Lost Remote besieged by 5th graders
Cory Bergman March 15th, 2007
When I talk to people about the importance of search, I use Lost Remote as an example — about 30 percent of our traffic comes from story-based search. A classic example is a post from January 22nd about the new Fox show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, which appeared shortly thereafter in the first few search results on Google. Since then, it has received tens of thousands of page views and has turned into its own mini-community with 419 comments and counting. “I’m a fifth grader,” reads one. “How do I get on the show?” Others then respond with instructions, and one person even posted her experience watching a taping of the show. It’s difficult to predict when these spontaneous communities will appear, but it’s certainly fascinating to watch.
10 Comments Add your own
1. Anonymous | March 15th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Beyond Lost fans, Christians, and fifth-graders, are there any other unusual demos represented on LR?
2. Chris Weaver | March 15th, 2007 at 11:41 am
I took a few pictures and did a blog post in 2005 about a ultra tall basketball player from China named Sun Ming Ming who is in the US to get medical care for his growing condition and train for a possible NBA career.
That story has always recieved a lot of traffic but recently it spiked, generating thousands of hits in one day. The large traffic continues, with search engines sending traffic my way for that one story.
3. Rob | March 15th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I think there are a few of us BSG fans around here as well.
4. The Tony | March 15th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
So THAT’S how MySpace started.
Huh.
5. theTVaddict | March 15th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I too am constantly amazed at how many visitors have found my site by searching terms associated with FOX’s latest reality TV hit.
Since the show has first aired, I’m constantly getting google queries such as:
“are you smarter than a fifth grader questions”
“are we smarter than 5 grade”
“how do i get on are you smarter than a fifth grader”
etc….
6. Steve | March 15th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Milk it man. I expect to see banner ads from PlaySkool any day now.
7. Fladam | March 15th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Amazingly intriguing.. Now all you need is to be Dugg.
8. Andrew Tyndall | March 16th, 2007 at 4:25 am
Bergman notes that the phenomenon is “fascinating” but does not conclude whether it is a benefit or a disadvantage.
In an old-media, Nielsen-ratings worldview, the extra traffic is all to the good because eyeballs lead to revenue sooner or later.
In a new media, conversation-is-value worldview, having the core theme of one’s site diluted by such a large off-topic thread is bad because it confuses Lost Remote’s identity and therefore its sense of community.
I suppose the solution, when confronted by such a phenomenon, is to spin off off-topic threads as quickly as possible as independent brands, linking to their kindred sites so that the search volume is maximized and separating from the parent site so its identity is not compromised.
But does Bergman really want to run a Lost site and an Are You Smarter.. site and a March Madness site as well as Lost Remote? Sounds like a lot of work.
9. Safran | March 16th, 2007 at 5:26 am
I have the same sense of humor as a 10-year-old. How do I get on the show?
10. Cory | March 16th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Andrew.. or does he have the TIME to do it? Nope.
But I do see it as an advantage.
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