A World of Pet Shop Boys Fans
Since I launched my website in March 2001, I've received email messages from all over the world. So far I've heard from fellow PSB fans in the countries listed below and colored red in the map above. (I also have evidence via tracking data of my site having been visited by people in various other countries colored yellow-orange on the map, although I haven't received any emails from those nations yet.) I may have missed a few countries, either because I've overlooked your email—in which case I sincerely apologize—or because you didn't mention where you live and I wasn't able to discern it from your email address. In any case, I hope you'll .
In the meantime, thanks, everybody!
I've received email from site visitors in the following countries (colored red on the map above):
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I haven't received emails, but I have evidence (via my home page's "Flag Counter" routine) that my site has been visited by people from these additional countries (colored yellow-orange on the map). While it's possible that some of them may have stumbled upon my site quite by accident—with no real interest whatsoever in the Pet Shop Boys—I'll give them all the benefit of the doubt:
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Which countries have provided the proverbial lion's share of my site visitors? Based on the tracking data available to me, here are the top twelve, along with the approximate percentages (rounded to the nearest whole number) of visitors they each provide. Together they supply far more visitors than all other countries combined:
- United States - 28%
- United Kingdom - 25%
- Germany - 7%
- Canada - 3%
- Spain - 3%
- Italy - 3%
- Sweden - 3%
- Australia - 2%
- Netherlands - 2%
- Denmark - 2%
- Brazil - 2%
- Ireland - 2%
All other countries combined - 19%
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¹Several years ago I received an email claiming to be from Antarctica—a group of penguins who also happen to be Pet Shop Boys fans. I was immediately suspicious. After all, how can penguins type on a computer keyboard when they have flippers instead of fingers? Then I realized that they must have used the hunt-and-peck method. On closer examination, however, I found that the penguins' email had been forwarded from an address in the Russian Federation. But then, in May 2009, I received another email, this time from a real, live human being actually stationed in Antarctica with the British Antarctic Survey. He even provided proof! So, yes, I really have heard from a PSB fan in Antarctica!
²Tracking data indicates that a plurality of my U.S. site visitors live in California, which is hardly surprising considering that California is the most populous U.S. state. But the degree of that plurality exceeds what one might expect from purely demographic considerations: California provides roughly 25% of my U.S. site visitors, while it provides only about 12.5% of the U.S. population overall. So it would appear that PSB—or at least my website—is disproportionately popular in California. I can think of two reasons why this may be the case: (1) internet usage may be disproportionately higher in California than in other states, although confirmational data is difficult to come by, and/or (2) California has a larger openly gay population—both by percentage and by actual numbers—than any other state (as confirmed by various polls, both governmental and non-governmental), and in the United States (unlike in some other countries) the Pet Shop Boys are disproportionately more popular among gay men than among other demographic groups.
³I realize that Hong Kong is officially now part of China, but I've heard from a site visitor there who tells me that the citizens of Hong Kong still regard themselves as quite distinct from China and would much prefer that Hong Kong be listed separately in this list. I respect those wishes. And while it's true that Kashmir isn't an independent country—its territory is currently divided among India, Pakistan, and China—one of my site visitors is a native of the region and noted the "Free Kashmir" government in exile. So it's worthy of inclusion here.
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