Today being listverse’s first birthday, I am dedicating the list to the site. This is a list of the ten most significant events in the short history of the site. I hope you enjoy the list, and I hope that next year we can have an even greater number of things to add!
Unbeknownst to me, some time earlier this year, BBC Radio did a 30 minute show on the site! I stumbled upon it completely by accident – but what an amazing thrill it was! Fortunately for all of us, it is still on and can be listened to in its entirely here. Many thanks to Jacqueline Alexander who did the show. Be sure to check it out!
On March 1, 2008 I posted a your view entitled “Does God Exist?“. Within a few days it had gone well over 1,000 comments – the first post to do so. Prior to that the most comments on a list had reached 500. Since then we have gone past 1,000 again, but this particular “your view” will always be fondly remembered as the one that broke the mould! If you look over it you will find a lot of controversial comments and, of course, an enormous debate over the topic.
In one of the greatest circular reference moments, Wikipedia cited listverse as a source! It certainly makes a change as it is normally the other way around! We are cited on three articles which can be found here, here, and here. It is nice that we are considered a credible source! [Thanks to dangorironhide for pointing this out.]
During this year the site has been fortunate enough to appear on the front page of reddit, fark, and digg multiple times. It was, in fact, a front page on Digg for our top 10 incredible recordings that brought our first big influx of readers. In fact, that list is STILL the most read and popular of all our lists. In addition to the social networking sites, we were featured as a Yahoo pick of the day, and were on the front page of Foxnews.com and 3 times on IMDB.com. This is publicity that money can’t buy – and many of you found the site through this exposure! Many thanks to all the people who voted for the lists on the various websites.
During the last year we have been approached by people interested in putting together a listverse radio show and a listverse book. These things take time so they are not ready to announce at present – but it is a great compliment that people are taking us seriously enough to consider this. Regardless of what happens, we will be expanding with some of our own ideas anyway – so stay tuned for lots of exciting stuff.
It has now been one month since I moved from England back to my home country of New Zealand. Fortunately I had managed to work out a good system (with Cyn’s help) to enable the site to continue every day with new lists in my absence. The site has continued to run with almost no disruption and I am now starting to get back in to the daily work involved in keeping the site going. Thanks for your kind words and patience during the big move – I am very glad to be home!
In 2007 we had a competition for a new logo for the site. Upon selecting a winner, we also got a new design. There were a few complaints at first but everyone has now settled in to the new look. There are plans afoot for a redesign and integration of the forums with the main site – but this will not happen for at least 6 months. I am always open to suggestions for improvements – so feel free to ask.
Since we started the site, we have been with 3 different hosting providers and have gone through 5 different server configurations to cope with the unexpected influx of visitors. I am pleased to say that we now seem to be finally settled with one (pacificRack) and their service has been extremely good. After some recent changes to the code of the site, we are mostly stable. There are still a few wrinkles to iron out – but we will get there – sooner rather than later.
On the 5th of February this year we introduced a new type of post – “Your View”. It was introduced as a test to see whether people would like the idea and to see if it would help us all get to know each other better. I think that no one would deny that this is exactly what happened. Two your view posts have exceeded 1,000 comments each, and the your view topics are consistently the most commented on. You can be sure that there will be many more to come in the future.
I love statistics – I think it goes hand in hand with loving lists and being a reasonably well organized person. So, here are our amazing stats for the year:
Registered Users: 2,935
Registered RSS Users: 5,995
Total Comments: 71,029
Total Spams deleted: 24,502
Total Lists: 674
Total Pageviews: 25,046,073
Total Visitors: 10,022,700
Technorati Rank: 1,688
Alexa Rank: 11,829
I am sure you will all agree, these are amazing statistics for a site that is only one year old!
Happy Birthday, Listverse!
Rock on!
Those statistics are amazing, keep up the good work! The radio show is great to listen to as well.
It feels like only yesterday I stumbled upon the “most evil women” list.
I love this site.:)
I can’t remember my first list….
Is that bad?
But I’ve never looked back.
Woohoo!
Go Listverse!!! I remember I just found this site just after I read a big top 10 book at the library and googled “top 10 lists”. I’m so glad I read that book and found this site! This site rocks!!
‘Fortunately I had managed to work out a good system (with Cyn’s help) to enable the site to continue every day with new lists in my absence.’
yes, i thought that super long string and tin cans worked out rather well. much less mess than the pidgeon idea.
again, congrats on a job well done w/ the site, J. be interesting to see similar posts at year 2.
Nice stats
Like Lizzie, I can’t remember how the hell I got here… oops. I think I’ve been lurking since December 2007 but only really got mad about the place in the last month or so.
Happy happy birthday!
Ceeeeeeelebrate no life, COME ON!
i can’t believe it’s already been a year… happy birthday listverse
thanks for keeping me too preoccupied to do my actual work, but making my day a more beneficial one
Happy birthday listverse.
only one year old, stunning progress in that time.
I only found this less than 6 months ago and actually thought it had been around for years. one things for sure…it will be around for years to come, well done.
You did it man. I always thought… all it takes is a good idea for a website with a little love put into it by the creator and BAM! – you have the listverse. congrats. even though i’m pretty jealous.
happy first birthday and many more. fun site, have been going here since the beginning.
My first list was the most expensive foods list and since then I’ve been hooked. Very impressive site. congrats. This is my main source for telling people about weird stuff I’ve learnt, love it.
One memorable list is the bizarre relationships list with the Portuguese guy with 2 reproductive organs, I supposed I remembered that because I’m also Portuguese, altho, I’m not as fortunate as he was, LOL.
I’m shocked by how much spam there’s been; I guess I shouldn’t ever be shocked by it, but I never see it when I look on the site.
Cheers for creating the site, I’ve always loved lists and this has become one of my fave sites. Like many others, your work is very much appreciated by me!
Daily routine:
1) Wake up
2) Get to desk
3) Open browser
4) Visit Listverse
5) If not a ‘your view’ day, perhaps get some work done.
On a ‘Your View’ day, hit refresh about 5,000 times
stevenh -
work? what is this ‘work’ you speak of?
and sounds like a good routine to me.
see, J…easier than ya think to get ‘em hooked. your plan is working.
course, i never doubted for a second…….
Those are some impressive stats right there Jamie!
Happy virtual birthday!
I stumbled on Listverse probably about 8 months ago and just read the lists. Then I started reading the commetns and found them to be some of the most interesting feedback on any site I’ve visited. Then I finally began posting here and there. Then I wandered over to the Forums and now both are a daily habit I cram in around a busy life. Just can’t go without my fix. I can’t wait to see what addiction Jamie has planned next.
I cannot believe how much the site has grown.
Happy Birthday indeed to listverse. May there be many more birthdays to come. =)
On a random memory road moment…
I found this site while searching for Unsolved Mysteries of the World months ago. I never thought I’d become addicted to lurking here, though. xD
Definitely great landmarks. It’s nice to have been part of a few of those.
Great job jamie (and the other key-punchers you have working on making this great, like cyn)
most evil women was my first list also. i found the link on ebaum’s. i’m pretty sure i haven’t been back to that sewer since.
thank you for this place and all it means.
Happy Birthday, ListVerse! You are officially my favorite website ever!
Listverse is a part of my daily routine aswell =)
Cyn:
being a geek (information architect) i can sit in front of LV all day…
getting paid to browse – priceless…
stevenh, WarningDontReadThis: Listverse is part of my daily schedule too:
1. Drag self out of bed at some stupid hour of the afternoon
2. Open laptop on my way to have tea and something sugary
3. Plonk self down at desk
4. Check email
5. Spend the rest of the day flicking back and forth between Listverse and whatever I’m meant to be doing. Productivity declines on Your View days and crashes completely when Listverse has a list I wrote (two so far hehe).
I too am addicted to this site, and have become more intelligent and knowledged thanks to Listverse. The statistics are staggering.
Happy Birthday!!
stevenh: I agree, with you…..listverse is the first site i open on mornings…lol
Way to go Jamie. Pretty cool stuff.
Tempyra: haha quite similar to me
Uhm, sorry to be the party pooper, but Wikipedia citing Listverse shouldn’t be a good thing, at all!
Wikipedia is supposed to cite reliable primary sources in order to prove what is being said in an article there. But Listverse isn’t a primary source! It’s a site with lists that compile infromation from other sources, sometimes done by users themselves, and sometimes from Wikipedia itself! The Listverse site itself doesn’t have the ability to prove on its own what’s being said in the lists, but Wikipedia cites it as if it could. It would be almost as if Wikipedia cited itself, which is obviously not a good thing!
Er, I mean woohoo! Party! Let’s dance! Yay!
I think this is an excellent website and I’m very happy for all of the accomplishments…. but I have to agree with Kreachure about the wikipedia issue.
As the worlds greatest snowman, Frosty, said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
Congratulations Jamie and listverse!
I am so happy this site has done as well as it has.
I pretty much have kept every addictive habit I have ever taken up. This one is, I’m happy to say, very good for me. It isn’t often that an addiction can be said to be beneficial. It used to be coffee and a smoke for breakfast. Now it is a coffee, smoke, and ListVerse.
I wish you every success (maybe not every, not if it means you get rich and snooty and abandon us) in the future. You have some good ideas floatin’ around in there. Good luck, I’ll be watchin’.
BTW, I consider Wikipedia and Listverse my gods of the Internet.
I’m dead serious.
Mom424: You have a very healty lifestyle xD
One really good thing about listverse is that it isnt as messy as wiki. Some might disagree with me, but I’ve always thought wikipedia was a little messy …
Happy Birthday Listverse! I cannot tell you how much I have learned from this site in the past year! Thank You very much Jfrater, and everyone else who made a list!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISTVERSE! I can’t say how much I have learned from this site, and also my Star Wars DVD’s *hugs dvd’s* Congrats Jamie!
I don’t comment much anymore but, I still visit everyday. I love this site Jamie. Keep up the good work! I found this site about 2 weeks after you started from Ebaumsworld.com. and thank God the commenters here are not like theirs! You are so lucky to have so many incredibly smart poeple that contribute.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY…I don’t know you and I don’t know how I got lucky enough to recieve your list every day, but it is the only email of it’s type that I not only open, but read, enjoy and share. Depending on what the topic is for the day, I will share the list with either my husband, a co-worker or friend. How refreshing to have a little present in my email (everyday), no strings attached.
Sincerely,
Chris from Kansas (USA)
I dont know if you know this or not j, but the site was also mentioned on Opie and Anthony a few months ago.
Jamie,I am thrilled with you for your accomplishment. This is the only website I visit every day. My birthday wish for you? Continued success. The stats are amazing. How much fun this must be for you.
#9 happened on MY birthday! Hooray.
Happy Birthday! You have made my first year in the working world much better than it would have been otherwise!
Didn’t realize this site was already year old.
Came across this site looking up on google “Top 10 list sites” and was immediately floored to discover someone had finally made the site of my dreams
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISTVERSE! I don’t remember how I found it but it’s been a habit with me since day 1. Keep up the great work!
Happy Birthday! And Many MOREEEEEE!
Congratulations, you’ve really earned these accomplishments, it’s a great site, I honestly go to it every day, excited to see what the list of the day is.
Congratulation on your first year!
Here’s to more to come.
to stevenh and all the rest of you who’ve made LV a part of your daily routine…
THANK YOU!
Congratulations! I look forward to more history lists!
Jfrater: i didn’t knew that ListVerse is so young, it seems like it has been in the neighborhood for a very long time. Well done. And for the occasion i would like to suggest a Your View list: how do we find ListVerse in the first place and what was the very first list that we read.
(sorry for my syntax errors, i ‘m not a native speaker)
I forgot to mention what an exemplary job the admins of this site do. I bop about the forums and the lists. 24,502 incidences of spam, and I haven’t seen a one. Thank you Cyn, Dan, and of course Jamie. Job well done!
Great going. Congrats.
I found ListVerse when it was a mere four months old and I immediately spent the next few days neglecting homework and reading every list already in existence.
Since then a day has not gone by when I have not been on this site first thing in the morning.
Happy Birthday Listverse!
And
Happy Birthday Canada!
Happy birthday Listverse. I know these fancy things are not allowed having read your comment etiquette earlier, but please permit just this once to mark the occasion.
111
1 111
1 1 11
1 1 11
11
11
11
11
1111111111
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Happy birthday, Listverse. May you live a long and prosperous life.