There is no such thing as a dull year in China.
2008 is well underway and already looks like another whopper. We're only a month in and we've already had the biggest storms in half a century. The Olympics, the mother of all China events, is now a scant seven months off. God only knows what will happen in between.
But before we get too far into the new year, it's time to reflect back on 2007, Imagethief's third full year of operation. Although the competition is tight, 2007 holds its own in the excitement league-tables. We had the 17th National Party Congress, the Yilishen Ant Farming Scandals, the World's Toughest Nailhouse, the Xiamen PX demonstrations, pork inflation, Olympic PR trouble and the grilling of American Internet companies to keep us warm, among other things. And don't even mention the wicked A-share stock markets.
The China blogosphere matured a lot in the past year. Several of the blogging journalists and consultants hit their strides, and more recent arrivals like Beijing Newspeak and China Law Blog carved out places for themselves alongside perennial favorites like Danwei. The rage-monkey in my head still reacts badly to too much competition, but this trend is a good thing. As valuable as the mainstream media and growing pile of China books remain, blogs can be a real source of insight into China. They can also be a source total crap, ignorant xenophobia, profane nationalism and juvenile wank. But so can TV, so what the heck.
I'm pleased to report that Imagethief is holding its own. As always, I don't have the biggest readership, but I continue to be thrilled at its quality, which comes through in the comments and e-mails I receive and in my periodic discoveries that people I respect are readers.
The downside (if it can be considered such) is that I am now thoroughly outed with regard to my employer. I recently woke up to find myself quoted in the Wall Street Journal as a representative of my company, based on something I'd written on Imagethief. This was an ego boost, but it also took years off my life. Thank heavens the journalist (who did try to contact me) didn't quote one of my more bizarre opinions. It's worth reminding readers that Imagethief reflects my personal opinions and observations, and not necessarily those of my employers.
Advertising
Readers may have noticed that I carried my first advertisement recently. (I don't count the Asia Sentinel banner, since they syndicate Imagethief, although I'm thinking of killing that off.) Some may recall that I once had an explicit "no advertising" policy, and be wondering what happened. Simply, I was made an offer that was too sweet to refuse by an advertiser that had no objection to working with. That is not likely to happen to regularly but it's safe to say that Imagethief's advertising ban is no longer categorical.
Therefore, I'd like to make a statement of policy: Imagethief does, from time to time, carry commercial advertisements. These will always be clearly marked as sponsorship and distinct from content. Imagethief will not accept payment for mentions in posts, nor will I modify the content of the blog in response to advertising or requests from advertisers. I will post occasional non-commercial announcements that I deem to be of interest to my readers. Anyone interested in such announcements can contact me via the usual channels.
So that's enough business. Let's get on with the fun stuff.
2007 statistics
As you probably know, this blog recently crossed 1,000 published posts. This will be 1025. As of today, Imagethief has about 307,000 total visits and a shade over half a million total page views according to Sitemeter (click on the Sitemeter bug at the bottom of my blogroll --or here-- if you want to see the exact stats). This excludes two months in 2007 when I wasn't running Sitemeter due to a platform upgrade. On an ongoing basis there are about 12,000 visits and 17,000 to 18,000 page views per month. There are 4,528 comments not including the crap I've deleted over the years.
The Sitemeter numbers have stayed pretty stable over the past two years, barring occasional lulls and spikes. What has grown consistently are number of RSS subscriptions. Last year the high end was about 400. This year average posts have doubled to between 700-900 subscription reads plus whatever they earn in page views. Popular posts do better. Some of these reads are from aggregators and site scrapers, but at least I'm not broadcasting into the void (unlike when I was a college radio DJ).
Below is my annual review of the most widely read posts plus the usual selection of other posts that I happen to particularly like. As always, my sincere thanks to all Imagethief readers. Special thanks to the commenters who keep the discussions alive, the other bloggers who link to Imagethief, and to long-time readers who have put up with my bullshit for nearly four years. I feel like I should be sending you all special decoder rings or something.
As always I welcome comments and feedback in the posts or by the "contact" form, which drops straight into my personal e-mail box.
Here's looking forward to an epic 2008. I'm glad you're along for the ride.
-Will
Ten most popular posts from 2007 (plus one)
The most popular post from 2007 was a ringer that racked up massive page views because it had, of all things, a picture of Spiderman in it. You wouldn't believe how many people run Google image searches for Spiderman. That's running about 7,000 page views right now, but if not for the image it would probably have a bare handful. It also hasn't quite caught up with the 13,000 or so garnered by an old post on Japanese nymphette S@yaa Ir!e. That is remains the most viewed post on the site.
More topically, below are the ten most popular non-ringers, ranked by page views:
I say "tomato", you say "massacre", let's call the whole thing off
May 20th: 4795 page views, 946 RSS reads, 62 comments
Late Hong Kong legislator Ma Lik gets stuck into the debate on whether Tian'anmen was a massacre or not. Imagethief calls a spade a spade, thus uncorking the second longest comment thread ever (and, unfortunately, one of the most tedious).
Did the "Genocide Olympics" influence China?
May 16th: 4468 page views, 1044 RSS reads, 52 comments
What is "Dream for Darfur's" PR strategy, and did their campaign actually get the Chinese to change their policy on Sudan?
The devil wears Prada, and won't rent me an apartment
March 27: 4273 page views, 570 RSS reads, 17 comments
How an extremely fabulous woman decided that I wasn't fabulous enough to rent her fabulous friend's fabulous apartment. Welcome to Shanghai.
We're Hu Jintao's Lonely Hearts Club Band
June 26: 3683 page views, 687 RSS reads, 11 comments
What are the artists in Hong Kong smoking, and where can I get some? And is it possible that it is the same thing that Mao's propaganda artists were smoking?
Bang! China shoots its own Olympic PR in the foot
August 7: 3568 page views, 901 RSS reads, 70 comments
Reporters Sans Frontiers protests outside BOCOG's office in Beijing. The police arrest the protesters. Then they arrest accredited foreign correspondents covering the protest. This is how you get lots of bad publicity fast, and a perfect example of what the government needs to not do during the Olympics. The most commented Imagethief post ever.
Saturday PR blog: I'm sorry, the government has killed your story
February 3: 3218 page views, 559 RSS reads, 6 comments
Why doing PR in China is different than in the US, in the starkest possible terms,
Hey, isn't that the guy who mugged Hello Kitty?
March 14: 2949 page views, 444 RSS reads, 7 comments
Are QQ expressions a window into the darkest recesses of the Chinese soul? Actually this post now has 3,300 page views (the stats here are from year end). It's really a ringer, being driven by Google image searches for Hello Kitty. But I like it, so it stays.
Don't like China Daily? Check out New Light of Myanmar
March 3: 2691 page views, 626 RSS reads, 16 comments
Makes the China Daily look like the New York Times (or, if you're a Republican, anything published by Rupert Murdoch). Seriously, check out the scans.
Once again, Starbucks ain't the problem with the Forbidden City
January 17: 2663 page views, 729 RSS reads, 14 comments
Who's tougher: A global coffee chain with zillions of stores spreading like locusts across the malls of the world, or a CCTV9 anchor with a blog? Any bets?
Hijacking the Olympic agenda, big-time and small-time versions
December 19: 2613 page views, 717 RSS reads, 9 comments
Former TV anchor Hu Ziwei outs her husband's affair at the press conference launching the "CCTV Olympic" television station. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Unless it's an embarrassed Chinese state. Rumor has it Hu is now in jail. A lesson in the power of the Internet to distribute information that used to be controllable.
China's food crisis PR strategy: Blame everyone else
June 4: 2553, 807 RSS reads, 21 comments
China is caught exporting millions of unsafe toys and tons of tainted food and medicine. According to the Chinese authorities, this is your fault for being a cheap bastard. Technically this is the 11th post, but since the "Hello Kitty" one is a ringer, I'll include it. Plus, it was meaty. No pun intended.
Ten more personal favorites from 2007
These are posts that didn't make the top ten, but which I really liked for one reason or another. Some are serious, some are funny, some are just essays. These are listed in reverse chronological order, most recent first.
Why the Yilishen ant farming scandal was the perfect China story
December 20: 1539 page views, 583 RSS reads, 10 comments
You couldn't make it up. The story that captures modern china in a nutshell.
What to make of Edwin Maher?
December 10: 1346 page views, 681 RSS reads, 32 comments
Does foreign CCTV9 anchor Edwin Maher deserve the opprobrium heaped upon him? And, in the comments, are foreign bloggers working in Chinese news organizations traitors to their employers?
Hairy crabs, the hill of pain and the boulevard of a thousand massage touts
November 21: 824 page views, 820 RSS reads, 21 comments
In which your hero returns to Beijing from Shanghai and is nearly killed on a mountain by Danwei's Jeremy Goldkorn.
Deconstructing the White Rabbit wrapper
October 17: 1508 page views, 825 RSS reads, 16 comments
And you still dare to put that in your mouth? A surprise hit that uncovered the breadth of the fan base for White Rabbit candy.
Why patriotism won't save the Chinese film industry
September 2: 2526 page views, 987 RSS reads, 17 comments
If the Chinese government loves its film industry, it needs to set it free. Imagethief's prescription for the future of Chinese cinema. A runner up for the top ten posts.
Run
August 19: 670 page views, 799 RSS reads, 16 comments
A thoughtful essay on the joys of running on the streets in Shanghai. Unfortunately, most people seem to come to my site for laffs, and thoughtful essays don't usually drive as much traffic as rants.
Bullet in the head: Marquee executions and public communication
July 24: 993 page views, 553 RSS reads, 2 comments (What's the matter with you people? Aren't you interested in the death penalty?)
Are executions PR? Of course they are. But are they effective PR? That's another story.
Lessons from the great carboard bun hoax of '07
July 19: 1673 page views, 669 RSS reads, 24 comments
It sounded too good to be true. And it was. The perils of ripping your news from the Chinese media.
How to work with interpreters
June 27: 1820 page views, 696 RSS reads, 25 comments
A nuts-and-bolts post on how to get the best from interpreters, whom we use a lot in our business. Written with input from professional interpreters.
Asian media vows to make western media cry
April 23: 2027 page views, 807 RSS reads, 18 comments
Unfortunately, as long as it's being managed by tone-deaf governments, it's only going to make me cry. A companion piece to the "Why patriotism won't save the Chinese film industry" post above.
Previously on Imagethief:
Best of Imagethief 2006
Best of Imagethief 2005