Join us at the Digiday Publishing Summit from March 24-26 in Vail
Just weeks after Gawker was buried and the media had paid its last respects, a parody site dedicated to tweaking its nemesis has sprung up.
Called Gawken, the site promises to “open your mind to the future.” It features a number of quick posts written by pseudonyms including Tim Cook’s Toaster, Elon Musk’s Tesla (“VVRROOOOM VROOOMMMM,” it writes, not unconvincingly) and, of course, someone named Peter Theil, an author not quite named after the venture capitalist who bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s legal battle against Gawker.
The site’s first posts went live late last week, joining the proud ranks of The Clickhole, Google Nest, @ProfJeffJarvis and all other parody media produced for the social web, and it instantly delighted Media Twitter, including more than a few Gawker Media alumni:
Holy fuck https://t.co/0GMONhoAFM pic.twitter.com/78rwIEVYAd
— eve peyser (@evepeyser) September 14, 2016
pretty sure gawken would get funded if it were real
— Max Chafkin (@chafkin) September 14, 2016
This is the content America needs https://t.co/eTblJv3MHy
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 14, 2016
The site’s appearance is the latest piece of evidence that Gawker’s spirit lives on, even though its sister publications have been sold off and the flagship fell. Over the weekend, news erupted of a skirmish that broke out inside Univision over its decision to delete six posts published years ago across several old Gawker Media titles.
So far, no one has come forward to claim responsibility. But if we can sniff out the authors’ true identities, you’ll be the first to know.
More in Media
WTF is ‘shadow AI,’ and why should publishers care?
“Shadow AI” refers to the use of AI tools that aren’t officially company-approved. For newsrooms, that leaves serious implications.
How Pinterest went from selling views to selling clicks and conversions, with CRO Bill Watkins
Pinterest’s is getting louder in its battle for ad dollars with AI-powered ad tools and an increase in ad volume.
Creators and influencers on edge about Meta’s reported Reels spin-off
The notion that Meta is planning a Reels-spin off has created many questions for creators, including speculation over the potential decrease in Reels viewership, as well as concerns about whether or not Meta will allow creators to port over their Instagram followings to the new app, should the decision go through.