Physics Forums ratings killed every new year

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the observed drops in traffic on the Physics Forums website during the New Year period, with participants speculating on the reasons behind these trends. The conversation touches on various factors, including seasonal behavior of users, the impact of holidays, and humorous anecdotes related to past New Year celebrations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note a significant drop in website traffic during the New Year, suggesting that users may be preoccupied with celebrations rather than engaging in academic discussions.
  • One participant speculates that the drop might occur earlier, around Christmas, rather than strictly on New Year's Day.
  • Another participant mentions a smaller drop in 2009 compared to 2008 and predicts a smaller drop for 2010 based on extrapolation.
  • Some express curiosity about the statistics provided by Alexa and the potential reasons for seasonal traffic changes, particularly during summer months.
  • Several participants share humorous reflections on past New Year chats and gatherings, indicating a sense of community and shared experiences.
  • There are references to personal health issues affecting participation in discussions during the holiday period.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of agreement and differing views regarding the reasons for traffic drops, with no consensus on the exact causes or patterns. The discussion remains open-ended with various hypotheses presented.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about traffic patterns depend on specific definitions of "drop" and may not account for all variables influencing user engagement. The discussion includes anecdotal evidence and personal experiences that may not reflect broader trends.

Who May Find This Useful

Members of the Physics Forums community, particularly those interested in user engagement trends, seasonal behavior in online forums, and the social dynamics of forum participation during holidays.

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http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/physicsforums.com

Look at those drops! Apparently everyone is too busy popping champagne bottles open on the new year to help kids figure out projectile motion. I bet the trend will happen again in 2010! :eek: What will we do!? Who will explain to the Calculus I student that the +C at the end of an indefinite integral means the speed of light!? We're doomed!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I'll most likely be working so I will be here.

Edit: I don't know my Calculus though, sorry.
 
That graph appears a stationary, with a mean of about 0.015%.
 
The drop in 2009 was smaller than 2008 and using bit better extrapolation than this one:
extrapolating.png

the drop in 2010 will be more smaller/

P.S. I think the drop comes some time earlier than the new year (like during Christmas)
2) You need to select max from the drop down below the chart to see the drops.
 
pf_the_bloop.jpg


Are there that many people interested in "the bloop" that it should make the top 10 list?
 
OmCheeto said:
Are there that many people interested in "the bloop" that it should make the top 10 list?

I had to look it up to even figure out what it was.
 
The really cool people are here on New Years. It's the annual Nyquil (one of us is always sick) and Near Beer soiree.
:)
 
rootX said:
The drop in 2009 was smaller than 2008 and using bit better extrapolation than this one (xkcd image here) the drop in 2010 will be more smaller.
Why not go whole hog?
Mark Twain said:
In the space of one hundred and seventy six years the lower Mississippi has shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. That is an average over a mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the lower Oolitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago next November, the lower Mississippi was upward of one million three hundred thousand miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing rod. And by the same token any person can see that seven hundred and forty years from now the lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three quarters long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together, and will be plodding comfortably along under a single mayor... There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment in fact.
 
I like how on the side the "three month change" has -8% and then a down arrow...
Yes, I get amused by trivial things...

Anyway, what's with that drop in the May - August period? And where does this site get these statistics from? (I'm quite curious about the last one. I notice there is an editing button for the owner. Maybe it has something to do with that?)
 
  • #10
Alexa traces traffic on computers with installed alexa toolbar.

May-August is summer, students keep themselves away from books and integrals.
 
  • #11
The graph also shows a drop happening last fall, around October. Could have to do with our move to the new server.
 
  • #12
TheStatutoryApe said:
I had to look it up to even figure out what it was.

As an ex-submariner, I was quite embarrassed to not know what it was, until I saw it wasn't heard until 1997. I got out in 1983. What's the name of our newest submariner? Ah ha! https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2148032#post2148032". Let's ask him if there's been an increase in Bloop activity. He's a sonarman as I recall. He'd know.
 
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  • #13
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  • #14
Math Is Hard said:
The really cool people are here on New Years. It's the annual Nyquil (one of us is always sick) and Near Beer soiree.
:)

Well, I haven't been a member for long so I am not sure if I qualify for the position... but I'm quite sick with a sinus infection so ill be lurking around the forums tonight! :-p
 
  • #15
Math Is Hard said:
The really cool people are here on New Years. It's the annual Nyquil (one of us is always sick) and Near Beer soiree.
:)
Wow. Last years New Years chat was outstanding. :cool: What I remember of it. I think you were there. :confused:
 
  • #16
dlgoff said:
Wow. Last years New Years chat was outstanding. :cool: What I remember of it. I think you were there. :confused:

But the St Valentine's Day one was epic...
 
  • #17
lisab said:
But the St Valentine's Day one was epic...
I remember that. Very very cool. Isn't that about the time you turned green?
 
  • #18
dlgoff said:
I remember that. Very very cool. Isn't that about the time you turned green?

A little bit before, I think...and IIR, that was when we went to an alt site to test its profanity filter. I will never see (a certain PFer) the same way again. Sigh...good times.
 
  • #19
NBAJam100 said:
Well, I haven't been a member for long so I am not sure if I qualify for the position... but I'm quite sick with a sinus infection so ill be lurking around the forums tonight! :-p

Awww. Hope you are feeling better. I've been laid up trying to heal a hurt leg, but I will hobble out to the patio and light some 4rth of July sparklers for us.
 
  • #20
dlgoff said:
Wow. Last years New Years chat was outstanding. :cool: What I remember of it. I think you were there. :confused:

I think I was, too. But the details are fuzzy after all the near beer.
 
  • #21
lisab said:
A little bit before, I think...and IIR, that was when we went to an alt site to test its profanity filter. I will never see (a certain PFer) the same way again. Sigh...good times.

mwaahaa haa haa! I think that was the same day there were about 10 of us in there cursing like a sailor's parrot*, when some stranger popped in the chat room and said "Hey! where did you all come from?" and we scattered liked a herd of gazelles. You could hear the "door shutting" sound effect go bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam as everyone fled the chat room. We thought we were busted.:smile:

*strictly for research purposes, of course
 
  • #22
Math Is Hard said:
mwaahaa haa haa! I think that was the same day there were about 10 of us in there cursing like a sailor's parrot*, when some stranger popped in the chat room and said "Hey! where did you all come from?" and we scattered liked a herd of gazelles. You could hear the "door shutting" sound effect go bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam as everyone fled the chat room. We thought we were busted.:smile:

*strictly for research purposes, of course
<cough> I was only testing the filter so we could make suggestions to improve it. :redface:
 
  • #23
Math Is Hard said:
Awww. Hope you are feeling better. I've been laid up trying to heal a hurt leg, but I will hobble out to the patio and light some 4rth of July sparklers for us.

Ah man, I hope your healing process is going better than mine, I am miserable. I am sure the sparklers were great! Thanks:smile: !
 

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