Friday, January 13, 2012

Global Debate Blog Gets One Millionth Visitor Since Moving to Blogspot




One million page views since GLOBAL DEBATE BLOG moved to blogspot. That is a lot of views. Of course, GDB has a lot more than that, given that it began on 2 March 2006 as an iWeb blog hosted at my university. I had hundreds and hundreds of posts during 2006 and 2007, and then it moved to blogspot on 4 July 2007. But, a million since the middle of 2007. 



Here it is, it just happened:


Pageviews today
948
Pageviews yesterday
3,857
Pageviews last month
106,124
Pageviews all time history
1,000,001


I originally moved to blogspot because it was just easier to do, and easier to do from remote locations. Little did I know that blogspot would keep on improving, now with an amazing design and lay out that is my favorite.

It happened in a small way. Readership during the 2006-2007 era was quite low. It was new, I was not known and promotion was a bit weak. Even Google had a hard time finding the iWeb blogs. Moving to blogspot made the postings a lot easier to find and growth began to happen.

There was a steady growth. Big growth spurts followed the World Championships as more people found out about the blog. But, people found out about it in other important ways. Over 150,000 page views since 2007 have been referred to by Google search. People are looking for something and Google sends them here. Then, they see something that interests them and then they come back. Facebook has helped as well, with a lot of people coming to the blog from links there. Colm Flynn’s World Debating has been a big help sending us lots of page views. The switch to the new “magazine” blog format has helped, as people can easily see previous blog posts that they might want to also look at. But, I must admit, the majority of references come from other much smaller sources. Individual debate programs have links, people suggest it to each other, recently Twitter has sent a lot of people (and even Bing). The growth and the way the word spreads has been organic, and that is good and to be expected.

I expect the next million to be achieved much sooner. For one thing, many of the older pages are still found through searches and links, and this will only increase. As well, traffic is at an all time high (104,000 page views last month) so the next million will happen during 2012 unless I stop posting or remove the blog.

Some things do not seem to be factors. After 3143 I only have 39 followers. After 3143 posts there are only 1343 published comments (and I publish all that are not spam). These are artifacts and do not rally concern me.

I think one aspect of the blog’s popularity is my stubbornness. I start doing something and if I think it has value I keep on doing it. I know that growth and change comes incrementally through time and that keeps me focused.

My original purpose behind starting this blog was not just to get the news out, but to show that there was a rapidly developing and expanding global debate community. It was those in the USA who seemed to be aware of this the least, and so I have always tried to report on both USA and international debating news, because the first is a part of the second, and I want Americans to know that. I think that this has been accomplished somewhat, as the USA has been the biggest locale of those viewing these pages.

Many of you might be aware of my track record in terms of applying new ideas to debating. I built my first debating website in 1994, staged the first full Internet debate in 1999, and did the first simulcast of a major event (National Forensic League Nationals in Portland, Oregon) in June of 2000. In many ways I offer my services to introduce a use for technology and then when the people I am helping sees how valuable it is they take it over and do it themselves. Thus, the National Forensic League’s first website was built by a few volunteers and myself and now they have a beautiful website at http://nflonline.org. I simulcast their national finals and now they do it very nicely themselves. I made the first Cross Examination Debate Association website and now they have one of their own. I like this model; as soon as someone else will do it I can stop and move on to something else.

Will I do that with the GLOBAL DEBATE BLOG? I am not sure. But there are new up and coming global debate information services, and I might just stop at some point when the point is made and the function is well served by others. For now, though, it is forward as ever.

I am not shy about doing new things. Several years ago I led an effort by several Eastern USA schools to move into WUDC format debate, and now through their hard work five of them are in the world’s top 60 programs. Change can come and change will come.

Yes, change can and will come, even when you are in your 50th year of debating, even with you are in your 40th year of coaching debate, and even when you are 61 years of age, like I am.

There are too many people to thank for me to even start listing them. Well, perhaps Nancy Ogden, who told a middle school student that debate was not or him (reverse psychology works), and Ray Benoit who told a young high school student not to give up. But, those are enough names for now. People have been encouraging in my efforts, have supplied me with stories and feedback, and encouraged me when I am discouraged. People have offered criticism that has been cogent as well as silly, and I thank all of them for their time and effort. People who have threatened me and tried to bully me can take a flying leap. People who have said this effort was meaningless and foolish are probably not correct.

However, if you want to buy it out, make me an offer. I could use some cash for my next debate technological adventure. ::smirk:: Hell, it worked for the Huffington Post!

As I am sure you know, GLOBAL DEBATE BLOG is a part of a family of websites, anchored by DEBATE CENTRAL (http://debate.uvm.edu) where it all began in 1994. Our many other websites and blogs are all linked from the main DEBATE CENTRAL webpage. Check it out.

Again, thanks to everyone for their support, their patience with my foolishness, their tolerance of my excesses and their understanding of my many errors. I cannot promise to be more than a little bit better, but I will try to do my best with that.

Alfred C. Snider aka Tuna
University of Vermont, Lawrence Debate Union, World Debate Institute

Here is the 2007 iWeb archive:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog/Archive.html
Here is the 2006 iWeb archive:
http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/doctortuna/Blog2006/Archive.html

Monday, May 30, 2011

Harry Potter vs. Twilight Debate Gets Most Comments

Created by modifying this imageImage via Wikipedia
There are a lot of popular posts on Global Debate http://globaldebateblog.blogspot.com, but the one that has fired up the most controversy among readers has been a posting about a debate as to which series was better, Harry Potter or Twilight.

Well, the readers took off on that one, and as of today there are 129 comments. A new and much bigger debate has taken off after the original story.

http://globaldebateblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/fans-debate-harry-potter-vs-twilight.html#comments

Congratulations to the readers, who obviously love debate.
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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Over 500,000 Visitors in 10 Months for Global Debate

The debate news blog GLOBAL DEBATE http://globaldebateblog.blogspot.com/ has attracted a lot of visitors in the last ten months, over 500,000 visitors.


Traffics has come from all around the world:



United StatesUnited States  [32%]
IndiaIndia  [8%]
PhilippinesPhilippines  [5%]
MalaysiaMalaysia  [5%]
AustraliaAustralia  [5%]
United KingdomUnited Kingdom  [3%]
IndonesiaIndonesia  [3%]
CanadaCanada  [3%]
GermanyGermany  [3%]
New ZealandNew Zealand  [3%]
NetherlandsNetherlands  [2%]
QatarQatar  [2%]
PakistanPakistan  [2%]
RomaniaRomania  [2%]
United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates  [2%]
HungaryHungary  [2%]
Hong Kong S.A.R., ChinaHong Kong S.A.R., China  [1%]
AustriaAustria  [1%]
JapanJapan  [1%]
Macao S.A.R., ChinaMacao S.A.R., China  [1%]
KuwaitKuwait  [1%]
ItalyItaly  [1%]
CroatiaCroatia  [1%]
SwitzerlandSwitzerland  [1%]
CyprusCyprus  [1%]
TaiwanTaiwan  [1%]
South KoreaSouth Korea  [1%]
South AfricaSouth Africa  [1%]
MacedoniaMacedonia  [1%]
SloveniaSlovenia  [1%]
SingaporeSingapore  [1%]
MexicoMexico  [1%]
JordanJordan  [1%]
BangladeshBangladesh  [1%]

Friday, January 7, 2011

For Our Sites, We linked People to 1,854,650 Debate Videos

Vimeo LogoImage via Wikipedia

Vimeo.com is the website we have used to process and embed debate videos since February, 2009. The sites works well, is economical, and provides excellent connectivity and statistics.

As of 7 January 2011 vimeo.com has served 1.8 million debate videos for our family of websites.

Thanks to Vimeo, thanks to our viewers, and thanks to all of those who helped us produce this content.

Onward and upward!
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Global Debate & Debate Video Recognized as Top Debate Blogs

From http://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/all-the-best-high-school-and-college-debate-blogs/


All the Best High School and College Debate Blogs

June 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Here is my round up of the top debate blogs as I see it (if you’ve been omitted, feel free to leave your blog URL in the comments section). I hope this helps all those looking to find the best debate and argument blogs.
The 3 NR – is basically the hub of most high school debate related. Maintained by Scott P, Bill Batterman, and Roy Lekovitz who are all nationally recognized coaches.
Georgia Debate Blog-maintained by the coaching staff at the University of Georgia debate team. Casey Harrigan is the primary author, although other coaches contribute. (only updated about once or twice a month)
Global Debate blog-All about global debate. Maintained by Tuna Snider at the University of Vermont. Tuna’s passion is global debate.
Debate Video blog-Exactly what it says. Videos of debates. Although, they are usually in parli or the international debate formats. In addition, Tuna is able to post the occassional policy debate video.
Teaching Debate is maintained by Kate Shuster. It isn’t regularly updated, but Kate has turned this into a fantastic resource for middle school debate coaches.
Victory briefs blog-covers the world of high school lincoln douglas debate.
University of Texas institute blog has interesting coverage of the military troop pullout topic–which is directly relevant to high school debate (the best way to find that blog, is either by coming back here and clicking the link or by searching “UNTIF debate blog” via Google.
I’ve functionally omitted GA Forensics and the Virginia blog as they both seem to focus on regional issues, with some coverage of national ones–but both deserve mention.
Kevin Kuswa, Steve Pointer, and friends have created a new critique specific blog (the name escapes me at the moment). Some of the language is a little jargon ridden and more appropriate for college debaters, however for high schoolers willing to dissect the language this can serve as a great idea resource for keeping up with critiques and critique theory.
Lucy Got Some Splainin is also a nice intro to debate blog, which a high school debate coach has made for his students and for the world at large. (URL = MIA)
Specific Recommendations:
If you are a coach or JV or Varsity debater…..The 3NR, the UNTIF blog, the Kevin Kuswa blog are probably the best to plug in your RSS reader. If you are a novice policy debater and starting out…..there apparently isn’t much of a blog for your RSS reader (most of the content on Lucy is already published….however I would make attempts at the UNTIF debate blog and the 3NR debate blogs. At the end of the day, only you can decide, so take 15 to 20 minutes to get an idea of each and see which content works best for you.
Audience Blog Recommendations:
If you can recommend another great debate blog, feel free to leave a note in the comments (for instance if I;ve left a policy, public forum, parlamentary debate, or lincoln douglas blog off the list–please add it. Thanks!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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