Welcome to the fourth great and bountiful UXN Visitor Feedback. The first three were conducted back in 2004, 2006 & 2009 respectively and the responses can be found in the site’s Gratuitous Self-Promotion section.
We try not to do these too often, but we every three years or so is enough time to check in with our fan base to see who they are and what they might think of (or suggest for) our site. Thanks, as always, to those who participated.
Age:
In a eye-raising shift, it looks like about 20 percentage points of those surveyed have moved from the 16-24 percentile to the 25-34 tier. Also increasing by about 6% is the 35-50 range, which even more unfortunately contains a few UXN contributors…
Where are you from?
The best part of this question is that this time… we did not forget Canada. This was a sore spot last time around and one for which we apologized profusely. Unfortunately, this time someone pointed out that we left out the Middle East. One day we’ll get this right…
Anyway, it looks like most everything stayed at much the same proportion that it did before, which is interesting considering that our response level was up about 20% this time around.
How long have you visited?
Almost astonishingly, less than 10 of those surveyed had been visiting the site less than a year, with almost 75% having visited for over 4 years.
How often do you visit?
At first glance, this stat is staggering, that over 80% of our visitors stop by at least once a week, with almost 50% visiting once a day. However, considering that those who might only visit once a few weeks or months would almost certainly miss a Visitor Feedback survey, it’s not that unreasonable. Still, the idea that a few hundred people check nearly every day is a proud stat for us.
What is your favorite section of the site?
In what is no surprise whatsoever, other favorite section of the site remains our Spotlight On… section. In fact, one of the more common comments in our Ask a Question section was in regards to new Spotlights or keeping existing ones up to date. With the comprehensive biography, issue check list, costume gallery and alternate version page, there’s no comic book bio page like it on the web.
What section of the site do you use the most?
Keeping in mind that our Spotlight On section is the most popular, it’s closely followed in terms of usage by Issue Summaries. We know that this is a difficult question to ask, especially since the UXN has so many differing types of articles, but kudos to the one person who said that Wallpapers were their most used feature.
If you visit the summary section, what are you using it for?
This question was asked because of the rising interest in Issue Summaries in the last two feedbacks. A large number like to check out the Notes section just to see what reference they might have missed (like reading a Wikipedia page after watching a movie you just saw), though a large portion are clearly reading summaries for issues that they cannot find.
Do you find it easy to find what you’re looking for on UXN?
A simple, straight-forward question to see if there were any issues with navigating the site. It looks from the response like the UXN has set itself up in a rather user friendly way.
Have you ever considered contributing to UXN?
Look like a large number of people have at least considered contributing to the UXN, which is mirrored by a few people asking how to do so in the Ask a Question section. Basically, there are a few ways, depending on what you think you might be able to do.
Issue Summaries: There is a list in Help Wanted section of our Forum. There are many one-shots and mini-series available for low-pressure contribution if you want to give it a shot without promising more than that to which you think you can commit. Please contact Douglas or Ruth if you are interested.
Cover Gallery: If you have a scanner, you might be able to help out in keeping our Cover Gallery up to date! Please contact Tanwer if you are interested.
Image scans: Finally, if you have experience with Photoshop or any other image manipulation software, we might be able to use you for image prep for upcoming articles. In some cases, we might be able to provide the raw images, with you doing just the manipulation. If you think you have the skills and are interested, please contact Binaryan.
Do you use the site Forum?
Much like from our previous feedback, the vast majority of our visitors do not visit our Forum. No worries, though, as we’ve always considered the Forum a side-section of our site.
Do you use our Facebook page?
Opposed to our Forum, it looks like a much larger percentage visit out Facebook site. We resisted awhile creating one, but ultimately did so to help others not familiar with our site to discover it. It’s also a great promotional tool to make sure fans are aware of publication of major articles and events. As of this article’s publication, we have over 1500 likes.
Do you follow us on Twitter (@uxn)?
Twitter is another social media tool we resisted for the longest time. As of yet, we only make sparing posts to promote new features or events. It looks like a large number of our visitors do indeed use Twitter, but don’t follow us. However, as it’s apparent most of our visitors (at least those surveyed) visit the site regularly, they’re not missing much.
How many comics do you buy a month?
Though not all of us buy all X-titles, the staff at the UXN buy a lot of comics. So, we usually ask this question to reassure us that we’re not that far off. Judging by these responses, it looks like our visitors are all over the buying spectrum and some of us here need to cut down a bit.
What's the breakdown of the comics/Graphic Novels you purchase?
In a follow-up to the issue buying habits we have a question regarding how many trade paperbacks our visitors buy. After all, we’ve heard of the “waiting for the trade” strategy, so are our visitors doing that? Judging by these results, evidently not.
What's the breakdown of the comics you purchase?
This question came about because we were interested in seeing what else our visitors might read, or whether our fans were mainly X-title readers. The results are not very surprising with the total of “mainly X-title” variations reaching over 80%.
Do you buy paper or digital comics?
Digital comics are still in their infancy, but a few of the UXN staff have tipped their toes into its use, leading us to wonder if others do as well. At the moment, nearly 2/3rds of responders are paper only. It will be interesting to see the response to this when we do our next feedback.
As a public service announcement in case you are not aware, Marvel has .99 sales on Mondays and Friday either direct from their app or on Comixology. Additionally, even if you do not yet own a tablet, it is recommended that you create a Marvel account to redeem any of the comic codes provided free on some of the Marvel books you have purchased, as they will expire.
Do you have a subscription to Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited?
It looks like about 10% of our visitors have subscriptions to this service. While it is not a perfect service, it is one which we at the UXN have found invaluable in our own research. It might be worth checking out.
What comic book podcasts do you listen to, if any? No graph on this one, but we can report that the vast majority those who responded listen to no podcasts. However, the most popular of those that do seems to be (logically) the Uncanny X-Cast, of which a few of our staff are big fans. Following in number are Comic Geek Speak, Comic Vine and House to Astonish.