Fark

“Fark” redirects here. For other uses, see FARK.

Fark.com

File:FarkLogo.jpg
File:Fark screenshot.png Screenshot of the Fark.com page from February 26, 2006, with the top link representing the most recently “greenlighted” item.
Type of site	Forum
Owner	Drew Curtis
Created by	Community Content
URL	http://www.fark.com/
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Required to post

Fark.com is a community website created by Drew Curtis allowing users to comment on a daily batch of news articles and other items from various websites. Links are submitted by Fark members, which are then approved for posting on the main page by administrators.

TotalFark.com is a premium version of Fark. Members are able to see, and comment on, all submitted articles (not just “greenlighted” articles on the main page). TotalFark requires a US$5 monthly fee to join, unlike “Fark Lite,” or “PartialFark,” which is free. Members of TotalFark have established an online community and frequently participate in “TotalFark discussions,” which are submitted links not meant to be greenlighted, but rather commented on and discussed by TotalFark members only.

Fark.com also features regular “Photoshop contests” where users use a graphical editing program (such as Adobe Photoshop, from which the contest draws its name, or GIMP) to manipulate an image provided by the creator of the contest, or less commonly, according to a set theme as set out in written form. The image is usually manipulated for humorous effect, but sometimes is edited to create an aesthetically-pleasing image or to showcase a poster's image manipulation skill.

History

Originally, the web server on Drew Curtis' fark.com domain contained no content, except for an image of a squirrel with large testicles. Later, in 1999, the site introduced what would evolve into its current format, as a way for Curtis to share what he considered interesting news postings with his friends rather than sending them numerous emails. Features such as link submission and forums have slowly been added over the years, as popularity and participation grew.

The term “farking” was originally intended as a euphemism for the verb, “fuck.” However, it has also come to refer to websites that have stopped responding due to a high load after being linked to from fark.com. Particularly small websites referenced by Fark headlines are often “farked,” meaning that their servers have received so much traffic that they have stopped responding completely (see also: Slashdot effect).

Fark and Something Awful have been engaged in a friendly rivalry of sorts, culminating in a Photoshop Contest between the two sites, judged by celebrity Wil Wheaton. Contrary to popular belief, there actually is no real rivalry between Fark.com and Something Awful. This rivalry was propagated mostly as an inside joke by Lowtax, the owner of Something Awful. The joke comes from the fact that Drew and Lowtax are close friends, and that Fark.com and Something Awful share some of the same readership.

There are certain sites which Fark.com will not link to, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, or Ananova.com. The reason for not linking to The New York Times and The Washington Post is that these sites require a user registration. Submitting any link which requires registration is frowned upon by the Fark community. Members can post links to The New York Times or The Washington Post in the forums during a discussion, but may not submit these links directly through the queue.

Fark does not link to Ananova because the website had posted Fark's headlines without giving credit, in addition to posting many inaccurate articles. Ananova was receiving a great deal of traffic due to Fark's links while refusing to acknowledge Fark and reciprocate the gesture. While Ananova denied using Fark's headlines, Drew specifically put a few “fake” links on the main page which Ananova then posted. Drew then decided not to accept links from their website.

Fark has often been criticized for running headlines and articles that are politically biased. However, they are accused of having both a conservative and a liberal bias. Drew has stated that rather than trying to keep it in the middle, admins enjoy running both far-left and far-right articles. The top four hated “groups” on Fark.com are (in no particular order) PETA, Catholic priests, the French, and Duke University, according to founder Drew Curtis.

Fark has been accused of selling preferential placement of story links on the main page. Drew responded to this by saying he had considered selling links he was already going to post to servers that could handle the bandwidth, such as CNN or ABC. He claims the only type of links that are paid are some of the adult content (usually “boobies”) links, and are clearly labelled as being sponsored. He also claims that thus far all sponsored links have been clearly labelled adult content links to ensure the links are trojan-free, spam-free, and spyware-free. Adult content links that are not labelled as sponsored links are not paid for and were submitted by individual users. According to Drew, there is currently nothing in the works to sell links to sites such as AP, CNN, or anyone else. During a discussion in a forum on such accusations, the moderators would repeatedly delete comments that questioned whether this was for or against Fark.com philosophy. Many people also complain that Fark will not publish their link to their main page or “greenlight” their articles. All of the links submitted on Fark.com are submitted by individual users and are approved by administrators based on content. Articles that are posted to the main page are selected based on the content of the article, how funny the headline is, and sometimes how much bandwidth usage the site can handle. The administrators will never greenlight an article because they were emailed and asked to do so.

The number of registered Fark accounts surpassed 300,000 on August 19, 2006. The present high user load has seen some impact on server performance, with frequent unexpected redirects, lost comments and page errors.

Tags

File:Fark Tags.png

An example of article tags used by fark.com.

The signature of Fark has always been the tags given to stories by submitters—e.g. stupid, interesting, dumbass, etc.—that are displayed prominently alongside often witty headlines and a link to a forum to discuss that specific article. Articles discussing Wil Wheaton are given the “Wheaton” tag. Articles discussing Christopher Walken are given the “Walken” tag, though Walken has never participated on Fark. Tags that say “advice” or “survey” are used for discussion threads where comments are often voted upon. So many headlines were contributed about the state of Florida that it received its own tag as well. Tags that say “photoshop,” “audioedit” or “videoedit” are used for threads where digital content is edited for a humorous or artistic effect.

Tags that say “boobies” or “weeners” are used to post adult content or discussions, although recently “weeners” have faded away almost entirely and “boobies” have been diverted to Foobies.com, in order for Fark.com to be more acceptable to a wider variety of advertisers. At the early stages of Foobies.com, “weeners” would appear occasionally. Sometimes, “Foobies.com” links that were considered safe for work would appear on the main page.

Finally, the news tag (and newsflash for even more important news) is used for news which is a matter of important breaking news, and an email is sent to the administrators notifying them that someone has submitted a “Newsflash.” Members are told to use this tag very sparingly and only for matters of extremely important breaking news. (In fact, members who submit “Newsflash” tags for subjects obviously not worthy of the tag - e.g. celebrity news or political commentary - can be suspended for a period of time.) All of the links that are posted on Fark are submitted by users and “greenlighted” by unpaid administrators or Drew Curtis himself. The administrators are personal friends of Drew, as are the moderators. The tags next to the articles represent the submitter's feelings on that article and do not necessarily represent the views of Fark or the administrator who greenlighted the article.

Next to an article on Fark appears a number in parentheses, such as: (105). Clicking on this number goes to the discussion about the article. The number in parentheses is the number of comments users have made. The discussion part of the thread is where readers are encouraged to comment, discuss, and often argue the content of the link. When the number of comments accumulate to various larger numbers, and the rate of new posts is considered to be faster than the ability to read them all, the number changes into something humorous such as “(lots),” “(too many),” “(∞),” “(ℵ₀),” “(π)” or even “(√-1).”

Farkisms and clichés

Fark's comments threads are often smattered with “Farkisms” or “FARK.com clichés” (essentially, in-jokes) which are an integral part of the community culture and used in myriad discussions at the website, regardless of whether they apply to the topic at hand. Many of these clichés are not exclusive to Fark, and many actually originated in sites such as 4chan and Something Awful. A few examples include:

• Abe Vigoda – Numerous joking references are made to Vigoda, mostly about his vital status (i.e. whether he is alive or dead). The joke derives from a People article from 1982 which erroneously declared him dead. When Fark.com won the naming rights to the TD Banknorth Garden for a day, they attempted to name it the Abe Vigoda Memorial Center. Some users have references to the article on their user profile page; one example is the username “Abe Vigoda's Ghost.”

• Bag of antlers – A term used to describe underweight celebrities, actors and models. The phrase is almost always reserved for women.

• Bus/Plane to Hell – Seen in photoshop threads with offensive jokes (sometimes elsewhere), has many derivatives: "Aisle seat", "Window seat", "First class", "One-way Ticket", etc. Used when you think you or someone else should be sent to hell for posting a particularly insensitive or offensive comment. The phrase is not as common as it used to be and is often posted self-referentially by a person who knows he has posted something offensive or in bad taste.

• Die In A Fire (DIAF) – a common curse in the Fark discussion threads, usually directed at someone mentioned in the news story.

• DickPlue – a newly discovered curse in the Fark discussion threads, reserved for the most heinous of individuals. Telemarketers, Car Salesmen, Politicians, Lawyers and the like.

• Do Not Want – Self-explanatory; the poster does not want something. Usually accompanied by a humorous photo of one of several dogs, apparently unhappy with an offering (eg. broccoli) or violently shying away from something. The phrase is a reference to a Chinese pirate version of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, known for its extremely poor subtitling. "Do not want" was the subtitle for Darth Vader's infamous "Noooooooo!"

• Duke sucks – Drew Curtis is from Kentucky and hates Duke Basketball with a passion because of the 1992 East Regional Final in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which Duke won on a buzzer-beater in overtime.

• EVERYBODY PANIC – appended to headlines related to imminent disasters and violent situations, often used to parody the world's “Post-9/11” climate of heightened fear and anxiety.

• fap fap fap – the sound created by a masturbating male, originating from the comic Sexy Losers. This often accompanies pictures or discussions of attractive women.

• Get off my lawn – a stereotypical exclamation of the elderly, usually associated with stories involving old people

• Here comes the science – Originally uttered by actor Ben Affleck and actress Jennifer Aniston in L'Oreal shampoo commercials aired in the UK.

• I Work For (insert company name) – “I work for (insert company name); So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies. Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about. But trust me.... You don't. I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you don't know what you are talking about. This is how bad info gets passed around. If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do. Cos some (insert target group) believe anything they hear.” This comment originally appeared on fark in a thread about the redesign of the U.S. ten-dollar bill. The comment was written by a Farker who claimed to work for the US Mint. As others pointed out, the statement was general enough to apply to any subject or field. This cliché is properly used subsequent to surprising but unverifiable claims.

• Jailarity ensues – Used when writing headlines for stupid criminal stories. Jail + hilarity = jailarity.

• Killing kittens – A euphemism for masturbation, in reference to the Internet phenomenon “Every time you masturbate... God kills a kitten.” A variation of the theme, “Many kittens saved,” can be found in instances when masturbation has been successfully avoided.

• French newscaster Mélissa Theuriau – Often in conjunction with the line, “Got nothing.”

• Get these motherfarkin' snakes off my motherfarkin' plane – A reference to the movie Snakes on a Plane, which pays homage to the movie's title and its obvious plot.

• Moshzilla – A photograph by Alex Stram of a young woman dancing in mosh pit, taking a very odd pose. Almost invariably, this image appears every day in one thread or another, and has been cut into numerous photoshop contests since its appearance on the internet.

• Mustard Man – A picture of a large man standing in what appears to be a kitchen holding a large jar of mustard, in which he seems to have previously buried both of his arms up to the elbows. Enterprising bloggers were able to find Mustard Man and determined that he is actually a Toronto comedian named Mike “Nug” Nahrgang.

• Oil prices drop (or rise) below (above) $xx a barrel on news of . . . – Commonly used starting in 2006 as headlines for articles whose topics are totally unrelated to the price of oil (e.g. “Oil drops below $70 a barrel on news of Haley Joel Osment's DUI”). Ridicules the news coverage of the recent dramatic fluctuations in the price of oil due to the oil price increases of 2004-2006 and the occasional current events which were initially blamed.

• Old and Busted: __. The New Hotness: __. – (e.g.: “Old and busted: Boobies links. New hotness: Cell #####��). A reference to Men in Black II, in which “old and busted” represents “old news” or a novelty which has since worn off and “new hotness” represents the latest fixation. There are arguments that could be made that this cliché predates MiBII, coming from an "Engrish" advertisement.

• Owes me a new keyboard/monitor – Used to indicate that the poster has spat coffee or a similar substance over his computer after reading a particularly funny joke. Similar to the Usenet saying “C&C (Cat And Coffee) warning please,” referring to the painful scratching that can result from bursting out laughing while having a cat on one's lap.

• Pound-Me-In-The-Ass (PMITA) Prison – Taken from the movie Office Space, often referring to federal prison.

• Ric Romero – A Los Angeles television reporter for KABC-TV, noted for reporting on blogging as if it were a new discovery years after it had hit the mainstream. Ric Romero is usually mentioned in Fark articles when the topic is of an incredibly obvious nature. Often, a photo of Romero and a quote are included, usually ending with, “More at 11.”

• (Looking for) Sarah Connor – A reference to The Terminator that invariably appears in headlines referencing new advances in robotics. (For example, "Scientists invent amazing robot that can perform surgery, find Sarah Connor".)

• Slashies – One or more “/” that appear at the bottom of a comment followed by a one line phrase, usually a meta-comment about the comment being posted. Similar to writing P.S., but shorter.

• Shakes Magic 8-ball – Used to indicate that whatever is occurring, typically the rise and fall of oil prices, appears to be random, whimsical, and lacking any connection to the real world. An example would be "Oil prices fall below $60 a barrel because of... *shakes magic 8-ball* The Steelers winning the Super Bowl."

• Still no cure for cancer – Referring to seemingly pointless scientific studies. The first reference appeared in a headline on January 23, 2002 in an article about a bored scientist doing something apparently pointless. It did not seem to catch on until another headline appeared in May of the same year.

• Suck it! – This phrase is commonly used at the end of a headline that reports information contradicting the position of a group, usually political. (Suck it, ####)

• Then things started getting weird – This phrase became popular in late 2006. It usually finds its way to a headline that's already very weird. For example, "Police called to a domestic dispute involving a drag queen, a 15-year-old-and, and a chicken. Then things started getting weird."

• Today's ____ story is – Some news topics have been featured so often, they've become running jokes: "Today's hot teacher sleeping with school student story...;" "Today's killer pit bull story...;" "Today's road rage story...;" etc. While the content of these news stories is often lurid and tawdry, it reflects how commonplace news reports of this type have become in present-day media.

• ____ trifecta is now in play – Commonly mentioned in threads after a second common topic is seen in one day and a third is anticipated, thereby making a “trifecta.”

• UFIA – an acronym, meaning “Unsolicited/Unexpected Finger in the Anus.” It became a Fark.com cliché after an article making the main page misquoted a judge using the line. UFIA was prominently used again in February, 2005, when Fark's creator, Drew Curtis, purchased the naming rights to the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts before it became TD Banknorth Garden for the single day of February 28, 2005. The consensus choice of Fark.com's readers was that it should be re-dubbed the, “Fark.com UFIA Center.” In the end, however, Boston Garden was chosen as the name. In April 2006, a Fark member convinced the Tennessee Department of Transportation to erect an Adopt a Highway sign in the name of UFIA on the two miles of State Route 63 west of the intersection of SR 63 and U.S. Route 25E. The Department required a definition of UFIA, which was explained as, “Uniting Friends in America.” However, one of the readers of the thread tipped off the DOT and the sign was removed. In advice threads, UFIA is a commonly suggested solution. UFIA begat the UBIE and the UWIE (Unsolicited Boobs or Weeners In Email). Since Boobs are often requested, and therefore not-unsolicited, BIE is often referenced while Weeners are still mostly UWIE.

• Ugly-ass baby _____ – Used to reference births of baby animals at zoos, also a Stephen Lynch song.

• Wal-Mart Greeter – a photo of a naked old man wearing only a Wal-Mart sack is usually posted in threads pertaining to Wal-Mart. The photo originated as a spliced photo of former Wal-Mart greeter Dean L. Wooten's head on an unidentified man's body. Wooten was later terminated from his position as a greeter for distributing the photo to customers, telling them that Wal-Mart was cutting costs and that the sack was company's new employee uniform.

• Your dog wants _____ – (original line is “your dog wants steak”). Originated by a submitter in a headline regarding a Japanese device that supposedly read canine thoughts, and was followed up two days later in a headline for a device that supposedly translated a human baby's cries.

Filters

The Fark.com forums use filters which replace profane or otherwise offensive text by euphemisms. Some examples are given below:

text entered	displayed as
first post	Boobies (if it is actually the first post, the timestamp is shifted ahead twelve hours )
first comment	Weeners
fuck	fark
shit	shiat
bitch	biatch
cunt	coont
nigger	attractive and successful African-American
nigga	nubian
in soviet Russia	[text is removed]
difficult to masturbate to	[text is removed]
Fb- is the father	[text is removed]
goatse	gootse
hello.jpg	bye.jpg
!! or ..	! or . (repeated punctuation is reduced to one occurence)
binary	ascii equivalent of binary

Because the filters operate on any occurrence of the target strings, even if spaces are included, it is possible to post text that will invoke the filters in unintended ways. For example, the text “it's a bit chilly out” will appear as “it's a biatchilly out.”

See also

• Drew Curtis
• It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News
• Totalfark.com

External links

• Official Website (RSS)
• Farktography – Site for Fark photography (NOT Photoshop) contests.
• Fark Photoshop Scrutinizer – Fark photoshop contest results and statistics.
• TF Kitchen – TotalFark recipe archives.
• [1] Fark sells first server, named Beer.
• Grampy's Cliché City, a comprehensive Fark.com cliché reference.
• Template:AboutUs