Between the ubiquity of Internet access and the fact that data has no objective tangible form, internet users have long been plagued with the problem of determining the value of the content they are ingesting. The first solution to this issue was to use visitor counters (or hit counters) to display the number of people who had been to a website. The number was worn as a badge of honor assuring visitors that at the very least the site was popular, and hoping that just like in the physical world, the popularity would lead to a feeling of value.

Although it is rarer to see a visitor counter in this style these days, we still use popularity as the dominant measure of value online. Whether it is the number of sites linking to yours to put you at the top of a Google search, the number of followers on your Twitter, or the number of friends you have on Facebook, these numbers are prominent and consequential in our online lives.

If popularity is such an important metric of value, can it not be used to evaluate an artwork?

Hit Counter is an interactive piece which narcissistically counts its own visitors and proudly presents this number as the art work itself.

With no other means to judge it, Hit Counter demands to be assigned a worth based solely on its popularity.