📊 The Good, the Bad, and the Website Metrics
Transparency matters.
One of the things I want to do with NielFlamm.com is share the journey—the wins, the losses, and everything in between. So today, I thought I'd pull back the curtain a bit.
First, thank you.
Seriously.
Whether you've visited once, read a blog post, watched one of my movie reviews, listened to a podcast, or stopped by to see what kind of internet garbage I posted this week, I appreciate you. Even more, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send feedback, leave comments, or reach out directly. It means more than you probably realize.
Now for the numbers.
Compared to last month:
Unique Visits are down about 37%.
Visits are also down about 37%.
Page Views are down about 20%.
Do I love seeing that? Of course not.
Do I panic? Also no.
The reality is... I don't know exactly why.
It could be seasonal. Summer vacations, kids out of school, people spending more time outside than staring at another screen (probably a healthy decision).
It could be that social media algorithms decided my posts should be shown to approximately three people, and one of them was probably my mom.
It seems my content isn’t resonating as much.
Maybe people are just busy.
Maybe search engine rankings shifted.
Maybe some readers are waiting for me to write about something they're especially interested in.
Or maybe the internet decided to internet.
The honest answer is... I don't know.
I enjoy creating content, and I'm continuing to invest in making the site better.
Over the last couple of months, I've added a few tools.
I've talked quite a bit about using ChatGPT to help organize ideas and polish content. My website is hosted on Squarespace, and I recently added Linguise to provide translations into multiple languages.
None of these companies are sponsors...
...yet. 😄
One interesting thing Linguise lets me see is which translated versions of the site are being viewed.
The results surprised me.
The most viewed translated language?
Russian.
That's right...
Russian.
Tell Comrade Putin I said hello.
After Russian came German, Japanese, and Chinese, even though most of my overall traffic still comes from China.
I honestly don't know what to make of that yet, but it's fascinating to watch.
The analytics raise more questions than answers, and that's part of the fun.
For those who have followed along, you already know this isn't my profession.
I'm not a programmer.
I'm not a marketer.
I'm not in corporate communications.
I'm just someone with life experiences, stories, opinions, recovery, movie reviews, technology observations, customer service experiences, and the occasional questionable joke that I hope connects with someone somewhere in the world.
If something resonates with you, fantastic.
If something doesn't, I'd like to know that too.
I'd love your feedback.
Leave a comment on the site or email me at niel@nielflamm.com.
Please tell me what you like.
Please tell me what you skip.
Please tell me what you'd like to see more of.
This website has always been about starting conversations, and I hope we keep having them.
Thank you for being part of the journey.
Here's to next month's numbers... hopefully they're pointing in the other direction.
Day 45: Community or Rhetoric?
Today I have three thoughts. Buckle up.
1. Community Isn't Just Something You Say
Nirav Tolia recently shared another clip from his conversation with David Begnaud.
🎥 Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GtufEetKuE
Around 40 seconds into the video, Nirav talks about community.
That got me thinking.
A quick Google search defines community as:
"People care about each other and feel like they belong."
Another definition reads:
"An online space where people connect through the internet to share ideas."
Those are great definitions.
But community isn't just something we talk about.
It's something we demonstrate.
How is Nextdoor demonstrating community when users can't provide meaningful feedback on the platform itself, when questions continue to be raised about a moderation model that frustrates many users, and when a straightforward email requesting a study goes unanswered?
That brings me to...
2. Day 45
Today marks Day 45 since I asked Jacob Chavis for a study.
Forty-five days.
No study.
No acknowledgment.
No response.
I've posted every day because, to me, marketing videos don't measure communication and community—they're measured by how people are treated when they ask respectful questions.
3. Consistency Works Both Ways
Today, Nextdoor Communications shared this blog post:
📖 Small Moments, Big Ripples: Neighbor Stories from Nextdoor
https://blog.nextdoor.com/small-moments-big-ripples-neighbor-stories-from-nextdoor-1
The theme?
Consistency.
That word caught my attention.
I've also been consistent.
Over the past 45 days, I've documented what I believe is a lack of communication, a lack of meaningful engagement, and concerns about how community is being practiced versus how it's being described.
Consistency isn't only about publishing positive stories.
It's also about responding consistently when someone reaches out in good faith.
Finally, a quick note for fellow shareholders.
The stock is up marginally today, but my outlook remains bearish heading into earnings.
If the next report shows another loss—even if it's smaller—no dividend, and the same messaging without meaningful operational change, the market will likely react negatively.
Time will tell.
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. I'd love to hear your perspective.
The Lotto Dudes Are Back... Because Apparently We Like Losing Money 😂🎰
Well...
Someone in Florida won the $800 million Mega Millions jackpot last night.
It wasn't me.
I know.
Shocking.
I didn't suddenly develop the ability to teleport across state lines, nor did I secretly buy a ticket in Florida. So congratulations to whoever now has to hire accountants, lawyers, and a therapist to explain why their third cousin they've never met suddenly wants to "catch up."
As for the Lotto Dudes...
We won...
🥁🥁🥁
$34.
Good money after bad.
It's okay. We consider it a dividend.
So what did we do?
The obvious thing.
We're doing it again.
This time we've got 10 fraternity brothers throwing in $10 each.
Using advanced mathematics, that equals...
$100.
With that, we're buying 50 Powerball tickets for a shot at the $663 million jackpot.
The estimated cash value is $290.4 million.
Split ten ways...
That's just over $29 million each.
Not billionaire money...
...but definitely enough money for ten fraternity brothers who still act like the cast of Old School.
I can already picture it.
Frank "The Tank" would somehow convince us that jumping off the roof into a kiddie pool is a sound financial decision.
Someone would suggest bringing back streaking because, "We're rich now. What are they going to do, fine us?"
Blue would somehow become our financial advisor because, despite being asleep half the movie, he was probably making the most sense.
And there would absolutely be one brother trying to start a fraternity chapter in a retirement community because "the dues are tax deductible."
Meanwhile, I'd be the responsible one...
...right up until I bought a Corvette, a beach house, a lifetime supply of Costco snacks, and a golf cart just to drive from the mailbox back to the front door.
The odds are terrible.
The investment strategy is questionable.
The entertainment value?
Absolutely priceless.
Good luck to all the Lotto Dudes.
Maybe this time we'll be writing about how we turned $100 into $290.4 million...
...instead of another blog post explaining why our ROI belongs in a museum.
The World's Tallest IMAX? I Had to See It for Myself.
What would make someone drive more than two hours... to watch a movie?
It wasn't just The Odyssey.
It was the theater itself.
I visited the home of the world's tallest IMAX screen, and the experience was unlike anything I've seen before. Was it worth the drive? Did the massive screen live up to the hype? And what surprised me most once I got there?
🎬 Watch the full vlog and find out at:
From Bagels to Battlefields: When a Breakfast Question Becomes a Food Fight
Sometimes I think Nextdoor deserves a new slogan.
Not "The neighborhood network."
Maybe...
"The Maury Povich Platform."
Because all that's missing is someone virtually throwing a chair while Maury announces...
"You ARE the father!"
A neighbor recently asked a simple question:
"Please suggest a place to get a NYC breakfast in Mount Pleasant."
Seems harmless enough.
If someone moved from New York and misses a bagel, a bacon, egg, and cheese on a hard roll, or a classic deli breakfast, why not ask the neighbors?
At first, that's exactly what happened.
People recommended restaurants.
They shared favorites.
The conversation was helpful.
Then...
It went off the rails.
Someone responded that they "just didn't get it," suggesting they wouldn't go to New York asking for Southern grits or fried chicken and questioning why people move somewhere only to ask for food from another place.
Except...
That's not what the original poster asked.
They weren't criticizing Charleston.
They weren't saying New York was better.
They wanted a recommendation for a meal that reminded them of home.
Thankfully, several neighbors pointed that out, and the original poster even responded by saying:
"When did I say anything negative about living here? I love it. Boy, some people want to fight!"
That comment resonated with me.
Because it highlights something I've been writing about for weeks.
Not every discussion needs to become an argument.
Not every question deserves to be interpreted as an attack.
Sometimes people want information.
Which got me thinking...
Maybe Nextdoor doesn't need to connect every nearby resident into one giant conversation.
Maybe there's another approach.
What if I could choose which neighbors I wanted to engage with?
Just because someone lives three houses away doesn't mean I want every post I make open to their opinions. In real life, we all have neighbors we enjoy talking to and others we coexist with. Why not let users customize their neighborhood feed around the people they actually want to interact with, while still keeping the platform hyperlocal?
Maybe I don't want every one of my real-life neighbors commenting on every post I make.
Maybe there's someone down the street with whom I've had a fence dispute, a tree dispute, or whom I don't get along with.
In real life, we avoid each other.
Why should every online conversation become another opportunity for conflict?
Giving people more control over who participates in their conversations might reduce unnecessary friction while still preserving the local community that makes Nextdoor unique.
Because right now, too often, simple questions become debates, debates become judgments, and judgments become entertainment.
That's why I jokingly call it "The Maury Povich Platform."
The platform has tremendous potential.
The challenge is creating an environment where curiosity doesn't automatically turn into conflict.
#NiravTolia, the ball's in your court. Whatcha going to do?
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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