Jasper2009

Hi Randy,

Just a brief question: For every thread on FT there is a number showing how many posts have been made in that thread and how many "views" there are, but what exactly counts as "one view"?

The thread that made me wondering about this is the discussion thread about next yearīs AC/AP program (which is a major devaluation for the vast majority) which has had an amazing 1500 posts and 70000 views within 4 days.

The two most obvious answers would be:

1) each time someone looks at a thread counts as one view
2) every IP address counts as one view

1) doesnīt seem to be true, as I looked at various (old) threads several times during the course of the day and the number of "views" didnīt increase

2) sounds unrealistic, the thread has been generating a huge amount of interest (likely the largest growing thread in the history of the AC forum), but I think itīs unlikely 70000 different people had a look at that thread, probably 10% of that figure is more accurate.

If you happen to know the answer, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thankīs!

Kiwi Flyer

My understanding is each view counts (ie option 1), but the counts are not refreshed continuously to save on server loads.

lin821

I asked the exact same questions 2.5 years ago in Technical Issues Forum. Let Mikel's reply entertain you:

How Does FT Count Forum/Thread Views?

Randy Petersen

Many thanks for the question and as noted it is about page views as a total, not page views by singular members.

You are correct that this is a very fast growing and of interest thread. The normal page views to post count ratio for the forum is actually 14:1, meaning that typically for every post in a thread, the thread is viewed 14 times. The current post to view ratio for the thread you are referring to is 47:1, meaning that for each post in that thread (now more than 1,500 in just a few days), there are 47 page views. At times it is the posters who are looking to read what others posters are saying, other members who while they may not be elite are interested in any change within Aeroplan and as well the interest of travelers who are just lurking but have an interest in these changes. Currently the forum is experiencing a greater member to lurker average than most other forums. For instance, Aeroplan is running at a 3.2 average (for every registered member reading the forum, there are 3.2 unregistered lurkers). At the same time, United's forum was running a 2.1 average (for every registered member reading the forum, there are 2.1 unregistered lurkers). Other airlines such as CO and BA run similar ratios as United: 2.2/2.3, while some run higher ratios closer to Aeroplan such as DL and AA: 3.3/3.0.

So while the attention on this topic seems out-of-place, it's actually not that out-of-place, and in fact, there have been other threads in Aeroplan with even more staggering ratios. For instance, the thread XM thread: Air Canada refurbishment status and trip questions actually has a ratio of 93:1 which far exceeds the current 47:1 of the elite change thread.

It certainly is interesting and i love to see members and lurkers interest in these sorts of topics. Reading through the 1,500+ posts in that thread sure give me some eye strain but it provides a very interesting view into the thoughts of the members of Aeroplan.

Again thanks and hope you enjoy these stats—I have always loved putting them together.

Jasper2009

Thankīs for your reply! Very interesting indeed and comprehensive as always.

It would have been my guess that this thread generated the highest ratio of posts/day in the history of the AC forum (>1700posts in 4 days). Is there any data to support this assumption?

Of course, this ratio decreases over time, but it would be interesting to compare threads on a fixed period of time (first 72h / first week etc.)

Cheers

You want to go where?

It is indeed interesting. I must point out, however, that although I am a registered user, I often don't bother to log in, unless I have decided to reply or am intentionally checking my flyertalk. This is especially the case when I am reading a forum which isn't one of my 'home fora'. I wonder how many other FT participants use the forums in the same way I do - reading them as a lurker, rather than signed in.

cmn.jcs

I always try to sign in. That way, if I come back later and the thread has been active, I can just click the "first unread post" link and not have to search for it myself.