Sometimes when you set something free it will grow and GROW and GROW. The Revelstoke Current, at just nine months of age, is exactly like that — it is growing like Topsy.
Okay. That’s very much a cultural reference that will have almost no meaning to anyone under 50 maybe even under 60 or even under 100 (the phrase refers to a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 anti-abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin). But basically it means that Revelstoke’s online daily news site has grown beyond all reasonable expectations.
By Sept. 30 — just 90 days after launching The Current on July 1 — it had received 18,250 visits by 5,193 absolutely unique people. On Dec. 31, the tally was 50,174 visits by 10,953 visitors. On March 31 it had more than doubled to 102,884 visits by 20,427 absolutely unique individuals. No matter how you cut it that is pretty phenomenal growth.
As of this evening, April 11, the tally is 109,471 visits by 21,622 absolutely unique visitors. That’s a lot of visits by a tremendous number of people in just nine months. Personally, I’m impressed, gratified — and very, very grateful.
I am especially pleased by the fact that people here — and elsewhere — have been compelled to comment directly on the stories and photos posted on the site. The 1,092 stories and 2,784 photos I have published online since July 1 (about 98% per cent of them written or taken by me) have garnered 526 posts published directly in response to specific stories and photos and at least 50 comments published separately in the Opinions Section as letters to the editor. I have also published a number of columns by individuals such as Steve Smith, Shirley Berg, Steve Bender, Susan Knight and others regarding issues of interest in our community.
What this confirms is that the desire of local people to be informed, without prejudice, about local events — and to feel free to comment about them — is actually occurring. So, too, is the desire for information as expressed by foreigners being satisfied. According to Google Analytics, 5,409 of the visits to The Revelstoke Current have come from foreigners. That number is expected to grow.
I thank you for your support and your willingness to make The Current a true vehicle for community news, information, comment and expression.
