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You are here: Home > Forum > A Place of Safety > General Talk > Should we be concerned?
Should we be concerned?  [message #77502] Sat, 05 December 2020 12:54 Go to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



The site email list has dipped to just under 800 souls. It used to be just under 1,000. Various purges of email accounst by (eg) Yahell took a swathe away.
  • Should we be concerned? It is healthy enough, but I always feel more would be fine
  • Concerned or unconcerned, how can the list build up?

[Updated on: Sat, 05 December 2020 12:55]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Should we be concerned?  [message #77503 is a reply to message #77502] Sat, 05 December 2020 21:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Teddy is currently offline  Teddy

Really getting into it
Location: USA
Registered: October 2006
Messages: 484



Perhaps those who feel comfortable doing so might want to promote the site, or a specific tale, maybe the upcoming Christmas publications on their social media? 



“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
Re: Should we be concerned?  [message #77504 is a reply to message #77502] Sun, 06 December 2020 08:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Pedro

Toe is in the water

Registered: March 2014
Messages: 93



The email list is one measure of the commitment of followers/readers to the site and a fall off might represent a dwindling of that base. However as one who does not subscribe to the mailing list, I think I would be more worried if the footfall for the site as a whole was demonstrating a similar trend. Are stats showing this?

The purges of email accounts by providers will probably have removed some dead wood. If the purges were actively discriminatory, that raises different concerns.









Pedro
Re: Should we be concerned?  [message #77505 is a reply to message #77504] Sun, 06 December 2020 10:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



"Pedro wrote on Sun, 06 December 2020 08:59"
The email list is one measure of the commitment of followers/readers to the site and a fall off might represent a dwindling of that base. However as one who does not subscribe to the mailing list, I think I would be more worried if the footfall for the site as a whole was demonstrating a similar trend. Are stats showing this?

The purges of email accounts by providers will probably have removed some dead wood. If the purges were actively discriminatory, that raises different concerns.



--
Some of the early purging was to do with the phenomenon of 'blocklists' which we had been unable to solve. Most drop off is natural wastage, or where an abandoned mailbox is over quota and our email software itself will purge the address after a while. Blocklists are discriminatory, but not by any real world metroc. Instead they discriminate against data centres via IP address ranges because people are judged by others to be spammers. We imhabit a data centre which is relatively untroubled by spammers and is fast to nuke them, so we are troubled rarely. When we are it tends to be difficult to resolve

Site footfall depends almost entirely on recency of stories. The more recent the stories the better the footfall. There is a causal link between new stories and footfall via the email list. It is also affected by twitter. Each new story is tweeted as it is published. The Twitter following is not large, but it is also not promoted in any real manner

[Updated on: Sun, 06 December 2020 11:38]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Should we be concerned?  [message #77506 is a reply to message #77502] Mon, 07 December 2020 16:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NW is currently offline  NW

On fire!
Location: Worcester, England
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 1558



I'm not convinced that the email list is massively important, really. I was on it for a while, but seem to have got dropped out around nine or ten years ago. It doesn't stop me being a regular visitor.

Acually, mailing lists from story sites in general don't do anything for me, as they always announce new and continuing stories. However, I dislike reading anything other than completed stories - if I make an emotional investment in getting involved with a story's characters, I don't want to suddenly be cut off halfway through because the author is unable to (or decides not to) continue. And, on the whole, I prefer to read stories in one single sitting rather than episodically. This site is *very* much better than some others though - one site (which I won't name) has a quite alarming number of stories "on hold" where the author has gone on to write one or several other stories which are listed as "continuing".

As for promoting the site in general, I don't really have much idea - sorry!

Nick W.



"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
Re: Should we be concerned?  [message #77508 is a reply to message #77506] Wed, 09 December 2020 23:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Teddy is currently offline  Teddy

Really getting into it
Location: USA
Registered: October 2006
Messages: 484



"NW wrote on Mon, 07 December 2020 08:40"
I dislike reading anything other than completed stories - if I make an emotional investment in getting involved with a story's characters, I don't want to suddenly be cut off halfway through because the author is unable to (or decides not to) continue. And, on the whole, I prefer to read stories in one single sitting rather than episodically. This site is *very* much better than some others though - one site (which I won't name) has a quite alarming number of stories "on hold" where the author has gone on to write one or several other stories which are listed as "continuing".

--
Same here, and I agree, Timmy is quite good at keeping incomplete or decades-long serial stories to a minimum. Other sites not so much, and I think I know the site you'er talking about. Out of deference to you, because you bought it up, I won't mention the name, but I simply quit going there to read. It's just so not worth the effort. 

Honestly, I'm not sure how important an email list is either. The number of individuals on it certainly can't hurt, but I doubt it contributes massively to the success of the site. I think word of mouth is probs a better help to site traffic than if the email list.



“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
Re: Should we be concerned?  [message #77509 is a reply to message #77502] Thu, 10 December 2020 10:24 Go to previous message
Talo Segura is currently offline  Talo Segura

Likes it here
Location: Europe
Registered: July 2019
Messages: 103



To be clear, online story sites fall into two categories: the few sites like this one where stories are submitted, then serialised. I'm guessing it is a requirement that the received story is complete. The other category are the sites for authors to post anything they want themselves. So although there is usually (with one notable exception) a label to let you know if the story is complete, in progress, or abandoned, those sites are more focused on writers learning their craft. They usually have means, online or via email, for feedback and comments. In summary, on all sites (with one exception) you have the choice to read completed stories from their library.

The site email list, personally I don't use it, I look in here frequently enough to know what's being published.

Site promotion, difficult. I rather think the audience is small and the demographics tend towards the older age group. Perhaps you have an analysis to share, but my guess is you don't get many readers under thirty, and more probably fifty to sixty plus. Which countries these readers come from and other stats rest with the webmaster. As far as I know there are only two "large" gay story sites, one other small one, and the rest.

The important thing is that there are readers here and some of those readers tend to like reading here, so all is good.


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