I like recording things. Spending so much time online there is a vast amount of activity for me to log - I thought I’d have a go, in the future it might be quite interesting.
I started with logging my Foursquare check-ins. This has already been fun to look at, I have it recorded on my calendar and in a Google Drive Spreadsheet. This means that I can know see exactly which day it was I went to wherever it was. So far it’s only been actually useful once, however, the more data I gather (effortlessly) the more likely it is to be of use or interest.
Next up was Spotify plays, it’s always bothered me that Spotify doesn’t make a users play available. They are logged, and are available via applescript, but they aren’t shown. This made me get last.fm and take a new approach to play count logging. I can now log every play of every track I ever play, from iTunes or Spotify in a Google spreadsheet. Some people might not find this interesting in the slightest, I agree it’s far from useful. Still I like the idea that in future I’ll be able to look back on it all. Maybe if I ever get better at Excel I’ll be able to pull out some interesting facts.
I’ve tried recording other services, like Gmail, Twitter and Blogger, but I run these just more as a backup or test.
I get that personal analytics might be seen as a little odd but the results can be pretty interesting.