Hit Counters

What it was

Hit counters showed visitors that a page had an audience, even if the audience was small.

Why people remember it

• They turned analytics into decoration.
• The number could be status, curiosity, or pure vanity.
• Modern analytics became private dashboards; counters were public theater.

What replaced it

Usually a platform feature, a private analytics dashboard, a cleaner app pattern, or a feed. The behavior rarely disappears; it gets renamed and absorbed.