Hey, Modern Philosophers! Just wanted to write a quick post to talk about something really fun that’s happened with one of my posts. It seems to have gone viral on Facebook!
Last week, I posted a silly story about how Survivor was secretly filming its new season in Maine, but the weather was too harsh, so all the “survivors” tried to quit. I thought it was a fun post and The Girl Who Is My Sounding Board giggled when I told her about it. Clearly, it was a work of fiction, though, as it talked about Zombies, Ghosts, and ski jumping into the Atlantic Ocean being part of the show.
Last night, I was checking my stats and noticed that the Survivor post had received 250 views during the day. That was very odd given that I’d written it last week. I checked a little later and it was at 325. Then 400. I also noticed that it had gotten reposted on Facebook over 400 times.
As non-bloggers commented on the post, I asked them how they’d come to find it. They said they’d had it sent to them by a friend, and they then passed it along to more friends. Almost all of them were from Maine.
Best of all…a large portion of them believed the post was real!
I woke up this morning to find out it had gotten almost 1000 views last night and already had 250 at 6:30. By time I left for work at 8:00, it had over 400 views.
I checked the site at lunch, and the Survivor post had over 1,000 views and there were many comments by readers hoping it was real. There was also an email from a reporter from one of the newspapers in Portland. He wrote that he’d seen the post on Facebook and needed me to call him ASAP to let him know if it was real.
Are you kidding me?
As I type this, the post has had over 6,600 views today and has been posted on over 2,000 Facebook pages. I learned that a DJ from the local rock station had it on his Facebook page, so I wrote to him and we chatted for a bit. It was also on the page of a local restaurant chain and the fan page for a Maine County.
Crazy stuff. This is why I love Maine. What a nice little bit of pre-Valentine’s Day love from Facebook.
This blogging thing is a lot of fun. I think I’ll keep doing it for a bit…
UPDATE: It’s Valentine’s Day and my favorite Maine DJ, Mike Dow, just talked about the blog post on his morning show. How cool is that? Thanks, Mike! Thanks, Big 104!
Congratulations. I thought it was true. Go figure!
I can’t believe how many people have read that post. Over 7500 since last night. It’s wild!
Cool that it went viral!
Isn’t it? 7200 hits so far today. These numbers are blowing my mind. I can’t wrap my Deep Thoughts around them!!!
See? I was right about how it all happened. And you thought it was a mistake. You’re just that good! That reminds me, I should send it to my best friend…her hubby’s from Maine & they both lived there for a while.
Please feel free to share. Maybe the Survivor folks will read it…
Right? LOL! And I did.
That’s Awesome!!
Thanks!
Have you gained a lot of followers too?
Not from these Facebook folks since they’re not bloggers or WordPress members. That’s been the disappointing part. Wish they would stick around and read more…
I see I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed the Zombie Apocalypse didn’t happen! It just happened in Maine and I missed the memo!!! – That’s awesome news and considering how much I enjoy your posts I hope you get a much larger fan base out of the deal!
Thank you. It’s always Zombie Season in Maine. Feel free to stop by and bag a few…
Oh congrats! That was a really good post, I enjoyed it, I’m not surprised it went viral.
Thank you!
Love it …
reminds me of the great quote by the famous president:
“The thing about quotes on the internet is that you cannot confirm their validity.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Honest Abe was way ahead of his time, wasn’t he? We’ve got a big statue of him up here to honor his work as a Vampire slayer. The Vampires don’t like it, and they desecrate it every Halloween, but they’ve learned to live with it.
You are that good, it’s true.
The copious thoughts that pour out of your mind!
It is cute that people are believing your post about Survivor trying to secretly film in Maine.
However, the part about the zombies and ghosts would have caused me to question…..
I guess in the land of Nemo where snowdrifts block the sun, all things are possible.
You see? Mainers know Zombies and Ghosts are real. The rest of you need to get on board with this!
Ok, the universe has decided that this is your time – go buy that lottery ticket!
Good idea!
Another reply from a Mainer !!
This has showed up all over my feed and I also believed it to be real. In case you’re curious, there is little here that seemed impossible (ie zombies). Other than that … -35 degrees? Sure. Ghosts in lighthouses? You bet. Jeff Probst in Maine? Highly likely. I think that might be the hook that’s making this believable. Jeff was engaged to former contestant Julie Berry, who was from Maine. As a result, he was spotted in Maine all of the time back then, which makes it believable that he knows just what a bitch Maine winters can be
Thanks for the amusement!!!
Tena … A real MAINAH !!!
Tena, I’m glad you liked the post and thought it could be real. I mean, I am trying to amuse and report the “real Maine news”. If you check out the blog, you’ll see that it’s all about a side of Maine that those from away don’t know…
YAY
That is so crazy…good crazy! I really enjoyed that post so I’m not surprised at the success, but I am surprise how gullible people can be. You are center stage for a real live rumor mill.
My favorite Maine DJ just emailed that he’s going to be talking about the post on his morning show this hour. How cool is that???
Beyond cool!!! I’m so happy for you! Now, we need the producers of Survivor to call with news of bringing this baby to life. I really want to see people in parkas freezing their butts off for a prize!
We shall see. They just talked about the post on the radio show. So cool…
So cool! I’m a little concerned for the people who thought it was real though….
I know, right? The stuff about zombies and ghosts should’ve tipped them off…
I KNOW. It’s kind of shocking. People these days…
We need to do a better job of teaching reading comprehension.
Wow! So cool. It might be a good week for you to buy a lottery ticket. Do they have those in Maine? With your, shall I say, luck with your movie and with Facebook the stars are certainly aligning in your favor! They say good news comes in threes so there’s one more goody pending.
BTW – I too would love to see a Survivor in a cold clime. I might actually get a TV and watch if that happened.
There seems to be a real ground swelling for Survivor in Maine, but I don’t know if anyone from the show has seen the post. It has been a good week. I’m sure this means something bad will happen…like my laptop dying on Monday…
Laptops dying aren’t all bad. Mine died a slow death last month and I just bought a new one today. Death = bad; New computer = good. It all balances out, see?
Good point. I have trouble staying positive sometimes…
I have trouble being overly optimistic sometimes. Not quite Pollyanna, but close.
The thought of you unleashed on thousands of FB sites is a little frightening. But a cold Survivor would be a change, and the tropical island series is getting tame. Let’s see some frozen toes already! Unfortunately, while it would freshen up an old series, the lack of skin would see a ratings nose dive even further than it is now. Skin makes the ratings go up, ratings make the money, hence no Maine season. Unless the producer likes the idea of women in snowbunny outfits skiing down a sunny snowy hill…… or watching the attempts of contestants getting warm in each other’s igloos…..
The post is up to 20,000 hits now. I talked to another DJ last night whose station had an article on its website about whether or not my blog post was real. How odd. Why can’t Survivor be about surviving and not about people looking sexy and scantily clad?
Maybe you will have enough hits to get a producer’s attention….maybe this will be an opening to another screenplay…..maybe you could be a survivor contestant in Maine in the sub-zero weather….and I think that there are many creative ways to show the required amount of skin needed to keep the ratings above water. After all, what do nipples do in the cold? Yup, you get the idea…..
I’d like to write to the Survivor producers to tell them about the popularity of the post, but they don’t seem to be very accessible…
This is gold!
Thank you. How do I cash in this gold? Is there a WordPress exchange room???
Haha I wish. You’ll have to excuse my Aussie lingo!