To mark theguardian.com passing 100m monthly unique visitor browsers last month for the first time ever, we've decided to take a look at what Guardian content has proved most popular with our online users.
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By the end of March this year, we'd published more than 750,000 pieces of content since the beginning of January 2010. The top 100 we're looking at here is in terms of traffic, namely page views, since 1 January 2010 until the end of March 2014. So, which pieces have been the most popular? When were they published? And which sections have seen the most traffic?
Most popular article
The most popular article on the Guardian site since 2010 was a piece by Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in which Edward Snowden revealed himself as the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations and in which he explained his motives behind his actions. The piece published on 9 June 2013 has had more than 3.9m page views.
A piece entitled 'top five regrets of the dying' published at the end of January 2012 has had the second highest number of page views since 2010 at 3.74m. The third most popular piece was a gallery of images documenting the dramatic decline of Detroit - the hugely popular gallery has had just over 3.7m page views since 2010. The table below shows all the top 100 pieces of content over the same period.
What makes a piece popular?
The Guardian's digital audience editor, Chris Moran, explains in more detail what insight the top 100 list gives us:
In print and online, the Guardian has always published a dizzying variety of journalism, from breaking news, investigative journalism, feature writing and diverse (and often contrasting) comment pieces, to the kind of pop culture and lighter subjects often found in the Saturday Guardian's Guide and G2's shortcuts. It is this variety that immediately jumps out of the list.
Just as importantly, the list reminds us that the internet, through channels far beyond our own website, puts our work into the hands of a global audience and that, while print journalism communicates in the present, the internet is also an archive.
So while the top story here - Edward Snowden revealing himself as the NSA whistleblower - may not surprise people, the rest of the list is as full of feature content, guides, distractions and quirkier content as what some people might think of as the Guardian's core journalism. What these pieces all have in common, however, is the fact that they have found their audiences not just on the day of publication and on our own front page, but over longer periods of time and through many different channels, with search and social media at the forefront.
There are too many particulars to pick out, but each of these pieces tell us interesting things about the way the internet serves as a platform for journalism. The presence of the university guide reminds us that people, primarily through search engines, look to media organisations for guidance on the biggest decisions they take in their lives.
Susie Steiner's short piece listing the top five regrets of the dying speaks to the appeal of writing on the human condition, and particularly of the way in which this kind of content is shared over very long periods of time on Facebook.
Russell Brand's piece on addiction from last year was read in the very short term mostly via Twitter and our own website, but then saw a rolling tide of referral from Facebook over the following fortnight, pointing to the social network's slower environment compared to the blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed of Twitter. It was then found and reshared by hundreds of thousands more after the recent death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The gallery of Detroit in ruins is a clear illustration of the eternal value of striking images and photojournalism's ability to capture certain events more eloquently than words. The many videos represented in the top 100 tell a more varied story about our desire to find awe-inspiring, amusing and just plain silly things to share with our friends and family.
Finally, the number of live blogs and interactives reminds us of the way in which the internet has bred new forms of journalism and new ways of telling stories.
34 of the top 100 are pieces related to world news
So, how does the Guardian's top 100 break down by section? The section with the highest number of pieces in the top 100 was world news with 34 of the top 100 pieces tagged to it. Football and comment is free also proved to be rather popular – 12 of the top 100 pieces are football related and 10 are featured on comment is free.
The chart below shows how many pieces each section has in the Guardian's top 100. It is worth noting that the sections the content comes under depend on the lead tag given by the editorial team, so for example, the Datablog's 'gun crime statistics by US state' piece is featured in the world news section.
38 of top 100 were published in 2013
2013 proved to be the most successful year of publication for pieces featuring in the Guardian's top 100 pieces of content since 2010, with 38 articles getting into the list. Nine of these were related to the Guardian's NSA coverage and three of them were by Russell Brand.
Despite this list including the number of hits from 2010 onwards, a single article from 2009 managed to make it in to the top 100. 'Too fat to be a model? The picture that caused a storm in the fashion world', a Naomi Alderman article published in 2009 is the 25th most visited bit of content since 2010.
Although the graph above seems to suggest that the first part of the year is the most popular, that's skewed slightly because of January to April 2014 having had a chance to get more hits on content. 10 bits of content published in 2014 have already made it to the top 100, with Russell Brand's take on Philip Seymour Hoffman being the most popular with 1.7m page views.
The table below shows the Guardian's top 100 pieces of content since 2010. The list is ranked by page views (1 January 2010 - 31 March 2014). Roll the table from left to right to see the last column displaying the urls. You can view the full list with the corresponding urls in the downloadable spreadsheet.
• This list is based on the number of page impressions each piece of content has received. This is probably the most simple web metric, which counts how many times a page has been viewed. The period of time covered is from 1 January 2010 - 31 March 2014 as we're only able to go back to 2010 on our current web traffic tracking system.
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•DATA: download the full spreadsheet
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We recently passed one million digital-only subscribers, reflecting the remarkable bond that The Times has built with readers on our digital platforms. They join our 1.1 million print-and-digital subscribers.
As we highlight The Times’s success in the digital era, we’d like to feature your voices, too. We’ve chosen some of our best works or collections of works that have appeared since we began offering digital subscriptions in 2011.
While certainly not exhaustive, the list demonstrates the breadth, creativity and impact of The Times. And this journalism wouldn’t have been possible without your support.
How did you respond to these works? What is your experience as a Times reader? What does The Times mean to you in your daily lives? Please send replies to [email protected].
- Our coverage of the Islamic State showed how it has institutionalized sex slavery, and sought recruits in the United States and other countries like Britain. A Times correspondent was injured in a helicopter crash in Kurdistan and dictated her story from the hospital. A video profiled a survivor of an Islamic State massacre.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/world/americas/isis-online-recruiting-american.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/1000…
- Two armies of physicists struggle to close in on the Higgs boson, the Great White Whale of modern science. This was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2014.
- Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey EnforcerThis three-part series and video examined the life of one of hockey’s most feared fighters, Derek Boogaard, who was exposed to repeated head trauma and brought down by deadly drug addiction. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-a-boy-learns-to-brawl.html
- After Edward Snowden’s disclosure of extensive, secret government surveillance programs, the editorial board condemned overuse and abuse of the Patriot Act and called for its restriction or repeal.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/opinion/president-obamas-dragnet.html
- Ferguson Became Symbol, but Bias Knows No BorderOur reporters spent months delving into the causes of the unrest in Ferguson, Mo. Videos captured the events themselves.http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000003255335/fe...
- What does the way you speak say about where you’re from? This interactive feature was one of the most popular in The Times’s digital history.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html
- Our political coverage offered insight, analysis and sophisticated data-crunching. Here is coverage of the 2015 debates and the 2014 midterm elections.
- Wal-Mart AbroadAn investigation into how Wal-Mart used bribery to dominate the market in Mexico. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/walmart-bribery-abroad-series.html
- David Carr, who died in February, was our media columnist and an important voice in journalism. He was a posthumous finalist for a Pulitzer Prize this year, and we’re sponsoring a fellowship to honor him.
- The Reckoning: The 10th Anniversary of 9/11http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/sept-11-reckoning/viewer.html
- Our staff provided courageous front-line reporting and compelling human stories on Ebola in Africa, including this powerful video. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize this year.Separately, Daniel Berehulak won a Pulitzer Prize for his gripping photos of the epidemic.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/20/world/africa/ebola-coverage-pulitzer.html
- Inside the 50-year campaign to roll back the Voting Rights Act. President Obama himself responded to the article.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/magazine/voting-rights-act-dream-undone.html
- This series delved into business practices by Apple and other technology companies, showing the darker side of a changing global economy. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/ieconomy.html
- The former president reviews the latest installment of Robert Caro’s seminal biographical series on another president, Lyndon B. Johnson.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/books/review/the-passage-of-power-robert-caros-new-lbj-book.html
- Our Metro staff blanketed the New York region to cover Hurricane Sandy, one of the deadliest natural disasters in the city. One year later, Times Documentaries looked back.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/nyregion/how-a-staten-island-community-became-a-deathtrap.html
- An evocative multimedia narrative about skiers killed in an avalanche and the science that explains such disasters. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek
- “What could go wrong with a bite or two?” Everything, as it turned out for the Op-Ed columnist, whose experience trying legal, edible weed in Colorado led her to ask whether the state does enough to protect new users.http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/opinion/dowd-dont-harsh-our-mellow-dude.html
- A five-part series explored the life of a homeless girl in New York City.http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/#/?chapt=1
- A visual tour of Camp X-Ray, with its kennel-like cages that were used for about four months when Guantánamo opened.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/01/us/guantanamo-camp-x-ray-ghost-prison-photographs.html
- Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising WorkplaceHow Amazon is conducting an experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambitions. With many readers describing personal work experiences, this story received more comments than any in our digital history.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html
- An investigation into unexplained deaths of developmentally disabled people in New York group homes. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/abused-and-used-series-page.html
- Our coverage of the quake included an exploration of mistakes concealed by the authorities. A graphic showed the scope of the damage. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html
- Behind the scenes of T Magazine’s photo shoots with some of the biggest names in entertainment, fashion, design — and photography.
- But Nobody Pays ThatA series that explained how the nation’s wealthiest citizens and corporations often exploit loopholes and avoided taxes. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/timestopics/series/but_nobody_pays_that/index.html?8qa
- The Op-Ed columnist reports from dangerous scenes around the world. In Sudan this year, he wrote about the bombing of civilians and a toddler’s death in a foxhole. A haunting video accompanied the columns. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-a-rain-of-bombs-in-the-nuba-mountains.html
- Our legendary fashion photographer Bill Cunningham spotted and distilled the latest trends.
- The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream SpeechOur chief book critic examined the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.html
- Our coverage --World Cup, Oscars, Super Bowl, Olympics and Fashion Week-- gave you a front-row seat.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/inside-fashion-week/spring-2016
- This interactive, multimedia feature combines video with a photo archive and photos from readers of their homes, tracing the history of vertical dwelling from the ancient world to today’s soaring cities.
- China’s Princelings: Hidden RichesThis series showed how relatives of top Chinese officials amassed vast wealth through businesses closely entwined with the state. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/princelings.html
- NYT Now, our iPhone app, offered a new way to read the news on your phone. NYT Cooking is an innovative recipe discovery site.
- Editorials: The Quest for Transgender EqualityA series of editorials tracked the progress of transgender rights in the United States and the challenges that still remain. Readers shared hundreds of their own stories.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/opinion/the-quest-for-transgender-equality.html
- These stories exposed preferential police treatment for Florida State University football players accused of sexual assault and other offenses. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize this year.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/16/sports/errors-in-inquiry-on-rape-allegations-against-fsu-jameis-winston.html
- The words of the late neurologist Oliver Sacks speak for themselves in his final op-ed for The Times: “And now, weak, short of breath, my once-firm muscles melted away by cancer, I find my thoughts, increasingly, not on the supernatural or spiritual, but on what is meant by living a good and worthwhile life — achieving a sense of peace within oneself.” (Here is his obituary.)http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/opinion/sunday/oliver-sacks-sabbath.html
- Photography: Mall Attack in Kenya, and a Marathon SurvivorThe Times won two Pulitzer Prizes for photography in 2014: Tyler Hicks for his pictures of the unfolding terrorist attack at a mall in Nairobi, and Josh Haner for documenting a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing.http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/14/the-new-york-times-wins-two-photography-pulitzers/
- The Upshot, which analyzes data to explain important issues, showed that the American middle class was no longer the world’s richest. It created an index of economic diversity at top colleges, and graphics that let readers take part in the coverage.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/28/upshot/you-draw-it-how-family-income-affects-childrens-college-chances.html
- The story of the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban after crusading for female education.http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000002485983/the-making-of-malala.html
- One of our most popular stories of the year.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html
- The definitive obituary.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html
- Startling reports on famine and conflict in a neglected but strategically important part of the world. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/magazine/taken-by-pirates.html
- This two-part investigation showed how manicurists are routinely underpaid and exploited, and endure ethnic bias and other abuse.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html
- Our Critics: On the New Whitney, and Women in FilmMichael Kimmelman offered a review — and stunning visual tour — of the new Whitney Museum in New York City. Manohla Dargis examined how the movie industry depicts, casts and appeals to women. Ms. Dargis was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and again this year.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/19/arts/artsspecial/new-whitney-museum.html
- Charles Blow: Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint“This is the scenario I have always dreaded: my son at the wrong end of a gun barrel, face down on the concrete,” writes the Op-Ed columnist, lamenting the dangerous treatment of young black men by police officers after his son’s encounter at Yale.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/opinion/charles-blow-at-yale-the-police-detained-my-son.html
- An investigation into the explosion in lobbying of state attorneys general by corporate interests. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize this year.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/us/politics/attorneys-general.html
- The annual list from our Travel section, with an assist from readers who offered recommendations for each destination.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/11/travel/52-places-to-go-in-2015.html
- An analysis of satellite images reveals vast devastation in cities across Syria from civil war.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/12/world/middleeast/syria-civil-war-damage-maps.html
- More than a thousand refugees have died trying to reach Christmas Island. But faced with unbearable conditions at home, they keep coming.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/magazine/the-impossible-refugee-boat-lift-to-christmas-island.html
- An employee of Goldman Sachs marked his resignation with an op-ed taking the firm to task for a “toxic and destructive” pursuit of profit.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html
- The Videos That Are Putting Race and Policing Into Sharp ReliefRaw videos have thoroughly shaken policing in America.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/us/police-videos-race.html
- SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred LinesThe unit best known for killing Osama bin Laden has been converted into a global manhunting machine with limited outside oversight.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/world/asia/the-secret-history-of-seal-team-6.html
- How did you respond to these works? What are some other stories from the past few years that moved you? Please send replies to [email protected].