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daisya37
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Posted 10:49 pm, 04/27/2017
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What about Greenbrair, NancyGrace, RH1962. I haven't been on here in a long time myself. I was always daisya37
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Grayson
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Posted 6:10 am, 04/27/2017
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"I didn't invent anything to do with the internet, and see it all as someone else's work or business. To me, a forum belongs to its originator/owner, and I walk through the door. If I don't like it, I leave. If they don't like me, they can ask me to leave.
I don't care about traffic, how much the owner makes, and how it's done. I've not spent a dime here, and have found some good deals and hard to find items via the classifieds. I also feel more can be learned from seemingly anonymous postings and can be a hoot to read."
First off, let me begin by stating the obvious, which is this is Jason's website and he has the right to run his business in the manner that he sees fit. I would never state anything other than this because it would be stupid to think that I had the right or even any real authority to demand that he run his business according to my expectations. However, I do have the right to disagree with him or express my opinions regarding the manner in which he runs his business handles the questions and concerns of his customers or the way he chooses to cut his hair. In fact, customer feedback is something that is an important part of most successful businesses. With all of that being said, I don't get the whole pretending like we're being done a favor thing.
A professional fisherman fishes. That's his job. He goes out onto the ocean to fish, and in many cases, they have a very dangerous and demanding job. They find the right spot, the one where they're likely to find some fish or whatever it is that they're trying to catch, then they throw out bait, nets, hooks or whatever else may be necessary in order to catch whatever it is that they're trying to catch. If they're lucky, they'll head back to the docks with a big haul that they can sell at a good price or, maybe they have already been contracted out and the fish are already spoken for before the boat even pull into the docks. That's how many fishermen survive. They fish. They fish to make money. It's their livelihood.
Coming full circle, there's a reason why you don't pay to use this site. It's the same reason why you don't pay to use phacebook or Wal-Mart's website. In the previous analogy, you're not the man waiting at the docks to buy the fish. You're not the fisherman. You're not the man selling the nets, the man handing out the bait or the man servicing the boat. You are the fish. Without you, the fisherman has nothing to sell and no one to sell it to. This site isn't operated out of philanthropy. I don't know the history of the site and it may very well have been started without any real expectations regarding it's viability as a business venture. However, it is certainly a business at this point. Therefore, at this point the owner/operator isn't doing you a favor by letting you use this website any more than the fisherman is doing the fish a favor by pouring chum into the water. Without you and I, there is no traffic, no hits, no clicks, no pageviews or whatever other metric or language that one may use to describe such things.
So swim about in the classifieds and enjoy yourself if that's the bait that works for you. That's usually not my choice of bait, but I hope you find many more deals. I'm sure that I'll keep posting here. Until I am forced to leave, I'll probably keep providing my opinions without reservation and free of charge while caught up in the GoWilkes net and Jason will continue to point to all of us as he seeks out advertisers and proclaims, "I sho' can catch a lot a' fish with them nets o' mine. you don't want to miss out on all of that fish."
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BlackRose258
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Posted 11:38 pm, 04/26/2017
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Yha I heard about that too, sad to see him gone.
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daisya37
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Posted 10:12 pm, 04/26/2017
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I see lots of seasoned users on here. Where is that mean ole mtnbiker? lol
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burleyman
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Posted 10:35 am, 04/26/2017
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"To Seem Instead of To Be"
I remember our first television, maybe second grade, right after running water and a bathroom. Two channels.
I didn't watch it much, except with the family before bed. I had friends that would sit on weekends and watch cartoons as long as they played, but for me, only on rainy days.
I knew something was wrong watching the cereal ads. After having some, and being let down about an hour later, I felt sorry for whomever started their day with that.
From then until now, it has been a lifetime of fabrications fed from outside my actual reality. I totally expect it, and it has made life easier. Life is about being a conman to a certain extent. We all have to sell ourselves.
Social media really makes my head spin. No phacebooker, tweeter, or instagramer, but looking through kids and grandkids accounts, and general internet searches for people I know shows hyped-up social media presences that really drive home "to seem instead of to be".
It's nice to have a forum where hopefully you can remain anonymous and say things that would stop invitations to all social gatherings, or at least get a lot of in-your-face fast-talking arguments about something you said.
I didn't invent anything to do with the internet, and see it all as someone else's work or business. To me, a forum belongs to its originator/owner, and I walk through the door. If I don't like it, I leave. If they don't like me, they can ask me to leave.
I don't care about traffic, how much the owner makes, and how it's done. I've not spent a dime here, and have found some good deals and hard to find items via the classifieds. I also feel more can be learned from seemingly anonymous postings and can be a hoot to read.
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GoWilkes
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Posted 10:07 am, 04/26/2017
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You specifically used the word "unique" to describe the visitors being referred to. "Unique," by definition, means different or distinct in characteristics. If I am misunderstanding your implication, please clarify your meaning for me. What makes these visits and/or visitors "unique?"
You and I discussed this in the earlier thread that I linked, in 2012. I use the term "unique visitor" because that's the term that Google Analytics uses.
You can read a bit more about that here:
The number has always been a little imperfect, though. For example, if you have 4 people in your home using the same computer, it would only count as 1 unique visitors. And everyone that logs on at the library, WCC, or at Lowes offices are counted as 1 visitor (at least, everyone from Lowes used to be counted as one; I haven't verified that lately).
At the same time, someone using dial-up internet that logs off and then comes back later might be counted as 2 visitors. Worse, mobile users that move around to different Wi-Fi connections might also count as multiple unique visitors.
I've also found that, over time, this number becomes less and less reliable, so it's really not practical to measure it on a range longer than a month; even a month might be too long.
Due, in part, to these reasons, I don't really use "unique visitors" in sales anymore, but instead talk about pageviews (which is a much more reliable number). It was only discussed here because you brought it up.
Isn't this assertion excluding those individuals that use facebook regularly in Wilkes County, but may not be specifically registered as such?
Of course, but the only number we have to go by is what Facebook publishes. But even if 50% of the people in Wilkes list a false location, that would still only be 20,000 registered users (which is different from "active users", which I'll discuss in the next portion), which is less than the number of "unique visitors" that Analytics shows us having in a day.
You seriously believe that more people visit this site than facebook, regardless of their location? Do we really need Google Analytics to provide the numbers on that one?
Again, you're referring to a statement that I made in 2012. At the time, my comment was easily verifiable, but they do not publish the same data today.
You'll notice, though, that they only publish "registered users", not "active users", which is significantly different. For example, my dad has 4 accounts, maybe more, because he forgets the password and just creates a new one. I also have several friends that have an account, but just don't use it (which includes me). So those would all be considered "registered accounts", even though they're not active users.
There are also a lot of fake / scam accounts created to impersonate real people. If they are impersonating someone in Wilkes then they, too, will say that they're in Wilkes, even though they may really be in Romania or Nigeria.
I can tell you this, too. The GoWilkes fan page currently has 3,055 "followers", but when I post something, it has a "reach" that ranges from around 80 to around 300 (looking back over the last 3 years). This makes me suspect that only about 10% of our followers look at their News Feed on a regular basis.
Based on the numbers that they used to publish, the numbers I see from Analytics, and based on my own experiences with publishing and paid advertising on Facebook, my answer is yes, I do believe that there are a lot more people in Wilkes on GoWilkes than there are people in Wilkes on Facebook.
If you can find any report showing how many active users are on Facebook that are located in Wilkes, though, I would be interested to read it.
That seems like it would be a pretty ineffective and unrealistic sales model. In fact, the statement even sounds sells like a sales pitch in and of itself.
Well, I've been in sales since I was a teenager, and that was beat in to my head by my sales mentor, Tim Johnston. You might think it's a sales pitch, but it just makes sense when you think about it. I'll try to explain it like this:
You'll recall that our local ads are $1 /day, and I only built the ad system because businesses were asking for it (sometime around 2005). We've never raised our rates; the goal was always to make them affordable enough so that small businesses can keep an ad going and see good results.
So the only way they make us any money is if the business sees a good return and continues advertising... and maybe refers a few other businesses.
Now, if we were to do the things you're claiming, like falsifying data and "give the impression that the sites are more active than they actually are", how would that help? We might pick up a new advertiser, but then when they see lower results than expected they cancel their ad, never to return. And they certainly wouldn't refer their friends.
That would not only be unethical, but it would be stupid. If I tell them to expect 400 clicks on their ad, and they only get 300, they'll be disappointed; but if I say to expect, say, 200 clicks and they get 300, they'll be tickled to death.
For your reference, I just checked on one advertiser that began his ad on April 14. So far, as of around 11pm, his ad has been shown 277,124 times and has been clicked on 111 times (which he can verify by looking at his own Analytics account for his site). These are the numbers we use to sell ads, because that's what is really important to advertisers. The number of posts made, or the perception of a busy site, is completely irrelevant as compared to the results they can expect to see.
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Grayson
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Posted 4:51 am, 04/26/2017
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"No, this isn't at all what I said. I said that, according to Analytics, we had 108,680 unique visitors within that month. That is not 1.2 million unique visitors per year, because that you assume that none of those unique visitors are repeat visitors. Which obviously isn't true. You're making a false assumption that ignores repeat visitors, which is why your entire argument is flawed."
You specifically used the word "unique" to describe the visitors being referred to. "Unique," by definition, means different or distinct in characteristics. If I am misunderstanding your implication, please clarify your meaning for me. What makes these visits and/or visitors "unique?"
"Again, you are either confused or are being intentionally misleading. I did not imply, I clearly stated that, on a local level, GoWilkes does have more users than Facebook. Not on a global level, obviously, but on a local level. But I wasn't the one saying that, their Ad Manager is the one that showed only 10,000 accounts registered in Wilkes."
Isn't this assertion excluding those individuals that use facebook regularly in Wilkes County, but may not be specifically registered as such?
"This may not be the same now, I don't know; they changed their Ad Manager and it no longer gives this data."
You seriously believe that more people visit this site than facebook, regardless of their location? Do we really need Google Analytics to provide the numbers on that one?
"This makes several times that you've libeled me in this thread. That, along with being intentionally misleading in your claims... what's your personal problem with me, Grayson?"
What I said is open to individual interpretation and is therefore not libelous. You know, because it's not like I'd do something like that. As for having a personal problem with you, I don't have a personal problem with you. I have personal opinions of you and your practices, but not personal problems with you. Surely you should be able to ascertain from my postings on this site that, with each thread, post and each individual, I respond to specific content. Like you, I typically quote specifically what I am referring/responding to for clarification and respond accordingly with my personal opinion/perspective. This is why the same folks patting me on the back on one of my postings on one thread are offended by my postings on another. I often defend you in threads. When I agree with you, I do so openly. When I disagree with you, I do so openly. In this case and on the subject that we're discussing at the moment, I don't share your perspective.
"The short answer, though, is no, I do not need to make a site look "more active than it actually is". In fact, that would be pretty stupid, wouldn't it? From a sales point of view, it's better to UNDER sell the numbers, not falsely inflate them. There's an old mantra that I've always gone by, "under promise and over deliver"."
That seems like it would be a pretty ineffective and unrealistic sales model. In fact, the statement even sounds sells like a sales pitch in and of itself.
"When I sell ads, I don't really talk about the number of posts or the number of visitors. The only number I talk about is pageviews, which you can see for yourself by logging in to the Ad Manager. These numbers come directly from Analytics, so unless you have a reasonable argument that they're falsely inflating the Pageviews?"
No. I'm not prepared or interested enough to argue this point.
"Further, it wasn't my idea to copy threads to other sites. Other users mentioned the idea on here repeatedly (even recently), and I agreed that it might not be a bad idea, so when I rebuilt everything in 2013 I implemented their idea. I couldn't find the first thread on it, but this might help:
https://www.gowilkes...es/147562/
The issue was that a lot of people are on the other GoNC sites using the classifieds, but there were very few posts being made in the forums. So the idea was to give them something to talk about, and maybe it would encourage them to join in. Which worked, to some degree, but it also became a little confusing, so I haven't really copied anything in awhile."
Oh, I see. So it's not like you posted all of those threads to give the impression that the sites are more active than they actually are. (See? Completely open to individual interpretation and therefore not libelous.  )
From my post at 6:03am - Note from GoNC: a portion of this post was removed for trolling."
It wasn't trolling. It was in direct response to something that you had stated in this very thread.
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GoWilkes
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Posted 1:12 pm, 04/25/2017
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You claimed in your statement the site has 100,000 unique visitors per month. That is a total of 1.2 Million unique visitors per year
No, this isn't at all what I said.
I said that, according to Analytics, we had 108,680 unique visitors within that month. That is not 1.2 million unique visitors per year, because that you assume that none of those unique visitors are repeat visitors. Which obviously isn't true.
You're making a false assumption that ignores repeat visitors, which is why your entire argument is flawed.
I am curious though, as you typed the statement above out, did you have a straight face when you tried to insinuate that GoWilkes was more popular than phacebook? Again, you are either confused or are being intentionally misleading.
I did not imply, I clearly stated that, on a local level, GoWilkes does have more users than Facebook. Not on a global level, obviously, but on a local level. But I wasn't the one saying that, their Ad Manager is the one that showed only 10,000 accounts registered in Wilkes.
This may not be the same now, I don't know; they changed their Ad Manager and it no longer gives this data.
It's not like you'd post those threads to make it appear as though the site is more active than it actually is. This makes several times that you've libeled me in this thread. That, along with being intentionally misleading in your claims... what's your personal problem with me, Grayson?
The short answer, though, is no, I do not need to make a site look "more active than it actually is". In fact, that would be pretty stupid, wouldn't it? From a sales point of view, it's better to UNDER sell the numbers, not falsely inflate them. There's an old mantra that I've always gone by, "under promise and over deliver".
When I sell ads, I don't really talk about the number of posts or the number of visitors. The only number I talk about is pageviews, which you can see for yourself by logging in to the Ad Manager. These numbers come directly from Analytics, so unless you have a reasonable argument that they're falsely inflating the Pageviews?
Then after the ad is running, I talk about "impressions" and "click-throughs". These would be next to impossible to fabricate, since anyone running an ad that links to their own site can easily use Analytics to see how many visitors came from GoWilkes.
Further, it wasn't my idea to copy threads to other sites. Other users mentioned the idea on here repeatedly (even recently), and I agreed that it might not be a bad idea, so when I rebuilt everything in 2013 I implemented their idea. I couldn't find the first thread on it, but this might help:
The issue was that a lot of people are on the other GoNC sites using the classifieds, but there were very few posts being made in the forums. So the idea was to give them something to talk about, and maybe it would encourage them to join in. Which worked, to some degree, but it also became a little confusing, so I haven't really copied anything in awhile.
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backwater
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Posted 12:08 pm, 04/25/2017
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BRG is a really Old User!
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#TrumpBestPresidentEver
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Posted 9:13 am, 04/25/2017
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D_J_T does indeed believe what he is saying, including racism, vulgarity, discrimination, and lots of other things indicating a character disorder.
Hepsblah... as I and others have pointed out, DJT is a tard saying goofy outlandish things in a feeble attempt to make Republicans look bad. One of his other usernames is cucumber.
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GoNC
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Posted 9:13 am, 04/25/2017
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I removed several posts that were off topic and/or trolling.
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hangsleft
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Posted 8:19 am, 04/25/2017
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I just can't understand people complaining so much, yet are on here everyday. If you are so insulted, find another outlet for your rage and anger.
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grayson
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Posted 6:15 am, 04/25/2017
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Once again, flagged for moderation. Here's a question for you- if my assertions are so wrong and thereby innocuous, why is it necessary to review them in order to decide whether or not you are willing to let others read them? What is the difference in my assertions and those of so many others- other than the fact that my assertions include points that can't be so easily disregarded by citing the rules or claiming that I am trolling.
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Grayson
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Posted 6:03 am, 04/25/2017
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"You have regularly called me a liar regarding the site's traffic, in spite of my proving otherwise. I've shown you exact numbers from Google Analytics, so unless you want to say that the most popular statistics program in the world is wrong...?"
Yes. I want to say that the most popular statistics program in the world is wrong. Let me explain why...
Here's the posting that you made in 2012 that started the conversation...
"For your reference, according to the Phacebook* ad manager, there are approximately 10,000 accounts created that have a Wilkes county town listed as their hometown. This includes accounts for children, and people with multiple accounts. In comparison, according to Google Analytics, GoWilkes had more than 100,000 unique visitors per month. From Nov 10 until Dec 10, we had 108,680 unique visitors and just under 4 million pageviews. These are almost entirely from Wilkes county and the surrounding areas."
Here's why I contend that the information is wrong. The counties surrounding Wilkes are Surry, Yadkin, Iredell, Alexander, Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe and Allegheny. Here's the approximate population of each...
Wilkes - 69,000 Surry - 73,000 Yadkin - 38,000 Iredell - 170,000 Alexander - 38,000 Caldwell - 81,000 Watauga - 53,000 Ashe - 27,000 Allegany - 11,000
Add all of these numbers up and you get a sum of 560,000. You claimed in your statement the site has 100,000 unique visitors per month. That is a total of 1.2 Million unique visitors per year that you clearly state are "almost entirely from Wilkes County and the surrounding areas." There are only 560,000 people in Wilkes and the surrounding areas combined. However, 1.2 million visitors is over twice as much as the entire population of all of these counties combined. Also, let's be real here.
I am curious though, as you typed the statement above out, did you have a straight face when you tried to insinuate that GoWilkes was more popular than phacebook?
"Sure, it's been discussed several times how I commonly copy threads that are of a general topic to other county sites (although I've been busy and haven't done so lately). If you were to look at the Ad Manager, you would see that those sites have a lot of traffic, but no one posts, so I'm trying to give them something to talk about. And?"
I'm sure that they do get a lot of traffic. Probably right around twice the population of Rhode Island.  It's not like you'd post those threads to make it appear as though the site is more active than it actually is.
*Full disclosure: I changed this to "Phacebook" because I don't think that the original word is allowed to be posted and didn't want this gem to get censored out. Note from GoNC: a portion of this post was removed for trolling.
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Daddy P
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Posted 2:46 am, 04/25/2017
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It's great to see some familiar names popping in.
Jason, I agree with you 100% when you say that people quit posting or new visitors leave when they get trolled for asking a simple question. If they don't get trolled themselves then they most certainly will see another poster get attacked. Ask a question about a sick pet? Get comments about how your horrible for not putting it out its misery or somehow Trump or Obama will get thrown in. A question about which restaurants are best in Wilkes? Get called an idiot for liking a place that isn't to someone else's standards. There should be threads for information that can be safe and troll free. If people report this trolling on information and help topics and they get deleted, maybe they will stop trolling on those things. Maybe a section to ask serious questions...by serious I mean no jokes.. that the posts are not posted until read by a moderator. If someone can't wait and needs a fast response and they're willing to risk trolling, they could just post their question as a regular topic instead of info related.
The logistics may be impossible or not realistic. All I know is I want to see the site full of people posting again and more positive posts than negative. It's really hard to try to outpost the negative posts with positive when some don't play fair by using multiple usernames. I have no idea who does now, but the good doctor comes to mind as someone one who played a big part in me realizing it's futile to try to debate sockpuppets (Garcia taught me that word ). I still enjoy this site daily and will try to participate more and be positive.
PS Satie I'm glad your ghost still haunts this place 😇😈
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GoWilkes
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Posted 1:22 am, 04/25/2017
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Grayson, I'm sorry but you're grossly mistaken.
Your previous post was flagged because you were using words related to an accident which, as I've already explained, are filtered for you due to your previous and consistent trolling on threads and posts related to accidents.
You have regularly called me a liar regarding the site's traffic, in spite of my proving otherwise. I've shown you exact numbers from Google Analytics, so unless you want to say that the most popular statistics program in the world is wrong...?
Sure, it's been discussed several times how I commonly copy threads that are of a general topic to other county sites (although I've been busy and haven't done so lately). If you were to look at the Ad Manager, you would see that those sites have a lot of traffic, but no one posts, so I'm trying to give them something to talk about. And? For your reference, here is the conversation we've had on this before: https://www.gowilkes.com/voice/go-wilkes-vs-facebook/122523/And the exact screenshot from Analytics that we discussed at the time: analytics_11-10-12_-_12-10-12.jpg
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chendo
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Posted 12:25 am, 04/25/2017
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'District goan be gud!
Grayson...why are you holding back? Say how you really feel!
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grayson
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Posted 11:44 pm, 04/24/2017
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"GoWilkes, really, is this site so desperate for traffic that insults, racism, vulgarity, threats, etc. don't matter....even when applied to you? I'm surprised. Really."
Can't you read? It's only this way because you, the user haven't been effective in transforming the site into a bastion of integrity.
Seriously though, it has been pretty clear to me for some time now that the ethical implications pale when compared to visitors and clicks. I could go into this deeper, but it'd be a waste of time because the post would be flagged and then tossed into the abyss. If you really want a laugh though, ask him about the number of unique visitors to the site. Not only is he desperate for the...uhm...numbers (I dare not use the T word that you used because it'll probably result in a flag), the numbers are obviously inflated. Part of the reason that some of my filters exist is because I had the gall to compare the numbers that he was bragging about regarding new and unique visitors with the actual population numbers in the county and state. He got tired of me pointing out his shadiness and just started censoring me, which is why my previous post on this thread got flagged.
Here's another one that is shady. Go to some of the other sites. They rarely actually get any traffic. However, there are threads on their respective Community Voice pages. The threads give the illusion that particular site is somewhat active, but what is really the case is that some of the threads from this site and GoAshe are posted on those sites. Seriously. Compare them. Consider that it's only reasonable that advertising is pitched to folks in those areas and then tell me that **** isn't shady.
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