Query re. referrers on stats page – specifically Facebook

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  shoshana1989 · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:22 pm

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  Hi,

  So when I look at my referrers list, I’ll see something like this:

  facebook 322 (official logo)
  l.facebook.com 49
  lm.facebook.com 9

  Followed, as expected, by other referrers

  I was just wondering what the difference was between these different Facebook referrers – is WordPress actually registering whether clicks came from different individual links? e.g. is the above indicative that 3 separate people linked to the blog? Or is it something else entirely?

  I can extend the latter two but when I click on the individual link it only takes me to my blog.

  Just curious.

  Thanks!

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  timethief · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:24 pm

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  Hi there,
  I suggest you read what Staff ie. jeremeylduvall has said in this thread https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/stats-are-confusing-me?replies=29

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  shoshana1989 · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:25 pm

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  Thanks very much!! I did search some the Support function and read a few posts on stats but hadn’t found anything which explained this in much detail :) Thanks again

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  shoshana1989 · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:28 pm

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  Although having now read the thread I’m not sure it quite answers my question…

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  timethief · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:32 pm

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  If someone clicks on a link shared on Facebook and that leads to them actually viewing a post on a blog, that is a pageview.

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  shoshana1989 · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:41 pm

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  I realise that.

  What I am wondering about, is why, when I look at my stats and the referrals which came from Facebook, I have three different Facebook options noted down, with different corresponding views.

  For today, my blog stats show this:

  facebook 322 (official logo)
  l.facebook.com 49
  lm.facebook.com 9

  Is that 322 plus 49 plus 9 i.e. 380 total views referred from Facebook. If so, why does it show three different versions?

  Is that because the source in Facebook is in fact in a different place e.g. different people posted about my blog with a link and WordPress recognises that?

  Or is it something else?

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  timethief · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:47 pm

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  I’ll tag this thread for a Staff response. Please subscribe to the thread so you are notified when they respond and please be patient while waiting.

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  shoshana1989 · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:50 pm

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  Thank you very much

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  timethief · Member · Apr 16, 2014 at 8:52 pm

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  You’re welcome.

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  gracejiyoung · Member · Apr 22, 2014 at 7:10 pm

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  Hi there,

  Facebook made a change in which they migrated their link shim traffic off of www. to l.facebook.com so that it could be non-https for browsers that don’t support meta referrers to manage referrers.

  So, this means that l.facebook.com corresponds to http://www.facebook.com and lm.facebook.com corresponds to m.facebook.com (mobile Facebook).

  For more information on link shim, please view this post from Facebook Security:

  https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/link-shim-protecting-the-people-who-use-facebook-from-malicious-urls/10150492832835766

  If you have any further questions or want more details it would be best to contact Facebook about this.

  Thank you!