5. An appealing tagline

Neither of us have clickbaity subtitles.

6. Correct category choice

Both stories are in the correct category.

7. Having one's story appear on a "similar stories" list at the end of a popular story. This is a big one, but it usually doesn't happen until your story has been favorited enough times.

Again, not a factor on day one.

8. Where the story appears on the new story list. Higher is better. It's also, as far as I can tell, totally random.

There are differences, but stories lower on the new list for LS on the same day have more views.

So I don’t really see an explanation coming from your framework.

 

[StillStunned]

Then I am at a total loss to explain the discrepancy. I know it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, but I am uncomfortable with things I can’t analyze and understand.

It could be something as simple as your use of "a lesbian couple" in your tagline: perhaps readers feel that should go without saying, given the category, and making it explicit marks you as a "tourist".

 

[NotWise]

Pretty sure that it's just the act of clicking on a link to the story that registers as a view.

Aside from positioning on the various lists, the title, short description, and author's name are about all the readers have to go on before they click. Your stories are adjacent on the LS hub. On the new list, @old_prof's story was at #3 and yours was at #8, which could make some difference. The category page is randomized, and there it's just the title and author's name the readers have to go by.

I'll guess that readers of the New list got to old_prof's story first, and found the title and short description appealing. If they weren't interested in more than one LS story, then they would skip yours.

 

[FrancesScott]

This is the current standing for LS stories published on Jan 13th (actually they were all published early evening on Jan 12th for unknown reasons):

 

[FrancesScott]

It could be something as simple as your use of "a lesbian couple" in your tagline: perhaps readers feel that should go without saying, given the category, and making it explicit marks you as a "tourist".

Maybe - it was an oversight including that word, I had meant to delete it before publishing as the story evolved. Too many things to remember.

Then aficionados of the category read and commented or added it to favorites, e.g. @HelenL @Nynah @redgarters @Aoife_from_Ulster etc. They didn’t seem to view it as touristy.

 

[FrancesScott]

The only logical explanation I can imagine is that @old_prof , as we've all long suspected, is a cult leader.

This is the most helpful comment so far.

 

[RejectReality]

A young woman needs her aunt's support to realize who she is.

Any time you drop a familial connection into the title or description line, it's going to get more clicks. Whether those translate into other statistics ( for good or ill ) depends upon what's inside, but the simple inclusion of a familial title can drive the huge number of incest fans to click it regardless of what category it's in.

 

[Bazzle]

For me the mystery of views is the older works.

Since the 20th November (1 millionth click) I have had ~29,800 clicks on my stories. I have published 2 new stories since then with 6.4k views between them.

My maths suggests that 23.4K views have come from searches/scrolling/witchcraft/magic beans/something else.

Yet the votes and comments dont appear. Once the story has had its first day or 2 the legacy views don't seem to respond to the story...but the fresh new views do.

That's my ultimate confusion.

 

[old_prof]

Ok, I confess. I secretly told all my students for the upcoming semester that they get a bonus point for every ten views they generate. I guess I can give the whole class A+'s already. Hey, it's my last semester, why not.

Seriously, I have no clue.

I don't think it's our comparative lengths, because you need to view the story to get that information AFAIK.

It's also interesting that SilkStockingLover doesn't have more views, because she has an enormous number of followers.

I had talked about mine some on AH, but I don't buy that generating thousands of views.

A young woman needs her aunt's support to realize who she is.

If anyone was expecting an incest story, they're sadly disappointed.

 

[StillStunned]

Then affianadoes of the category read and commented or added it to favorites, e.g. @HelenL @Nynah @redgarters @Aoife_from_Ulster etc. They didn’t seem to view it as touristy.

I suspect that they know you as a writer and would read your story regardless of title and tagline.

 

[old_prof]

I will note that you (@FrancesScott) have far more comments on your story than I have on mine, although I have more favorites (though fewer per view). Weird.

 

[FrancesScott]

And this is the relative positions on the all stories new list yesterday:

 

[RejectReality]

Ok, I confess. I secretly told all my students for the upcoming semester that they get a bonus point for every ten views they generate. I guess I can give the whole class A+'s already. Hey, it's my last semester, why not.

Seriously, I have no clue.

I don't think it's our comparative lengths, because you need to view the story to get that information AFAIK.

It's also interesting that SilkStockingLover doesn't have more views, because she has an enormous number of followers.

I had talked about mine some on AH, but I don't buy that generating thousands of views.


If anyone was expecting an incest story, they're sadly disappointed.

And most probably back-clicked, but that is a very suggestive tagline hinting in that direction ( I'm not implying that was intentional, BTW. Sometimes something that sums up a story nicely reads way different to someone else. )

It's not just truly suggestive things either. The difference in clicks you'll get between tagging something "Hot MILF" vs. "Hot Mom" isn't insignificant.

Familial titles drive clicks.

 

[FrancesScott]

Weird.

Weird is the word. I know I’m being OCD about this, but I just don’t understand what is going on.

As I have said elsewhere, this story was never one that I thought of as a comp winner - 2,000 word stories don’t win comps - but I’d like people to read it.

 

[FrancesScott]

but the simple inclusion of a familial title can drive the huge number of incest fans to click it regardless of what category it's in.

Really? This place is so strange.

 

[FrancesScott]

Pretty sure that it's just the act of clicking on a link to the story that registers as a view.

Aside from positioning on the various lists, the title, short description, and author's name are about all the readers have to go on before they click. Your stories are adjacent on the LS hub. On the new list, @old_prof's story was at #3 and yours was at #8, which could make some difference. The category page is randomized, and there it's just the title and author's name the readers have to go by.

I'll guess that readers of the New list got to old_prof's story first, and found the title and short description appealing. If they weren't interested in more than one LS story, then they would skip yours.

You’re saying the number of views is essentially totally beyond the author’s control and just a factor of random stuff.

But (ignoring silk’s story) #4 on the LS new list got more views too. With a much lower rating.

 

[Bazzle]

Really? This place is so strange.

If you look on the Literotica Reddit page...every day there are probably half a dozen requests for an old incest story they have forgotten.

Posting a link to one of the more sensible requests, is also a way of generating viewers.

 

[FrancesScott]

I had talked about mine some on AH, but I don't buy that generating thousands of views.

I agree entirely.

I hope you don’t mind me using you as a case study. No ill-intent. I don’t think anything is ‘unfair,’ I just can’t get my head around the numbers.