Upworthy’s Traffic Is Still Headed Down. Blame Us, Not Facebook, Says Upworthy.

Earlier in 2014, when viral content spreader Upworthy saw its traffic decline, lots of people assumed that this was because of Facebook, which is tinkering with the way it surfaces other people’s stuff in its News Feed.

Not so, say Upworthy’s leaders: Traffic is an unpredictable thing, and it had shot up dramatically last fall, so it was reasonable for it to move around a bit. But a couple months later, Upworthy’s traffic continues to head downward.

It’s not falling off a cliff, but it is shrinking, according to comScore. In April it had 10.7 million visitors, its lowest levels since August 2013 -- but still way ahead of where it was before.

So what’s going on now? It’s our fault, says Upworthy co-founder Eli Pariser. But it’s also a choice, he explains.