Blogging The Boys

This is a post that's not going to be about the Cowboys. Instead, this is where we say thank YOU. You the reader, you the commenter, you the contributor.

Last year was a big year for Blogging The Boys. In July, we cracked one million page views for the first time in our history - and have kept that number above one million in every month since. In total, we racked up 12.5 million page views in 2011, an increase of 50% over 2010, in a season in which the Cowboys went 8-8 and the lockout wiped out a significant part of the offseason. In our SBNation network, BTB is consistently among the top five in traffic. The Chief's Arrowhead Pride rules the roost with a ridiculous 22.5 million page views. Five other blogs are all within about a million page views of each other and jostling for second place: Bleeding Green Nation, Buffalo Rumblings, BTB, the Tebow-enhanced Mile High Report and the 13-and-3-boosted Niners Nation.

Those numbers show that we are a vibrant and growing community. We have more than 10,000 members who have signed up for BTB, and more are joining every day. Each day, the community changes a little bit, as we welcome new members to the blog and as new voices start commenting and posting FanPosts and FanShots.

Think back to when you first stumbled across Blogging The Boys. Most of us probably came here because of what we read on the front page. Most of us likely kept coming back, and eventually signed up, because of the community. So today we give a big tip o' the ole hat to those members that have made significant contributions to making BTB what is is today.

And because I'm such a numbers geek, those contributions are of course quantified. After the break we look at some BTB stats from 2011 to identify who the most prolific BTB members have been, both in terms of quantity and quality.

Let's start with some topline 2011 stats.

• Eight different front page writers combined to bring you 1,794 front page posts in 2011, which is almost as much as the previous two years combined ('09: 853, '10: 1,081). Considering that we didn't have a regular free agency, OTA's or mini-camps, I think that's a pretty awesome job by the staff writers, if I may say so myself. At the very least, I hope we've kept you entertained.
• 358 BTB members wrote a combined 1,357 Fanposts last year. That's also up versus the previous two years: ('09: 1,270, '10: 1,150).
• 256 BTB members published a total of 1,408 Fanshots in 2011, again a significant increase versus previous years ('09: 585, '10: 855).

Over the last three years, we've had 17 different writers contribute to the front page. Each of them had a unique voice, each had a unique point of view, and each helped build BTB into what it is today. Some of our former writers are still a part of the BTB community today, some are not. But each one put a lot of effort into BTB and paved the way for new writers like last year's newbies Tom and Kegbearer, so here's a Texas-sized hat tip to the BTB Veterans Association. Thanks, guys.

One of the things that stand out for me at BTB and other SB Nation sites is the FanPost section. This is where you get a much broader spectrum of opinions, topics and styles than you get on the front page, but it's also where the heart of the community is beating the strongest. And until you've tried your hand at authoring a FanPost of your own, you may not realize how much time and effort most authors put into their FanPosts.

So this is where we recognize the FanPosters who invested the time and effort write a FanPost for your reading pleasure. Hands down the most prolific poster of the past year has been ChiaCrack, who posted an incredible 123 posts. That's about 2.5 posts per week, and if you've read one of those things, you'll know that they are loooong with rarely less than 2,000 words, often much, much more. There have been entire doctoral theses written that were shorter than some of Chia's posts. Great effort.

I am Ironman!!! follows in second place with 65 posts and is in turn followed closely by our resident stat-man and volume-stat agnostic Fan in Thick and Thin who offered 36 posts. ProBowlFactory, CowboyWay and hookerhome round out the top five of the most prolific posters. Hats off to all these guys as well.

The FanPost writer's currency of choice is the rec. A high number of rec's will leave a writer in a gleeful state for days, while low or no rec's can feel like a huge disappointment, especially if you've put a lot of hard work into a post. So don't be stingy with those rec's. They are the most gratifying thing for most authors because they show a special appreciation for the work the author has put into his FanPost.

For an extended list of FanPosters, look at the tables below to see who the top 15 FanPosters of 2011 were, ranked by number of FanPosts, number of recommendations and number of comments.

When we looked at the BTB stats for 2010, it was immediately noticed in the comments that these numbers were volume- and not efficiency stats. So we invented a new stat on the spot, the RpFPs (or Recommendations per FanPost) and this year we add the CpFPs that measure the comments per FanPost.

Leading both lists (min. five posts to qualify) is another BTB heavyweight, 5Blings, who may not be the most prolific writer on the blog but is certainly one of the most appreciated ones. You'll find most of the perennial BTB favorites on one of these lists, where greatwhitenorth, thesharpestnick, CoachGary, CotySaxman, Chandus, Lissyyyyy, Chia and CoachGary all make the top five.

If you click on the FanPosts tab at the top of the BTB front page, you'll be taken to a nifty overview page for FanPosts. Once there, I'd urge you to click on the most popular of all time option. This gives you the eternal list of the FanPosts with the highest number of rec's in the history of BTB. Leafing through some of those posts can be quite entertaining. Try it out over the next couple of days, you won't be disappointed.

And last year, like every year before, many new FanPosts entered this FanPost Hall of Fame. Here are the ten most recommended FanPosts of 2011:

Many people think that the FanShot section is where FanPosts go to die, the secret burial ground of FanPosts guarded by the ever-watchful thebigham. But the FanShot is alive and well on BTB, and 2011 saw more FanShots than ever before. Rena rules the FanShots, averaging two per week. beWare94, Kegbearer, Fan in Thick and Thin, ChiaCrack and thebigham earned their BTB laurels by posting a FanShot a week on average.

And it's not like the FanShot section is completely devoid of commenting life. Three FanShots in 2011 managed to generate more than 100 comments each:

• Eagles Buy The Best Team by Grady90. 153 comments.
• BR Author Calls Out BTB For Being Bandwagoners by NY Horn. 102 comments.
• NFP: Cowboys Love JJ Watt by scottmaui. 102 comments

Tip of the hat to all of you who posted FanShots, the top 15 are below.

63 individual bloggers are mentioned in this post. If your name's not on any of the lists above, but you want to see your name up in the bright BTB lights, then simply post more stuff, more often!

Until then, thank you all for your great contributions.