Published 29 April 201026 March 2011 · Main Posts Meanland extract: Numbers, numbers and more numbers – online stats, blogging stats, twitter stats, reading stats, etcetera Jacinda Woodhead Although we may not always recognise our bondage, we live, in modern times, under a tyranny of numbers – (paraphrasing) Nicholas Eberstadt Numbers are appealing. They equate to fact and accuracy; they help us to interpret the world and its workings. We can dispute the significance of numbers but we can’t dispute they exist, nor that they possess meaning. There was some discussion last week regarding the contentiousness of ‘the number of blogs in the world’ estimate. The figure I quoted (borrowed from Nigel Featherstone) was 112 million. So what, asked Nicko the commenter, I’d rather know how many are actually still active. (Paraphrasing again.) John Weldon offered suggestions as to where to begin tracking down these numbers, so off I went, like a diligent researcher. I rapidly learned, however, that measuring the web – for content and users – is considered somewhat controversial and inexact due to the dynamic nature of the medium. One of the central points of contention appears to be terminology. Countless businesses and organisations are collecting data on the internet, its uses and its users but everyone is running with different working definitions. When we talk about websites, are we taking about the numbers of registered domain users (easier) or actual web pages and links (more difficult)? Read the rest of the post over at Meanland. Jacinda Woodhead Jacinda Woodhead is a former editor of Overland and current law student. More by Jacinda Woodhead › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 28 March 20249 April 2024 · Main Posts Why we should value not only lived experience, but also lived expertise Sukhmani Khorana In the wake of this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I want to extend the central idea of El Gibbs’s 2022 essay on 'lived expertise' and argue that in media accounts of racism, analytical expertise and lived experience ought to be valued together and even in the same body. 5 March 2024 · Main Posts Andrew Charlton’s school assignment Alex McKinnon Australia's Pivot to India exists for three reasons: so that when Andrew Charlton is interviewed on the radio or introduced on Q+A, his bio includes the phrase "he has written a book about Indian-Australian relations"; to fend off accusations that he is another Kristina Keneally engaging in electoral colonialism in western Sydney; and to help the Albanese government strengthen economic and military ties with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.