Slashdotted twice removed
An essay I wrote over seven months ago got 300 hits in the past 24 hours. This was due to a mention at the bottom of a lengthy and compelling rant by Joe Gregorio. Which was mentioned third out of a list of three items in a blog entry by Tim Bray. Which was mentioned by Slashdot.
While this doesn't guarantee that anybody actually read my essay yesterday, it does provide an indication that a large number of people actually read every word of Joe's and Tim's.