Which is the Busiest Day in MyLotLand?
@owlwings (43910)
Cambridge, England
April 10, 2016 3:39am CST
It's relatively easy to calculate the number of discussions posted in a day because each discussion has a serial number embedded in the URL. All one has to do is to record the 'discussion number' at approximately the same time every day and allow a spreadsheet to do the necessary calculations. Of course, the number of discussions posted in a day may not accurately represent the amount of activity (or number of interactions) but its as good a guide as can be easily measured.
I've been keeping a record of the number of discussions a day for about two months now and the results are interesting. Many people seem to think that weekends are less busy than weekdays and, to a certain extent, that is true but much less than seems to be supposed.
The busiest days are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with Tuesdays and Thursdays trailing behind somewhat and Saturdays and Sundays being the least busy. As you can see from the graph, however, there is really less difference between them all than might be expected and I'm not sure that it's even significant, since the overall average per day is 392 and Saturday (the lowest) is only 34 below that while Monday (the highest) is 14 above the daily average.
The change to the minimum payout certainly does seem to have had an effect. The number of discussions posted per day began rising in March and no day in April so far has seen fewer than 435 discussions a day with the highest total so far being 505 on Thursday, 7 April!
Figures may mean little or nothing to you - I have to say that I prefer pictures and graphs to just the numbers - but don't you think we'd all be so much healthier if we had to walk a mile for each discussion we posted?
26 people like this
20 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
10 Apr 16
These figures are only partly indicative of the actual scenario. In order to estimate how busy each day has been we would need to take into account activity, which may not reflect the same results as the number of discussion posted does.
For example, 3 popular discussions which generate many responses and long threads of interaction would represent a far greater level of activity than 10 discussions that attract very little attention.
Also, the increase of discussions posted does not necessarily owe itself to the lower cashout figure. The increase of new members may well be a contributing factor, especially since many new members are tempted to submit a myriad of discussions initially.
I am not trying to dispute your findings, but do feel more is actually involved.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Apr 16
Yes, I am well aware of that (as I mentioned in the first paragraph). I think that a count of responses and comments would be a more accurate indication of "busyness" and I'm looking into doing that.
Of course, the raw count of one day to the next also makes no allowance for the number of deleted discussions (which I estimate at between 5% and 10% of all discussions).
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Apr 16
I thought that there would have been a bigger difference, too, but it's really only a matter of 8% - 10% according to these figures. Of course, people may post discussions but spend less time here responding and commenting. That certainly WOULD make a difference to people's daily earnings.
2 people like this
@kaka135 (14931)
• Malaysia
13 Apr 16
Yes, I agree that looking at the graph makes us easier and faster to understand and get the whole idea. Yes, I used to think weekends might have less active mylotters around, but it seems like everyday is almost the same.
Thanks for taking the effort to jot all these down and show us too. 
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72262)
• United States
14 Apr 16
I am surprised that there is only on average of 435-500 discussions posted a day. I would have thought mylot would be so crammed full of new posts that it would be impossible for anyone to keep up with. I don't think I could possibly get through all those new posts but still the numbers are lower then I had expected. That is really cool you kept track of this! I love statistical things like this! Very interesting.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (168327)
• Boise, Idaho
10 Apr 16
It is simply fascinating how you folks who know how do such things do those things. Pictures and graphs are nice but this that you have shown is a good fascimile.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Apr 16
There are certainly numbers attached to Responses and Comments and I believe that they are serial, too (your response here appears to be #17,376,139). It would be a little more difficult to assign a time to responses and comments, though finding the latest posted is simple enough through 'Recent Activity'. I should maybe give it a try!
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Apr 16
@JolietJake I can make killer stats from them, then (or eat them for breakfast?)
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Apr 16
@JolietJake Not to mention 17.4 million responses and nearly 3 million discussions! Supposing that the average response and comment is (conservatively) 10 words, that's near enough 430 million words - that's around 550 Bibles, nearly 500 Complete Works of Shakespeare or just under 10 Encyclopaedia Brittanicas!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
10 Apr 16
Very interesting stats, thanks for going to all that trouble. I must say that I'm not really surprised that there's not a lot of difference in the number of posts on any particular day, it's always seemed fairly even to me.
Btw - I'd only be walking 2 or 3 miles a week based on your last sentence, but I do considerably more than that
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
10 Apr 16
I walk more than that. I walk at least two miles per day (four is my ultimate goal), but I post only twice each week.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
10 Apr 16
You also seem to be the only person to have read (or skipped) right to the end! I regret that I walk much less than I should. I think that walking also exercises the brain and should therefore make for better (and possibly more interesting) discussions!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
10 Apr 16
@owlwings Yes, I have heard that the best thing for our brains is to walk and/or get enough exercise.
I always read the whole thing. I remember a test once where the top line said, "Read everything before doing anything." The last line said, "Put your name on the paper and turn it in." Very funny.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
10 Apr 16
I think I probably do walk a mile for each discussion I post. But that's because I don't write many. :p
1 person likes this
@lovebeingmummy2 (806)
• Aberdeen, Scotland
16 Apr 16
That's good to know which days are the busiest
@jstory07 (139980)
• Roseburg, Oregon
10 Apr 16
I find the figures very interesting. I do not post the same number each day. It all depends on my day and mood.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
10 Apr 16
those are not the days that I expected too be the busiest.
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
10 Apr 16
bless yer heart, i fear i pay no mind to such, ne'er did. 'tis interestin' statistics though :D
yepperz, we'd all be much better off if'n we did jest that - walked that mile per discussion started. jest's long's ya don't make that each one we respond to! otherwise, i'd no time to be here't all, lol.
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
11 Apr 16
It's great to hear that the number of discussions went up with the lower payment threshold. I hope that also means more quality interactions, too!
I wonder what will happen after April, when the threshold returns to normal? Will people maintain the increased activity because they are now seeing better earnings, or will many fall far below the threshold and decide to put less effort into the site?
@BettyB (4117)
• Summerville, South Carolina
12 Apr 16
I've always heard people complain about Mondays no matter what site I'm on. According to your data, Mondays are a good day. I'll have to remember that.
