Beware of the Slashdot Effect
SmilieZ writes "A new generation of niche Web
portals is driving unprecedented amounts of
traffic to sites of interest
says Fairfax news "
Another butt kissing article. Watch as my already hyper inflated ego prevents
me from leaving my chair. This is probably the most flattering
article we've had so far. Neato.
SUCKS. i'm suprised its mentioned in anything that contains at least 1% of journalism. this site is a fucking joke. btw i use linux, i don't like being represented by all the idiots on this site, "FIRST", and bitching about nothing, much like me, but hey i have a few minutes to kill. too bad rob didn't take journalism in high school or college... me, i was managing editor for a few years. flame on, it won't be read, as i don't read FoLLoW-uP'S FRoM eLiTe LiTTLe KiDS (was that right?).
Will this cause a meta-slashdot effect then?
yo rob, put on extensibility hat: make slashdot a global federation of machines. use vpn or whatever.
- thi (ttn@mingle.glug.org)
nuf said
Kiss butt? Hmm...
In some places of the world there is a saying: If
the mule is pulling, don't kick it.
CmdrTaco... someone did you a favor by presenting
slashdot in a favorable light. Maybe they have
now learned a lesson and will not "kiss butt"
again, eh?
I'll bet they are now more inclined to use the
appendage located at the end of their leg when
making contact with your butt.
You have an ilk.
I've always wanted one of them.
Well perhaps not "denial of service"
but just depends on your definition.
If there are ever more Slashdots, there will be an online publishing industry only slightly like the current printed one. eg I create a news article, and submit it to /.1, /.2, /.AA etc. Then it might be published by one, or more, or none depending on how good it is. This could create a new occupation for journalists.
Journalists and comic artists like Me! This is a tase of the tasteless Unnamed Cow Comic.
Lets see.. you said you don't like the way slashdot represents linux users. First, slashdot is not a linux site. Slashdot reports about many geek things -- it just happens to post about linux more than your average site. So how does Rob's journalism or someone's comments make linux users everwhere look like idiots? Slashdot is a great thing, it is showing the world we don't need "real" journalism that is so polished it has no character -- and is only fed to the masses.
Funny also, that even with your being a managing editor, I don't see your great news site. Where is it? Why don't you post a url? I mean, you could do so much better..
And don't you think you're contributing to the idiocy of this site?
Haha... boy was that funny to read. Are you a moron masquerading as an intelligent person? Actually you don't really need to answer that.
There's too much in your post to pick on. But I'll pick on a couple of things:
You were an editor? And you use the word "SUCKS"? and use generalisations such as "all the idiots on this site"? Heh, that's like saying "All Americans suck" because there are a few bad apples (who often somehow make it on to tv...)
Man, I would have been none too impressed with any of your work I'm sure. You don't even have a decent command of the English language.
AndyM
This is a letter from Microsoft Phuckup(TM) Relations team, we'd like to say that slashdot effect(TM) is now(TM) a(TM) registered trademark"(TM) of Microsoft(TM) Corporation(TM)
Stop(TM) USing(TM) Our(TM) Phucking(TM) Trademarks (TM)
Slashdot effect (C)opyright 1901(TM) microsoft(TM)
Corporation(TM)
"By the way did I get the effect right - check out the best Linux resource ever!"
Please do not reference that URL! The microsoft server can definately NOT handle the 'slashdot effect'.
Rob is sucessful because he unselfishly serves the community and deserves whatever goodwill that gets sent his way.
As for you, you reap what you sow. By the way, I'm 36.
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
You deserve the recognition as does the whole SlashDot crew - Hemos, Sengan, etc...
P.S. If you do decide to have the business types help run the financial side of SlashDot, make sure they work for you rather than you working for them. (Maintain control and make sure their pay is based on how well they represent Slashdot.)
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
The best part of the /. effect is what happens when polls are mentioned on slashdot. It doesn't happen much anymore, but when worthy candidates crop up (People's most beautiful person of 1998 - hank the wonder drarf???) they usually get hammered pretty hard. Even the other day I saw a poll on ZeeDee Net where one of the answers to the question "Will your next desktop be Windows 98 or NT" was like "Neither - We'll all be using Linux!"...and it won with like 70% of the vote!
/. effect is a powerful thing, use it wisely Rob ;)
The
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
Glad to see your'e in touch with the real world: you made me laugh with youre replys Rob !
Excellent !
I particularly liked your comments, Rob, about spell checkers and not getting out. Pretty soon, man, folks'll be bugging you for digital autographs. Kudos!!!!
"shop smart:shop s-mart" ash
--Phil (The earliest article reference I found was this one.)
355/113 -- Not the famous irrational number PI, but an incredible simulation!
Sounds like a toilet euphemism to me.
"L'IT c'est moi!"
Where do you see yourself in five years...
(Correct answer: Who cares. I having fun now.)
in the article (i read the IT section of, "The Age" on the way to work" I noticed Rob looking for a revenue source for /. the article went on about IT journo's, analysts et. al., using /. as a source of info. Would it be worth seting up slashdot as a news source like AAP and charging rag trades, and news hacks for sourcing info?
/.
these guys are making a killing selling news and comments generated by
peterrenshaw ~ Another Scrappy Startup
"try saying ``http://slashdot.org" and you'll wind up sounding like you have a speech impediment"
Oh. Cool, haven't thought about that, not using the language for speaking.
Keep up the good work.
I think you got at least 30 minutes of fame. I still am looking for my 15.
"Don't ask, Don't Teletubby"
Bitcoin pyramid: Join here: http://www.bitcoinpyramid.com/r/1427 it's FREE!
In a couple of months, I hope to have my own zine. In a couple of years, it might do as well as yours...
Its so ironic that you can ues this site that "sucks" to inform others about YOUR opinion. Think about it, if this site "sucked" so much, why are you still reading it? or even posting to it? are you a drug addict? or did you just eat lead paint as a child? This is so funny that it is not even funny anymore. Its like some great politician going on a television show to tell everyone to stop watching that television show.
Its spelt "L-I-N-U-X", but pronunced as "Free Beer"
oh damn. that was bad. Hang on, autoLART time. (Hit enter instead of tab after typing in the subject. I'm not dyslexic, but my fingers are.)
:)
Anyway, CmdrTaco got mentioned over at userfriendly.org for the death of a site..
From userfriendly (so you don't kill my other favorite site by going an looking!):
CMDRTACO DOES IT AGAIN
00:04 PST 15 FEB 1999
This is too cool. The Peer 2 Peer launch was mentioned on Slashdot yesterday, bringing Arcterex's server into a screaming death
spiral as the infamous "Slashdot Effect" sent thousands and thousands of clicks over to the wee box. Arc wants you all to know that
it's fixed now.
- billn
I'm wondering why more sites haven't adopted a SlashDot structure - user submitted news with threaded discussion forums. It cetainly seems to be a good formula.
someday i hope you have articles about myself :) /. and rob (and the readers that make it so great)
maybe we should start some kind of fanclub?
kudos to
oh well back to work
doobman
How many /.'rs posted this story besides my self?
:(
not even first post
Nice to see /. in a light like that. Keep it up and don't worry about getting a life. It'll catch up with you before you know it, and then you'll WISH you had time to spend around the house =^} /.
Congo Rats again
"Here's 50 bucks, take this in case I get drunk and call you a bitch later." - Ricky (Vince Vaughn)Made (2001)
--
When she told me I was average, she was just being mean.
Well done Rob.
I hope that someday soon you'll get some financial support from a company willing to let you retain full control of the content of Slashdot.
When shit hits the fan get some of these https://youtu.be/pY-GncsZ-UE
Are we forgetting the asshole effect. I think that goes along with the /. effect, like when you guys [and gals] tore down that web server without the root pass.
yeah (.) effect.
-mark
If your computer says LINUX, run...computers can't talk! [unless you have text-speech software]
"no one knows where the term ``slashdot effect'' originated"?
:-)
I know.
It was on Slashdot.
Has anyone thought of the Cathedral and the Bazaar as related to Slashdot? This isn't a great news site because of some massive international news organization with bureaus in Washington and Silicon Valley (like some news cathedral). It's great because of the community and the open environment that's managed by the maintainers here.
I'm sure if someone did a comparison, they could draw good parallels between Slashdot and Linux. One is shaking up the way we get news while the other is shaking up the software industry. And if we believe Linux is going to run over Windows, then what are sites like Slashdot going to the traditional media? Sites like MSNBC and CNET might have reason to be scared.
Congratulations to Rob and the others!
-- John Truong
Actually, that did occur to me, so I changed the ending to "sites like Slashdot"...I know Slashdot is only one site that serves a specific population, but what about a bunch of Slashdots, each serving different populations?
Browsing the web is a personal experience, and people are going to looking for more personal content online...the TV model of broadcasting aren't really going to fly here as well as teams of niche sites like Slashdot.
I think eventually, when people are used to the Web, they'll be 'scratching their itches' at different Slashdot-clones (using Slashdot code?) for everything from parenting to barber-shop pole painting businesses (assuming barber shops still exist then). But it won't just be a matter of site content focused on them (like some magazine sites now), the people who use the sites will contribute the way Slashdotters do here, with stories, comments, hanging out on SlashNet. The news sites will be collective creations of their community, in an open source fashion.
I really like Slashdot and I visit here 3-4 times a day for updates. That bias aside, I think sites like this are going to take precedence over broad, one-way sites like MSNBC (nothing against them, I like that site too).
-- John Truong
There is one aspect of the slashdot effect, that no one has mentioned. What about all of the lost man hours due to All of us slashdoters wasting company time on Slashdot. You know, if we are not careful, we could bring the world economy crashing down. Forget Y2k, fear SSK. (Slashdot's site killers) :)
-Master Switch, one more element in the machine
First off, Rob, and the rest of the Slashdot crew Congradulations!! :-)
You know? It's kinda of a power to people thing, isn't it?
I mean, albeit in small doses, slashdot, and it's readers are making small, but, noticable changes in policies, consider Bell Atlantic, regarding Macs.
Project the idea, a few years ahead...
Now 80% of the American Public have access to the Internet at home, ~60% of the population of the world have Internet Access availible to them. Many new sites in the format of Slashdot pop up, each catering to the tastes of thier respective readers. One smart person makes a AllSlash network, a way to browse all of these from a central point, with a main page, listing most poopular Articles from all of them. All presenting news of importance to the reader, because the readers provide them, then discuss them in open forums. Soon it's all taken as for granted, as your daily newspaper, or evening news on TV.
I think we are the very edge of a revolution unmatched since the printing press. Maybe the power we all have, as a slashdotter, have been over stated at times, but, maybe not. How about the potentional power we will all have, when a person in a foreign country, just needs to post a quick article, and bring attention of his/her plight to millions of people, in a matter of days, others in that country doing the same, encouraged by the reactions. Soon thousands of Web Surfers e-mailing their Government, in outrage. Governments world wide, forced to face issues, they can ignore now, because most people will never know.
I don't know. Maybe I'm dreaming... but, seems to me, the Internet is giving people a voice, people who never had that voice before. We aren't changing the world yet, but, I'm almost sure, soon we will.
I wish I could get hit by the slashdot effect. That would be way too cool... I like freaking out the network administrators ;)
If you guys want to read the paper written
f ect.html
by me, on the slashdot effect as referenced in
the Ausie article, here's the URL
http://ssadler.phy.bnl.gov/adler/SDE/SlashDotEf
i guess it's fairfax's turn to feel an awesome dearth of bandwidth that is the direct result of...
THE SLASHDOT EFFECT.
i want to see a bandwidth burst