Things have changed. Everybody can publish something with ease now, where a generation ago there were significant hurdles. It takes a very good article today to receive attention -- but that shows, too, that there still is a difference between good and bad writing. I am a co-editor of Pi, which is the world's no. 10 philosophy web-log. If we publish something which is merely good, it may receive 800 general views and 50 targeted views (people who look it up especially). If we publish something very good, it may receive 1 500 general views, and 200 targeted views. If it is exceptional -- and it is hard to predict which writing will catch fire -- it may receive 1 500 general views and thousands of targeted views. My own best piece on Pi has (this morning) 12 937 targeted views. OBSERVATION: But there are indirect readers, too. For example, a poem on Pi recently went viral on Facebook. That doesn't reflect in our figures.
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