Revenge of the Nerds: Slashdot.org

If all the misanthropic programmers and science geeks who were hazed in high school decided to form a secret society, it would be Slashdot.org, which promotes itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters." A Web resource for tech-savvy surfers who can’t get their fill of contentious debate, breaking news, and industry info, Slashdot has attracted a faithful readership through its articles, lively discussion forums, interviews, and polls.

The site is funded by the Open Source Development Network (OSDN) and is maintained and updated by members whom the editors deem sufficiently tech- and science-literate. Because they’re writing for an exclusive readership, and because much of the site’s news content consists of short synopses linked to articles and sites elsewhere on the Web, Slashdot’s contributors needn’t have mastered proper journalistic style. The main features section is updated frequently by a long list of contributors, each seeking his or her 15 minutes of cyber-fame.

Slashdot is the Mecca of online nerddom, with advertisements directed at late-night programmers (caffeinated soap, anyone?) and articles about a honeybee trained to find landmines. If you don’t know why the Redhat 8.0 operating system is "crippleware," or what the difference between Mozilla and Netscape is, you’re likely to find much of the site daunting, a feeling exacerbated by the site’s cluttered design, which is densely packed with text and icons. Fittingly, Slashdot is as intimidating to sci-tech novices as talking to an attractive girl was for high-school brainiacs.

— Adam Wasserman

As a Musarium user, you’re invited to "Tell Your Story." When you click the link of the same name, a window pops up on your screen. Along the left side are links to stories other users have submitted, in some cases anonymously. One story details the experience of a 16-year old girl who narrowly escaped the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Another, titled "Made Up Girl," invites the reader to wonder whether the narrator exists.

In addition to its written narratives, the site houses a wealth of elegant, often poignant photographic narratives. Some are powerfully dramatic, such as "Without Sanctuary," which walks the viewer through a vast collection of photographs and postcards of lynching throughout American history. Others are silly and lighthearted, such as "Animal Crackers," a series that depicts animals acting out human activities, and vice versa. Another narrative, "Birds," is simple yet beautiful, a collection of gorgeously composed photos of rare birds. Users are invited to contribute their own reactions to these story packages in story-specific discussion forums. In the two years since its posting, "Without Sanctuary" has amassed thousands of comments and contributions in its forum, and is still very much alive.

Thankfully, Musarium is ad-free, with no flashy banners to derail the user’s attention; the site receives funding from Kodak, Olympus, and Samuel Fisher, and has partnerships with MSNBC Photo and Photo District News. Also, it brings in some revenue from an e-commerce section on the site, where Musarium’s contributing photojournalists sell coffee-table books, postcards, and collections of images.

As an interactive forum for art, Musarium inhabits an underutilized niche. World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee once said: "Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true, and the tendency to miss lunch." He must have had Musarium in mind.

— Dan Reiss

The mission of the site is to provide people with daily religious and spiritual guidance, news, teachings, and humor, drawn from a host of sources, including the Associated Press, books, websites, and magazines. Promising "not to exclusively promote one particular religion or belief system," Beliefnet offers a forum for all religions and spiritual pursuits, from Scientology to Baha’ism. Ironically, in light of its refusal to advocate one spiritual path at the expense of another, Beliefnet is overzealous in promoting the importance of belief even as it pays lip service to the notion that it does not matter what you believe. For example, an ad for free newsletters repeatedly pops up on the user’s screen, an experience reminiscent of Jehovah’s witnesses knocking incessantly at your door.

Nonetheless, the site is rich in information, from age-old religious teachings to forums for debate and articles addressing current events from a religious perspective such as a recent discussion of the moral implications of an American invasion of Iraq.

On a lighter note, Beliefnet offers "soul surveys" that ask which bible hero you have the most in common with, and other profundities. Stressed out? Relax via one of the site’s "meditation modules." And once you’ve discovered your Inner Light, you may want to enlighten others via the site’s "prayer circles." Beliefnet even offers entertainment for the faithful, such as the satirical news story that recently appeared on the site, documenting the merger of Hindus and Jews in a new faith whose members are called "Hinjews." No matter how many times they are reincarnated, the story informs, they will "never receive their mother’s approval."


— Mojdeh Malekan

The site’s twenty-thousand plus members submit the articles that go up on the site. Each is critiqued and voted on by fellow K5’ers. In decidedly democratic fashion, the most worthy are sent live on the homepage, runners-up are filtered out to section pages, and the rest are either rewritten or trashed. Despite the voluntary, uncompensated nature of this submission process, the content is quite professional, with an intellectual caliber and a diverse range that is, perhaps, a reflection of the Kuro5hin community itself. Article topics range from the didactic to the bizarre, as illustrated in two recent headlines, Understanding HTTP Cookies and Koro: A History of Penis Panics.

Kuro5hin runs on the notion of generating content through community and community through content. Throughout the site, users have ample opportunities to send submissions, make comments, and participate in polls. The medium fosters a level of interaction that is true to its potential, and feedback is welcome at every turn.

The site itself is very navigable and neat, with a relatively simple design: black text on a white background with a simple blue masthead, sidebars and standard navigational tools. There are few images, and no additional multi-media, making it easy to load. Stories are organized according to topic (technology, culture, freedom & politics, media, news, meta, op-ed, etc.) and can be browsed by using the navigational bars at the top and sides of the page. Story links are set into the body of the text and listed on the right-side toolbar.

Instead of accosting users with the typical flashing banners and stubborn pop-up ads, advertising on Kuro5hin is limited to relatively non-intrusive text-only ads and sponsored links, both of which are clearly marked and appear only on the homepage and on special advertising pages. Most of the advertisers are very small web-based businesses offering free web-hosting or bumper stickers with decidedly left-wing slogans. Users can discuss the products being advertised on designated message boards, a practice that leaves little room to question who’s the boss on this site: we, the people.

They say that good content does not come cheap, but Kuro5hin indicates otherwise. Perhaps, in an era of shrinking budgets and dashed dot-com dreams, this community-based website is an aspiring leader in a movement ahead of its time.

— Charlene Kwan