I was surprised this morning by yet another surge of interest in my Residua, of which I became aware as soon as I went to Google Analytics. Just like the last time this happened, the number of unique visitors went up by a factor of ten (“The Surprising Surge,” December 24, 2013). This time it took me only a few seconds to figure out what was going on, though. Yesterday evening I sent my piece about one of the articles in the last issue of the MIT Technology Review to the editor in chief, Jason Pontin, and he had it posted on the magazine’s website at once (“Online, Offline,” February 20, 2014). Thus I already know this surge’s fate. And quite precisely, too. The number of unique visitors will drop to a third tomorrow; it will drop to a fifth the day after tomorrow; and it will be back to “normal” afterwards. Easy come, easy go, as ever. The likelihood that I will get a faithful reader through any of these surges is pretty close to zero. Pretty close? Actually, it is exactly zero.

Addendum I (February 23, 2014)

As it turns out, I was wrong about this surge. Actually, the number of unique visitors to my site dropped to a quarter yesterday. It is back to normal today. The last surge lasted three days, and this one only two. Hooray!

Addendum II (March 7, 2014)

As it actually turns out, the last surge has to do with yet another tweet by Jason Pontin rather than my piece in his magazine (“The Longest-Running Blog,” March 7, 2014). Having discovered it on Google this morning, I wrote a piece about it, but I discovered this piece a few hours later. At any rate, Pontin’s tweet is dated February 20, 2014, which fits the second surge exactly. But it is amazing to see what a few words by the editor in chief of the MIT Technology Review can do. Although the effect is not lasting, the sudden jump in readership is amazing to behold. Whoosh! After a few surges like these, I may well get a reader to reckon with. A real reader, as it were. Fingers crossed.