Last Updated on February 22, 2022
It’s always interesting to look back at stats to see what you’ve actually accomplished in the past year on the blog. I had tens of thousands of page views last year, and published more than 400 new pieces.
I also hit my 10,000th comment in 2012, which is itself a bit mind-boggling.
My five top search terms — the keyword searches that brought people here — included a familiar favorite: “addressee unknown,” which has consistently brought new visitors to my site. The post I wrote about receiving someone else’s mail back in 2007 was even among my most read this past year!
Rounding out the top search terms were the name of a close friend who we lost this past year, “media narrative,” “worst tuxedo ever” and “Chick-fil-A controversy.”
So you shouldn’t be too surprised when you see most of this past year’s most-read individual posts:
1. Martin Media Conspiracy Theory Ignores Key Question
This post began with a well-circulated photo meme on Facebook and Twitter, insisting that there was a “media narrative” because photos being displayed in the days after the deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin showed Martin as an “innocent youth” and George Zimmerman, the man charged with killing him, from his arrest mugshot.
2. Remembering a Friend — Joel Connable: 1973-2012
Joel was a friend of mine, a former colleague and a talented journalist. He fought a nearly life-long battle against Type 1 Diabetes, and he left us suddenly at age 39 from a diabetic seizure. It was a shock to the system for those of us who knew and loved Joel, and nearly two months later, it still doesn’t seem like it could have happened.
3. Nordstrom Continues Fight Against Christmas Creep
Here’s another post written in response to a Facebook meme. This time, people were circulating a photo of a sign apparently taken at a Nordstrom store announcing that they wouldn’t be hanging any Christmas decorations in their stores until after Thanksgiving. “Christmas Creep” is the term coined to express frustration with stores that are readying their aisles for Christmas sales earlier and earlier each year. But I noticed there was something wrong with the sign, so I wrote a response. Even though this post appeared in 2011, it garnered a big number of views this year, even leading to a follow-up post this year.
4. Chick-Fil-A Controversy: Can’t I Just Eat My Lunch?
When gay rights advocates called for a boycott of Chick-fil-A, that was one thing. When people started assuming that because I chose to eat there anyway, I was trying to send some overt message that I hate gay people. Some of the responses — including one involving a swastika — were just plain laughable.
5. What Part of ‘Addressee Unknown’ Don’t You Understand?
This is another of those posts that keeps getting so much attention year after year that I posted a follow-up in 2011. But this one, the original, was written way back in 2007! It involved me receiving, month after month, someone else’s mail and my struggle just to get the wrong mail to stop coming. Clearly, it’s more common a problem than I realized, but I’ll certainly take the traffic!
So there you have it: the five most-read posts of the year. (Oh, and in case you’re wondering, here’s the post about the worst tuxedo ever!) Enjoy.
