These threads get a lot of hits because:
1) A handful of members are very active in the thread. Every single time someone checks the thread, posts a quick reply, edits a post, or even hits the preview button (again, every single time, not just the first time), it counts as a view. For instance, I will click the preview button 2-10 times before I post this.
2) Threads where discussions get heated tend to get a lot of views for the afformentioned reasons but also a lot of people (myself included) have a difficult time not checking a thread when an argument doesn't hold water or simply can't look away from conflict. I have tried to stop checking this thread all together several times but keep coming back because of that.
3) This thread can be viewed without an account, which means Google and other search engines will index the thread ASAP after each reply is posted. That does NOT mean someone is Googling something and clicking this thread; it only means Google has cached new posts in their search results. This alone will account for the majority of the views. I have seen many threads with only 10-20 replies get over a thousand views because of search engine indexing.
1) A handful of members are very active in the thread. Every single time someone checks the thread, posts a quick reply, edits a post, or even hits the preview button (again, every single time, not just the first time), it counts as a view. For instance, I will click the preview button 2-10 times before I post this.
2) Threads where discussions get heated tend to get a lot of views for the afformentioned reasons but also a lot of people (myself included) have a difficult time not checking a thread when an argument doesn't hold water or simply can't look away from conflict. I have tried to stop checking this thread all together several times but keep coming back because of that.
3) This thread can be viewed without an account, which means Google and other search engines will index the thread ASAP after each reply is posted. That does NOT mean someone is Googling something and clicking this thread; it only means Google has cached new posts in their search results. This alone will account for the majority of the views. I have seen many threads with only 10-20 replies get over a thousand views because of search engine indexing.