I’m a bad loser.
I’d like to claim it’s nothing, it doesn’t matter, it was only a bit of harmless fun, after all, but I can’t!
What I’m getting round to saying is that Matthew Naylor has beaten me in the battle of the blogs.
Our official adjudicator (actually she’s the only person here today who knows how to use the statistics thingy on the blogs) tells me his figures went up 23% over the period, compared with mine which went up 15%.
At this point I’m saying a word out loud that begins with a B (those of you with boating experience might recognise it as a word that rhymes with the thing on the side of a dinghy that you put oars in!)
I did consider calling for a recount but that would be churlish, so I’ve got various strategies now, chief among them is to increase my potato coverage which obviously worked wonders for Matthew!
I suppose I ought to say well done - but a little bit of me feels like how I did when I was a kid and was forced to say Sorry. Maybe I’ll whisper it. Say it quickly. Say it as I cough in the hope no one hears.
Seriously, though, congratulations Matthew. Your blog’s great.
My forfeit, as you’ll remember, is that I’m banned from publishing an animal picture on Field day for a week. Just as well I got a couple of photos of Nutmeg and Parsley in yesterday.
Fair is fair, Tim. Or I suppose it is, anyway. But what were the real numbers? A 23% increase from 20 readers isn't quite the same as a 15% jump of, say, a couple hundred. The adjudicator will be able to relate just how many unique visitors the both of you had. And perhaps such numbers will convince Matthew to post a kitten picture by way of consolation.
The real winner, of course, is the reader. Without the benefit of such competition, we would be deprived of the compelling coverage of potatoes and kittens, coverage that hasn't just entertained us but made us smarter.
I'm not sure what the Battle of the Blogs was, and I've never heard of Matthew Naylor, but Field Day is always worth a visit.
Thanks, Little Brown Dog, that's kind of you to say.
And yes, good point Steve. I must admit, I didn't pursue that line, but will ask the question. I think (and this is not bragging but just a fact) that as I had more readers than Matthew to begin with, my 15% rise might be a big actual number than his 23%. That said, what we originally agreed was to see who could get the largest percentage increase - so I'll feel like a bit of bad loser if I not try to get him on a technicality!
Tim
Listen...the main thing is that you are going in the right direction.
So I am not alone in my compulsive number checking/comparing/predicting rituals then? Good