Usually, very soon after I post a question, I revisit it to check that it reads right. There are always 2 views. Who are the two viewers? If I am one, who is the other one? Does it differ on the main site and the Meta site? Because immediately I posted this Q, I realized the title was awkward, and clicked on the Q, which had only 1 view.
2 Answers
Fine, since people are taking my answer seriously what follows is the result of lack of sleep. Rather than the boring answer of it coming from being viewed twice I made something up.
Its an auto viewer so Jeff Atwood doesn't have to get violent,
Dear Next Person Who Opens a Pluralization 'Bug', I will personally come to your house and bludgeon you to death with a giant S
answered Jan 18, 2018 at 23:17
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I am sure there is a history behind this threat, but I don't really care what it is. I thought it might be an auto viewer, and thanks for the confirmation.– ab2Commented Jan 18, 2018 at 23:32
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Hi Charlie! Beyond "it's an auto viewer" I fail to see the use of this to visitors to our site. We don't need to see Jeff Atwood's Twitter page, and the link in it doesn't remotely address this question. The "Pluralization Bug" to which he refers is a Meta:SE post entitled Pluralization issues with counting a tag's top users page. Maybe this is an "inside joke" or something I'm missing, but meta's a public place. I'm surprised you did this, especially since you're a great contributor of quality content to our meta. Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 4:07
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1Vote this up not down - the factual part is correct and for the rest, at least after a quick glance at the tweet and following some links one should discover that this has become a meme (or if you don't care, just don't).– imsodinCommented Jan 19, 2018 at 15:31
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Charlie, people are supposed to take your answers seriously. That's the purpose of answers! As I said before, you're extremely active on Meta, and responsible for bringing a lot of people here. These people don't need an answer like this. It doesn't teach them anything, which is our purpose for being on SE. Admitting you made something up should be reason enough to delete it, or at least the part that's not understandable to the average person. I can relate to posting when tired. That's why, after a good night's sleep, we can hit the delete button! Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 21:44
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I know SE hates fun, but does it need to hate fun that much? If anyone cares, here is the answer making this part of an official meme: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19478/the-many-memes-of-meta/…– imsodinCommented Jan 21, 2018 at 21:44
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2@imsodin If you want to see just how much SE hates fun (and have some time), look at this question on ELU, which was recently locked as off topic.– ab2Commented Jan 22, 2018 at 19:02
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@ab2 If I wrote a huge answer like that and someone closed it, I wouldn't be very happy with them, especially if a mod single-handily did it. Commented Jan 22, 2018 at 20:54
I've wondered about this too, as have some other people I've spoken with. The subject is addressed at Meta:SE, but I was only able to find information that I could understand about the first part of the question. I'm hoping someone will come along and explain the rest.
The first view of the question is attributed to the person who posted it, and happens as soon as you do so.
This answer to the SE Meta question What is that 1 view which automatically appears after submitting a question? explains that.
You are a user, and as soon as you submit your question you are shown your new question = 1 view.
So the first view count is you :)
The second part of the question's more confusing, because I don't understand the "techie" language that's used by the relevant posts.
Meta:SE's How are the number of views in a question calculated? offers some insight, and leads to other similar posts.
There are some posts which seem to infer that the views have to do with the IP address where the view originated. There are things put in place so people can't game the system by logging in and out repeatedly and adding view counts to their question. Some of the posts mention a 15-minute waiting period in a "cache" before something registers as a vote count. Again, I'm way out of my depth here!
I can tell you that this question was at 10 views when I saw it. I came in and out of it and refreshed it at least 15 times, for a total of 20 minutes before it registered an 11th view. That view could have been anyone though, so that doesn't necessarily prove anything.
Whether the main and meta sites are different, I can't answer that either. I tried to force an additional view on a question at the regular site, and the same thing happened. It took many times and then a wait of about 20 minutes before another view count registered.
I'm not sure what the difference was for you. The lack of a quick second view here might have been because it was your computer that viewed it again. The second view of the one you mentioned on the regular site might have been a second person who viewed it right away.
It might also have been because it was your own question. Again, I hope someone else helps you, and the rest of us, understand how it works.
answered Jan 19, 2018 at 4:53
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I think the lack of a quick second view was because the auto-viewer that Charlie mentioned had not had time to kick in. I realized my title was awkward within seconds of posting the question and reopened it to edit. I was not asked to explain my edit.– ab2Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 5:04
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@ab2 I've had the same issue with editing my question very quickly after posting and not being asked for an edit reason. It also takes some time before it creates an edit history. For example, this question doesn't show that it has ever even been edited. We wouldn't have known if you hadn't said so. That has happened to me too, because I frequently make quick changes as soon as I post something. The next time I post something, I'll make changes a few times and wait to see how many it takes before an edit history kicks in! Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 20:36
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