Fark.com under some fire
 

Rumor has it that Fark.com has been taking some tips for featuring articles on its page... here are some links. Also, rumors of people getting banned from fark for posting these links in the discussions over there.
I think this should get a scary tag.

<href>http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/3352461824746671/ </href>


http://www.wired.com/news/business/0...w=wn_tophead_2

Tell me what you think.

Old(ish) articles. So they are taking payments for boobies links; it is a humor site, we aren't talking about journalistic integrity. And, for instance, the TFP will ban you if you link to certain images. Whatever someone wants for site rules is what goes.

I'm curious why you are posting this now, as your first post here. Did you just get banned from Fark yourself?

Yup. I have had several posts deleted from Fark when I brought up the "paid link" issue.

The link from Wired you posted was actually on Fark a few weeks ago, what's interesting is that in the Wired article Drew says he fired Gogi. Last week Gogi was quite active in a thread about free iPods, so I don't think he was fired. Meh, whatever.

I don't want to see this turn into a Fark-bashing thread, but I do wish their policies were a little more transparent. I like Fark and I am glad it exists and at the rist of sounding cliche; it was better back in the "old days."

Hehehe.

I just got banned from Fark 2 minutes ago for asking if a link was paid for, here's the message I got.


So clearly this is a senstive subject with them and we're not allowed to ask questions. :rolleyes:

If put in Drews position I'd probly do the same. I doubt he made that much money off it anyway. But if its true and these callouts are real no sense in deleting posts about it.

Wow, that's vague. "Assume that all links are not paid for."

Perhaps:

"Not all links are paid for, but some are."
"Some links are paid for, but we'd like you to assume that they aren't."

And they shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition anyway, especially if they are taking the time to create an automated response.

we're talking about people paying to keep a service running.. whether it's here or there... bandwidth is not free.

If they choose to supress or highlight certain topics that's up to their staff and management... you can chose to no longer visit the website if you don't agree with their new policies.

I submitted this with more money.

/obvious

But yeah, I agree completely that they seem to be royally screwing up handling this situation. While they may be getting more press, even though its negative, I doubt what fark really needed was more people visiting.

Either deny it or own up, don't jerk people around with awkwardly worded bannings. If it was one or a few people doing it for their own pockets, make sure they're fired and banned and explain what happened. If it was a policy to ask for money for some links, then admit that and decide as a community if it should go on or not. I never paid for TotalFark, but if I had, this would upset me even more.

This'll be interesting to read any other opinions on this since the membership of this forum has some strong fark ties.

If getting paid will keep Fark alive, is that so wrong? I always assumed some of the links were just re-directs anyway. Kind of obvious when they have the same link several days in a row for some girls crappy softcore spread.

I don't get it...So what if they accepted money to feature links? It seems an acceptable way to advertise/raise money for both parties concerned. It's not like fark exactly have, what you might call, an important image of journalistic integrity.

Now if the site in question was "important" as opposed to "entertaining", then perhaps there would be an issue here, but I don't see the need to get worked up over a daily list of links to quirky new stories.

What is the problem with Fark simply admitting which are paid for and which are not. Given that editorial decisions are made re: which links to accept, it should be up front on which, if any, are paid for. If I assume they all are, I've lost interest.

they choose not to...and have not left it up for ANY discussion. And it's now up to you to either accept it, or be done with it...

IMO, amnesia622 if this is your FIRST post here since you signed up in 2003, your opining is childish. You've not once ever found ANY reasons to include yourself in any discussions here, not a single one.

I don't know what you contribute to that community but the community here you've not added ANYTHING.

If you are going to just gripe about another community, I'll lock this thread as IMO you're borderline trolling/site plugging.

edit: sorry kept looking up the thread starter and not the other individual. my apologies to the individual I singled out incorrectly. thank you for correcting me.

OK, I never got "worked up" about this issue. Rather, I pine for the old days, I've been with Fark for 3 or 4 years and I watched it grow up and change. Now they have reached a level of growth and all I want is that they be honest about it. It's kinda like when your favourite Indie band sells out for a big record deal (I'm talking to you Liz Phair). Sure, we still love them, but more for what they used to be rather than what they have become and are changing into.

I understand completly the realities of running a website that gets hundreds of thousands of hits a day, it costs money and I can respect that you have raise funds here and there, but be honest about it. Once again, in the "old days" Fark was just a fun little site where the members submitted quirky stories and sites for all to enjoy now it's become a nebulous "big business" entity that won't answer questions from it's members. Sure I'll still visit, but man the place has lost it's charm.

So to wrap up and repeat myself, meh...whatever.

Marq, agreed. I miss the old days of Fark.com just like I miss the old days of Wired Magazine. I miss them and I still will visit them but they definitely don't get the attention from me that they used to....

"here here"

I miss the issues of Wired "pre Condé Nast" back when it really was cutting edge.

Thi is oooold news. It's hardly a rumor that they have sponsors. You can tell because they frequently post galleries from the same sites that are only offering promo material (not entire collections, like they used to)

It's not a real news site, so Fark has no obligation to not accept sponsors. But it would be nice if they open about it. It seems like they have something to hide.

I haven't visited Fark in years, but I have to say that I see this as essentially a non-issue. It's not as if the spinning of our world depends on the validity of what they do.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but my thoughts toward the internet are "assume everything you see has been paid to be placed there."

It tends to leave me pleasantly surprised instead of morally outraged.

www.fazed.net is a better place to get boobies and funny stories and links than fark had ever hoped to be, and it's funny because fark links to it from it's own site... awesome.

Everybody has got to get paid. Enjoy their service or don't, nothing is ever truly free.

Thanks for the Fazed link, crackprogram.

/waiting for the shoe to drop on gmail

You're already paying for gmail, see the ads to the right of your email :)

I got banned from fark because I submitted an article using the 'newsflash' tag because I thought I was being humorous. Turns out I violated some policy that is not actually posted anywhere on their site.

I still read the main page everyday, but sadly can't participate in the discussions.

TFP is more than enough site for me. If I need something interesting to read while I'm killing time inbetween classes this is the only site I come to.

I love you TFP...

The boobies links sure look paid for since they often have the exact same format and layout. Meh, I don't really care, fark has never been good for boobies.

The banning thing is pretty funny though :D

fuckin a, I don't get enough shit done as it is. screw fark, never been there except twice to follow threads like this down the rabbit hole--not impressed either time. didn't know they were the largest and most influential blog (according to that second article, anyway). hmm, does that say something about me or blogs? oh well.

meh, I don't see what the big deal is..So what if they accepted money in return for some links to be posted, it's not like they're endorsing anything, and besides fark isn't a company it's runned by some guy who pretty much gets nothing out of it (financially).

As long as fark.com keeps entertaining me on my lunch hour with funny/intresting articles, I could care less what links are shown or not. I don't see the big deal. So people might be paying more for better placement. If you don't like it, don't read it.