The first stage of grief, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross famously postulated, is denial.
So it’s hardly surprising that Paul Elam and his gang of flunkies and fans at A Voice for Men have responded to the news that my site is besting AVFM in traffic by trying to claim that my traffic is somehow … fake.
Elam’s “evidence” for this assertion? He poked around my site for a few minutes and couldn’t find any posts that felt really “viral” to him.
He explained his, er, logic in a post yesterday. (You’ll have to excuse his terrible prose; he’s apparently running out of ways to call me fat.)
The gynecomastia plagued mammoth hunter’s sudden, meteoric rise into alleged relevance can only be explained by one thing. There must have been a stratospherically viral article (usually meaning more than two paragraphs) penned by the Wizard of Wallow that must have been picked up by every major media outlet in the mainstream.
Trouble is, we could not find it. A complete search of his website for something that coincided with his liftoff into the upper echelons of Alexa rankings, only turned up more of his usual fare. Quote mining, distortions, lies, poorly written snark and hundreds of comments, most of which have nothing to do with the OP and everything to do with kittens.
I’m not sure how one is supposed to be able to tell how much traffic a post has generated just by looking at it; it’s a bit like trying to tell how fast a car can go by looking at it parked.
But using some methodology of his own, apparently based not so much on what is true as on what he desperately wants to be true, he concludes that I bought the traffic using some of that sweet sweet cash I apparently get from the Femilluminati overladies.
So, that leaves us with only one other conclusion about David’s strut-worthy presence on Alexa. He paid for it. Yes, for those who cannot create real traffic, it can be purchased. Of course, purchasing a fake Alexa ranking is, well, fake. But what better tool for web presence could there ever be for a fake writer, with fake ideas waging a fake war against fake enemies for the approval of fake allies?
Also, I’m a big fan of fried chicken. (How did he know?)
A fake Alexa ranking fits on David Futrelle like a day old bucket of fried chicken fits in his lap . And it will probably last about as long given it requires regular financial maintenance.
Elam’s preoccupation with Alexa is a little weird. I didn’t even mention Alexa in my post comparing my traffic to his. Alexa’s numbers for my site and his are based on estimates — extimates that I’m pretty sure are something less-than-reliable, at least when it comes to my site.
No, the reason I know that I’m getting more traffic than A Voice for Men – or at least that I was getting more when I wrote my post on the subject – has nothing to do with Alexa rankings. It’s because Elam posted a screenshot of his actual traffic stats. Which I was able to compare to the traffic stats I get directly from WordPress. (You can see my screenshot and his in my post om the subject.)
The closest thing to “evidence” Elam has to back up his false accusation that my traffic is “fake” is based on something called Google PageRank, a zero-to-ten ranking that provides at least a rough representation of a site’s importance in the internet world. (Zero is totally obscure; ten means you’re as popular as Google.) Unfortunately, Elam’s internet research skills leave something to be desired, and his “evidence” isn’t actually evidence of anything real.
Elam reports that when he typed his site’s url into a site that tracks PageRank it got a rating of 5. He typed WeHuntedTheMammoth.com into the same page and it gets a PageRank of … zero.
Which would be pretty damning, except that it’s meaningless.
You see, the real URL for this blog is manboobz.wordpress.com; that’s the URL that WeHuntedTheMammoth.com redirects you to. And if you type manboobz.wordpress.com into that same PageRank site that Elam used, you’ll see that my site has a Google PageRank of … 4, pretty close to that of AVFM.
Seriously, Paul, try it yourself if you don’t believe me.
So, no, Paul, I didn’t buy traffic or whatever it is you think I did to get “fake” traffic for my “fake” writing.
You want to know the real secret behind the increased traffic to my site? Well. I don’t know if you realized it, Paul, but last year was kind of a breakout year for online misogyny. You remember that whole GamerGate thing? I wrote a lot about that, including a number of posts that collected together a lot of information that other people found useful.
If you look at my most-read posts from the past year – here, here and here – you can see that a lot of people did in fact find them useful: each one was shared on Twitter and Facebook literally thousands of times, as you can see by scrolling down to the bottom of each post. (Or did I fake those too?)
Also, I started writing more than one post a day. All else being equal, more posts means more traffic.
The flipside is that all this misogyny and all this writing kind of burned me out, and I’ve been taking a bit of a breather for the last few weeks, writing fewer posts and taking some days off. So my traffic has slowed a bit. Heck, my traffic may have dropped back down to AVFM levels.
But I’m not worried, Paul. As long as terrible and ridiculous people like you keep saying and doing terrible, ridiculous things, I’m not going to run out of things to write about. And as long as people are interested in hearing about people like you, it seems likely that I’ll continue to get enough traffic to reduce you to tooth-grinding rage.
I can only hope you’re able to work y0ur way through the other stages of grief until you finally reach acceptance. Because right now your desperation is so obvious it can probably be seen from space. It’s not a good look for you.
Also: Other typos.
Ugh
The term for that is ‘Rolling Coal’, people who deliberately de-tune diesel engines to belch smoke in a grand show of ‘You can’t tell me what to do!’
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/07/rolling_coal_conservatives_who_show_their_annoyance_with_liberals_obama.html
I’m going to out myself here:
I am a dog person.
While I am certainly not a cat-kicker (seriously, who would ever think “this is an acceptable thing for a human to say”), and while I do -have- a cat (named Whitman; he is fluffy and orange and full of cat-rage), and while I married a cat person (he talks more to cats than people at parties), I am a dog person. 100%. Without shame. Dog. Person.
And I -still- would never traffic Elam’s site, not even if he was giving away free puppies that always stayed puppies forever and ever and came house trained and knew how to fold laundry.
That’s really sad for him. He is SO jealous. Two words for you Paul Elam – Better content.
That is what this site has, that you do not.
I love cats.
Only reason I am without an overlord/lady is that there are frequent times I cannot care for myself, let alone a cat.
Not caring for myself…not good, but my own fault. Not caring for a cat (or any other pet) leading to it’s harm ? No….not something I could ever contemplate doing.
Oh, and who can forget Pusheen laughing at Elam?
https://twitter.com/lolpusheen/status/407031194682130432/photo/1
I fully understand not liking cats. Being a “dog person” is great (I like dogs a lot too, but I am a cat person). But the concept that you think it’s fine to kick cats, which are beloved pets, companions, and landlords to millions, or even to just say it as a joke (I don’t care if you are Rene Decartes!) is simply reprehensible. I look at my cat and can’t imagine doing even the slightest harm to her. It breaks my heart whenever I accidentally step on her tail (only happened a few times). I just can’t fathom the cruelty needed to kick cats or think it’s a funnt idea.
Soccer balls, now those are kickable! Misogynists theories are also highly kickable. But they deflate easy. (The idiots will just make more of ’em, though.)
ROFL.
So cat pics annoy Paul Elam? This one’s for you, Paulie:
And one day I will learn to Internet:
“http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_l2dlvpofJb1qzpph3o1_500_9959.jpg”
I am a dog person. And a cat person. And a small but adorable rodent person. And a semi-tame wild birds that eat out of your hand at the local wildlife sanctuary person. And a bunny person (the wild jack rabbits in my neighbourhood love carrot tops). And a medium to large farm animal person. I also had pet ducks as a teenager (you can train ducks to do tricks! especially if you have enough frozen peas).
All hail all the furinati!!!! And the feathernati!! and the scalenati!! and so on.
Really, how could anyone choose between their furry/feathered/bescaled overlord? They’re all good!
I give up.
Cute kitties!
I know that I discovered this site shortly after the Eliott Rodger tragedy last year. I hadn’t crossed paths with the manosphere in a while at that point, although they seem to continue to creep into my online interactions over the years. I was familiar with the previous Anita Sarkeesian freakout a couple years ago, so when Gamergate hit, I followed it as closely as I could stomach.
I do a fair bit of reading all over the internet, and this site was also mentioned frequently in the Rational Wiki. In any case, I checked you out and you’re really the only one devoted to this particular topic.
I’m interested mainly because – well, I’m a woman, for one, and a feminist. But I am also raising a 13 year old son who enjoys video games and computers, and I like to know what kinds of ideas are floating around out there.
Just my anecdote. Keep up the good work. I know you’ve been down about the garbage you write about, but it has been very helpful for me.
So fluffy!
David – I’ve seen a few others say that they were getting an insecure site warning. I was actually on my laptop and tried to sign in to an account to comment and this error message came up in Chrome:
http://imgur.com/ZrUw7EX
QFT.
David, you’re a great journalist and researcher.
@proxieme
The good news is that this is still the right site and that warning isn’t a problem.
The bad news is David, update your damn security certs They’re only valid for wordpress.com
^ Also, for real. You’re doing good work, David.
I kept running into (what I now know to be) MRA talking points on posts and blogs and was wonderif where in the hell it came from. I spent many a fruitless hour indulging sea lions.
Then I found the “Manosphere” via sea lion links and was *repulsed*.
Annnnd then I found this site and’m thankful that I can keep abreast of their chattering without actually having to wade in.
ikanread – Coolio.
That’s why I’m all about documentation – so people who actually know what’s up can lay eyes on an issue.
I’m no hacker and wasn’t sure if someone would be able to backdoor something nasty given that Dave’s said that this site “is actually”/redirects to manboobz.
Totally OT, but I’m not sure what is the current Personal page.
http://www.urbanthreads.com/free.aspx
I love that site for it has a number of niche patterns (Gothic, pagan, tribal, steampunk etc ) but this is one for awareness ribbons.
A very key part of WHTM’s success, I believe. For those of us who wish to know what the Manosphere is stewing in its underground grottoes, this site is an important resource so you won’t have to provide page hits or endure an undiluted avalanche of the most hideous things human beings should never say. Just the idea of being on ROK for a second—letting the filth touch my computer—makes me ill. (Also, Roosh’s greasy hair and unclean bottom. Ick, his site actually smells bad.)
Hey, Paulie, since you’re lurking: You are an idiot and a very bad person, and Bast the Cat Goddess has you on her “Naughty” list! May you spend eternity in Ulthar. (Seriously, you don’t want to know what happens to people who mistreat cats there.)
QFT!!
Also seconding (and thirding and fourthing) all the “David rocks” sentiment. Thanks for doing what you do, David. <3
I’m a diehard cat person who has a dog, as well as a cat. I can get along with people who like cats but not dogs (as long as they wouldn’t hurt dogs and don’t hate dogs) or who like cats and dogs, but if you don’t like cats, I don’t like you. Also, horses. I know they’re very big and powerful and I can understand being scared of them, but if you hold any antipathy towards horses in general then I don’t trust you. If you’re not a bad person, you are at least the kind of person who wouldn’t like me and vice versa.
I ‘don’t like’ rabbits. Generally they don’t like people, and they have such dreadful claws. One once leapt out of my arms using its claws in my NECK as leverage, because I was bringing it back to its hutch – evidently not fast enough. I don’t hate rabbits and I would never want to hurt a rabbit and if someone had a rabbit as a pet I would talk to it and wiggle my nose at it and scratch it, if it would let me. That kind of “I don’t like x animal” is cool with me. My brother has snakes and I looove them but they aren’t affectionate or traditionally cute and they sleep/lounge a lot and eat mice whole and look like they are grinning maniacally while they do it. I could understand not liking that, in a general way. But any kind of active dislike towards a type of animal, any kind of “ugh those little bastards” sentiment, I don’t get, I don’t trust…it’s like a huge red flag.
Except wasps, obviously.
(Is this comment in part deliberately about animals to be annoying to manospherians? Maaaybe…)
I forgot to mention loveing Lovecraft on another post, didn’t I ?
Mmmm, now I want fried chicken.