Just how meaningful are the

seemingly meaningless

shenanigans of Fark.com?

Rhys Page February 4, 2009 ENGL 4832 Dr. Davis

Talk about your meager beginnings.

Fark.com began in 1997.

However, for the duration of its first two years in existence, it’s fair to say the website was anything but a bastion of digital and visual rhetoric.

According to the website’s creators, it featured only one picture for that entire period…

Not exactly what comes to mind when one speaks of an effectual website is it? But the site got a facelift and a few

hundred thousand registered users in response.

Website offers hours of ridiculous entertainment to anyone who doesn’t mind losing millions of

brain cells in the process.

Many may consider Fark.com to be a very active weblog.Many may consider Fark.com to be a very active weblog. However, according to the website, it is actually “a news However, according to the website, it is actually “a news

aggregator and an edited social networking news site.” aggregator and an edited social networking news site.” Despite this claim, it does share some characteristics of Despite this claim, it does share some characteristics of

the blog and it operates on a largely blog format that the blog and it operates on a largely blog format that allows extensive user interaction.allows extensive user interaction.

The blog commenting feature furthers and heightens the The blog commenting feature furthers and heightens the users’ experience and more firmly attaches them to the users’ experience and more firmly attaches them to the site.site.

It should also be noted that although the website features It should also be noted that although the website features silly and farfetched stories from around the world, none of silly and farfetched stories from around the world, none of the content is fabricated. It comes directly from credible the content is fabricated. It comes directly from credible news sources. news sources.

Thus, the website merits the trust of users since it’s firm Thus, the website merits the trust of users since it’s firm grasp on grasp on ethosethos cannot be refuted. cannot be refuted.

Blog’s success and popularity puts it into Jeopardy! Beat that,

Perez Hilton.

Fark.com gets a nod from Alex Trebek

The website must have attained a certain degree of success with regard to digital rhetoric.

Otherwise, the folks over at Jeopardy! wouldn’t have dedicated an entire category to its tenth anniversary as a website.

http://chiefmag.com/issues/7/features/Pen-Pals-/images/image640056x.jpg

Hot shot scholarly critic worries that he is obsolete and

promptly whines about it in a 245 page rant.

Fark.com relies on links and hyperlinks to propel its faithful to their target destinations.

Since almost every site employs links to some degree, this new rhetorical tool has evolved into a new channel of idea sharing and communication.

It allows web surfers unprecedented access to novel information, which invariably alters the way our society obtains, processes, and views data and knowledge.

Therefore, in Elizabeth Losh’s slide show about digital rhetoric, she includes an excerpt from a piece by Lev Manovich which both criticizes and minimizes the huge role hyperlinking plays on info processing in the digital age.

While Manovich does say that linking may play a very minor role in creating a new medium for knowledge transfer, he stands by his assertions that “the sheer existence and popularity of hyperlinking exemplifies the continuing decline of the field of rhetoric in the modern era.”

He furthers by claiming that “traditionally…the printed word was linked to the art of rhetoric.” Perhaps he should remember that traditionally women and minorities were denied the right to vote, or that traditionally our ancestors lived in caves.

Times change, and with this comes streamlined methods of knowledge acquisition. It becomes hard to fathom that anyone, especially a scholar, can refute the extreme intellectual value of sites like fark.com that employ hyperlinking.

Website layout is easy to navigate. Perhaps the Kroger on Alps Road should’ve taken some hints from these guys.

Fark.com further ensures its success with touches of effective visual rhetoric as well.

It can be considered a worthy site based on most of the rules outlined by www.webpagesthatsuck.com:

“The content is divided into logical categories and subcategories and the names of those categories and subcategories are clear and mutually exclusive on this site.”

“It takes less than four seconds for the man from Mars to understand what our site is about and he could quickly understand our site's navigation.”

“Our links are clearly labeled and do tell you where you'll end up.”

Fark.com is pretty much rhetorically off the chain,

super fly, bomb diggity, yo!

The site’s entertainment and humor factor play a huge role in its overall success.

Comment blogs allow users to engage others on issues, no matter how silly they may be.

This website’s popularity earned it some airtime on national television.

Fark.com proves that links and hyperlinks do not interfere with thought, but rather they encourage it.

The layout and design are both easy to use and simple to figure out.

It’s pretty much the coolest site on the web, so you should definitely check it out after class.

From visually defunct to rhetorically masterful.

Quite a change. Wouldn’t you say?

Works Cited

Flanders, Vincent. "Checklist 1." Websites that Suck. 03 Feb. 2009 <http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/does-my-web-site-suck/does-my-web-site-suck-checklist-part-one.html>.

Losh, Elizabeth. Digital Rhetoric. Univ. of California Irvine. 3 Feb. 2009 <http://www.digitalrhetoric.org/what7.html>.

"What is Fark.com?" Fark.com. 3 Feb. 2009 <http://www.fark.com/farq/about.shtml#What_is_Fark.3F>.