A Year Of EduClaytion: The Extravaganza!

This months marks the 1st anniversary of EduClaytion.  The world hasn’t disappointed on the interesting happenings front and neither have you.  Together we’ve laid out some strange angles on triumphs, tragedies, and everything in between.  We’ve watched America become an Obama nation while surviving threats from Scientologists and swine.  You’ll find no shortage of pop culture references here either, be it Kevin Bacon, Braveheart, or the Breakfast Club.  Shoot, even the animal kingdom’s been involved from victorious Penguins to a gay, Polish elephant.

I’ve enjoyed watching certain topics take off while others crashed and burned.  After one year, the results are in on what you, the readers, have pointed and clicked on more than anything else.  Even more amazing are some of the actual things people have been searching for in order to arrive here.  Finally, the judges are ready to announce the article of the year near the end of this gala.  So, let’s see what we can learn about our net-surfing selves by reshredding the cyberwaves of this past year.

MOST READ TOPIC / ARTICLE

One particular article beat out all the rest and it wasn’t even close.  We continue to find terrorism too relevant to resist.  With three times more views than any other topic, the most read piece by a mile was What Does A Terrorist Look Like? which appeared last May after I took a plane trip to Florida.  This one didn’t generate the most on-site discussion, but the comments section did get a little frightening a bit later.

MOST POPULAR ARTICLE: RUNNERS UP

From first to second we go from serious to ridiculous.  The next two most clicked selections were pop culture conglomerations that attempted to link a few different well-known phenoms.  The first was Braveheart, Weird Science, and Kevin Bacon–not exactly NBC Nightly News stuff but fun and apparently appealing.  Close on the heels of Robert the Bruce and Co. was Chuck, Fletch, and Quantum Leap, a nifty write-up that combined three of my faves.  I guess folks just like Chevy Chase and really want a Quantum Leap movie.  Fletch too.

HONORABLE MENTION

Another strange split here near the top.  Rounding out the top five are Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em and Monster Cereals and The Aliens Of “V” or Childhood In The 80s, which also has to be the longest title since the 18th century.  Some days you want hard-hitting, investigative journalism; some days you want to talk about The Greatest Cartoons of All-Time.

MOST POLARIZING ARTICLE

Without a doubt, the most outspoken comments followed Worry About Your Own Sin.  The thread at the end of the article was only the beginning.  That one was difficult to write as far as hitting an appropriate balance.  No matter where I’m speaking, the topic always gets people going.

ARTICLE THAT RECEIVED A SURPRISINGLY CALM RESPONSE

That would have to be Hating On Hate Crimes.  Sometimes you know what you are saying is not offensive, but that it won’t matter.  That’s when you close your eyes and hit the submit button.

MOST POPULAR SEARCH TOPICS THAT LED READERS HERE

No surprise that “terrorist” or some form of it led the most people here.  You may be surprised at the second most popular fetcher though.  Miss California Carrie Prejean got a ton of hits.  Something tells me you all were more interested in finding dirty pictures than hearing her views on Jesus.

STRANGEST SEARCH TERMS TO LEAD READERS HERE

You don’t want to know.  To be fair though, there was at least one article here about dead bodies and sex.