Back in my local TV days, we’d look at our web stats and marvel at the number of hits we were getting from NY State agencies. Then when Columbus Day would roll around the traffic would die completely.
Truth is you can get a pretty good idea where your web audience is, particularly those using computers at work. We used to joke, “Hahahaha… we should do a story about this, you know, how those state workers are surfing the web all day?”
What makes that a joke? Because if you do that story, the very next day state agencies would crack down on internet usage.
Don’t get me wrong: local newspapers and TV love stories about state workers wasting time — and this is a story that they have sitting right in their lap in the form of detailed web stats — but the results could be catastrophic. Why risk losing a huge piece of your audience?
Just for the record, I don’t keep track of my readers, but if I did I’m certain I’d find that you’re all visiting on your own time. Right?
I saw it too on my Albany-based blogs before and after the TU one (since they didn’t share my traffic information with me) . . . I also noted that there was an abrupt and predictable drop-off on Friday afternoons, every week, a few hours before the end of the working day, while Monday to Thursday, it stayed pretty steady from 9:00-ish to 5:00-ish . . . not sure if quittin’ (or sneakin’ out) time came early on Friday, or if folks had to hit the grindstone at that point to make up for time wasted online earlier in the week . . .
Judging by the parking lots, I’d say a lot of people either leave early on Friday or just take the day off. Somebody at OGS told me that if everyone showed up for work on the same day there wouldn’t be enough parking spaces!