The Great Red Arrow Mystery

1. 76

   Rupert Taylorposted 2 years ago

   We all love the little red arrows that, supposedly, indicate growing views for our articles, but what determines their placement? For example, today I have a newly published article that has 1,100 views and is awarded a single red arrow. At the same time, there's an older article that has 37 views and gets two red arrows. Further, another older article with more than 100 views gets no arrows at all.
   
   I have pondered dynamically on this apparent conundrum and have determined that the formula for awarding red arrows is similar to the one that sets our individual Hub Scores. Here it, revealed for the first time.
   
   Each article is assessed for the number of times the letter “K” appears. This is then multiplied by the length, in centimetres, or a randomly selected rutabaga (Well, you knew rutabagas would feature in this somewhere). If the resulting number is greater than X, the article gets two red arrows; less than X, it gets one star. Nobody, of course, knows what the value of X is.
   
   Hold the applause.

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   1. 85

      jansharesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Funny, Rupert. A conundrum indeed. I've wondered about it and can only surmise that it's an algorithm thing that we weren't meant to understand.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      In this case, red is better than blue.

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2. 87

   Jodahposted 2 years ago

   It certainly is a conundrum, as is the blue arrows. Red usually as associated with bad (being in the red etc..in debit) you would expect the down arrow to be red and the up arrow to be blue. I assume that if an article get more views than it normally does in the last seven days it will get a red arrow, and if it’s views have dropped in the last seven days it will receive a blue arrow. But how one or two arrows are calculated must be determined by the rutabaga quotient.

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3. 68

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   I think it depends on the degree and rate of change.
   
   A 200 view article might increases by 30 views overnight, say, and get one arrow for a 15% rise.
   
   A 4 view article goes up by 2 views and gets two arrows for a 50% rise.
   
   A 1,000 view article might rise by 70 views and get no arrows for a 7% increase.
   
   Those examples are with made-up numbers, but you see what I mean.
   
   I think the idea is that the arrows tell you about rapid changes in traffic, but they're a crude tool at best.

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4. 81

   bhattucposted 2 years ago

   I think it is related to rate of change.

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5. 81

   Peggy Wposted 2 years ago

   All I can add to this discussion is that I like rutabagas, and I like viewing red arrows on my articles.

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6. 82

   Brenda Arledgeposted 2 years ago

   I'm with Peggy...I like seeing those little red arrows

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7. 0

   Vladimir - Val Karasposted 2 years ago

   Well, we have to get SOME stimulus to keep writing -- and if it doesn't look anything like money, then those tiny red triangles at least symbolically look stimulating. Sometimes I get one, or even two of those, but for the life in me, I can't see any increase in views at all on that particular article. Maybe I should start wearing glasses again.
   I freakishly love mysteries, but some I truly don't care to figure out. I know you don't agree with seeing yourselves as "employees", but I do -- and one principle of my stress management says: "Just like the Dude Up There, your boss works in mysterious ways, which is not to be questioned" -- especially if no "holy union of skeptics" is around.

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