Read the most popular articles of the new year so far on The Good Life.
Time to write another post about the top ten posts on The Good Life for the past month in terms of page views. I still haven’t written an alternate post, Top 10 Regardless of Pageviews, but publishing as many articles as I do, well-written by passionate writers, it seems unkind to choose favorites. So I’ll stick to the quantifiable for now.
Final Top Ten for January
But before I get into February’s top ten, a correction to last month’s top ten list. Since it ran early, the final pageviews for the month weren’t in before the list was compiled. A post that ran on January 29, the “21 Step Guide to the Art of Masculine Domination,” took #4 for the month in only three days, and two by Vironika Tugaleva, in positions two and three, switched places. Here are the revised top ten for January with their pageviews and how their ranking for the month was altered from what had been reported:
10. Average Size … for a Black Man: Penis Size Myths, Racism, and the Patriarchy (Published December 24, 4,907 pageviews)
9. Male Disposability 1/19 (Published January 3, down from #8, 5,079 pageviews)
8. Before You Cheat, 14 Things You Need to Know (Published January 15, down from #7, 5,719 pageviews)
7. I Had an Affair with a Married Man (and I Don’t Regret It) (Published January 25, down from #6, 6,264 pageviews)
6. In Defense of Psycho Bitches from Hell (Published December 30, down from #5, 6,710 pageviews)
5. Why Do Men Cheat? (Published January 7, down from #4, 6,964 pageviews)
4. 21 Step Guide to the Art of Masculine Domination (New, published Jan 29, 8,026 pageviews)
3. Shame Is Why We Fight (Published January 6, down from #2, 8,858 pageviews)
2. Lies Women Tell One Another About Men and Love (Published January 26, up from #3, 13,244 pageviews)
1. How to Deal with a Psycho Bitch from Hell (Published January 13, 13,597 pageviews)
February’s Top Ten
Some of these are repeats from Big Dicks and Psycho Bitches: The Top Ten Posts on The Good Life in January, and others are hits from past months that have enjoyed spikes in popularity in February.
10. How to Receive a Blowjob Respectfully (Published Sept 11, 2012, 4,646 pageviews in February)
Camille Crimson’s advice to accept this gift in the spirit in which it is given has been very popular since it was first published, receiving a few dozen or hundred views a day, but it experienced a huge spike on Sunday, February 17—the weekend after Valentine’s Day. Feel free to share your theories on this correlation in the comments.
9. The Disposability of Black Men (Published Feb 2, 4,653 pageviews)
Billy Johnson II points to incarceration statistics and other signs of institutionalized racism, as well as a media infatuation with images of violence against Black men, as signs of an ongoing genocide in the United States. Part of a series on The Disposability of Men on The Good Life.
8. I’m Stark Naked: Deal With It (Published May 24, 2012, 4,680 pageviews in February)
Noah Brand’s brave stand helped kick off The Good Life last May, and spiked on February 5 to join this month’s top ten. Part of a series on Body Image on The Good Life.
7. 15 Steps to Making Everyone on Facebook Hate You (Published Feb 15, 6,644 pageviews)
New contributor Jarrod Wright crafts the most shareable post, educating us so we might not be the subjects of our Facebook friends’ ire. (Personally, I’m guilty of #13, using my Facebook account to promote The Good Life.)
6. Lies Women Tell One Another About Men and Love (Published Jan 26, 7,474 pageviews in February)
This post by Vironika Tugaleva was indeed #2 in January despite its publication date, and continues to resonate with readers in February. In “Lies Women Tell One Another About Men and Love,” she tells the story of how she showed her man she loved him by being the perfect Cosmo Girl, and nearly lost him in the process.
5. How to Go From A**hole to Good Man in 10 Easy Steps (Published Feb 11, 8,137 pageviews)
Greg White is flippant but big hearted, as is evidenced by his advice on living The Good Life: be kind to strangers (and yourself), good to the Earth, and here for all of it. Part of a popular and long-running series of Lists on The Good Life.
4. 21 Step Guide to the Art of Masculine Domination (Published Jan 29, 10,889 pageviews in February) Candice Holdorf’s guide combines advice on being both confident and sensitive, exploded onto the Top Ten in January at #4, and has held this position for February.
3. Handsome Men with Unattractive Women: A Combination the Media Will Never Show You (Published Feb 5, 18,304 pageviews) After a GoDaddy ad elicited a visceral response during the Superbowl, Shawn Peters asked, Why is it funny when a beautiful woman kisses an unattractive man?
2. Yoga Pants Nation (Published Feb 19, 24,158 pageviews) Nathan Graziano can’t stop looking. The article that kicked off #yogapantsgate.
1. The Case Against Saving for College (Published Feb 9, 81,785 pageviews) Lisa Hickey says that our most popular titles are “simple and counterintuitive.” Jeff Bogle proves the case by making a case for spending your kids’ college savings now, while there’s still time in his runaway hit.
What were your favorite articles in February?
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