Why Site Stats Don’t Give the Whole Picture

Yesterday, my site stats jumped in response to an article I shared about Todd White’s lack of repentance, but that is not the story that interests me. It is a related story that has to do with a number of factors, some of which I may not know.

Because I am a basic nerd, I watch stats as indicators of things that happen to see if I can determine what is really going on. Yesterday’s stats were as near as I can tell, real, but it isn’t always so. For any of you who have been following BereanNation.com for any length of time, you will know that among other things, we run a weekly Bible study which we always try to post online in some format, making that feed available here. Last week, I had nearly 70 likes or other engagements on Facebook to the article link I shared to the livestream replay of the study. Normally, I would call that encouraging.

Then I looked at the YouTube views of the video in question, and there were 2 views, both of which I caused with my review and with a display of the study for a friend who wanted to catch the details. What happened to the 68 likes?

There is a phenomenon known to us who inhabit the internet realm when looking at a church’s statement of faith. The church website is often no measure of what’s really going on at a church, because the website is literally always doctrinally and denominationally sound. This is known as “Website Orthodoxy.” What I encountered was a similar phenomenon that I will call “Facebook Popularity.” Sixty-eight people liked that I shared with them the online bible study that I and a small group of friends do every Thursday Night at 7 live, and I record it and edit it and put it up afterwards. But none of those 68 people watched it.

Christian, I understand that life is busy, but if you’re fake-liking a bible study to be seen as spiritual (and I’m not saying you are, but if), be advised that we know, because the nerds among us like me always keep more than one set of stats.