Comparing my top sites: 2012 vs now

2016-09-10 3 min read

    While going through and making sure each of my old posts was AMP compatible I came across a post from 2012 where I tried to list the first autocomplete suggestion for each letter. This naturally made me think of what the results would be if I did the same exercise now. Comparing the information 4 years apart is an interesting way to see how my habits have changed but also provide a glimpse into the evolution of companies, products, and technology. The biggest surprise is how much of the list is work related - it’s somewhat expected given how much time we spend working and how many more cloud services there are but it’s still shocking that almost half the list is work related. The other major realization is that much of my consumption has shifted to mobile - many of the sites that are no longer on the list I actively use on my phone; I may actually use Instapaper, Google Maps, and Twitter more frequently now but it’s mostly on mobile via an app. Given how interesting this exercise was I plan on doing this annually and encourage others to do the same - it’s an extremely simple way to see how technology and our relationship to it changes over time.

    20122016Notes
    analytics.google.comamazon.comI don't care as much as I used to about site metrics but to make up for it I'm shopping more frequently.
    bankofamerica.combetterworks.comWe've been using BetterWorks to manage team and personal OKRs.
    cad-comic.com/cadconsole.aws.amazon.comAnother work product - need to make sure everything's still up and running.
    docs.google.comdrive.google.comJust a domain change.
    eventbrite.com-An internal Sentry installation to help us track errors.
    facebook.comfootball.fantasysports.yahoo.comStart of football season but not sure what would have replaced this.
    glos.sigithub.comGlossi is no longer around but I spend a ton of time on GitHub now.
    heroku.comhellofresh.comMight be based on recency since I was cancelling my account last week.
    instapaper.cominteractivebrokers.comI'm mostly using the Instapaper app now.
    joinblended.comjira.comNeed to maintain our agility.
    klout.comkafka.apache.orgApparently I spend a lot of time read Kafka docs.
    linkedin.comlocalhost:4000This is Jekyll which powers my blog.
    maps.google.commint.comThis is an interesting one. I use Google Mpas more frequently than Mint but it's mostly on mobile or typing an address in directly or incognito.
    news.ycombinator.comnews.ycombinator.comOne of the few that stayed the same.
    optimum.comopentable.comWe no longer have Optimum and booked a dinner reservation recently.
    plus.google.com-This is a work domain that's just not very well secured.
    questionablecontent.netquestionablecontent.netAnother one that stayed the same.
    reader.google.com-Another inernal work domain.
    startupmullings.comsuntrust.comI went from blogging about startups to paying a mortgage.
    twitter.comtriplelift.atlassian.netOur Atlassian installation.
    udacity.comusetallie.comAnother work site to submit expense reports.
    voice.google.comvettery.comA work site to help recruiting.
    wixlounge.comwrike.comNot many sites starting with w. We tried Wrike out before using JIRA.
    xkcd.comxkcd.comAnother one that stayed the same. I'm loyal to my comics.
    youtube.comyoutube.comSame here. I don't use YouTube much but not many other sites starting with a y.
    zerply.comzillow.comI'm such an adult.