Added: 10/11/2005 |
Slashdot: Blog As WebsiteSlashdot was originally created in 1997, with a focus on computer and online technology. Founded by Rob Malda, it has since passed into the hands of the Open Source Technology Group. Because of this, much of Slashdot's readership, and in fact their target audience, are linux users and others interested in the open source technology movement.
Much of the site's popularity is due to its format, which was rather unique at the time of its creation. It worked on the concept of a blogspot, or live journal. This is a different type of website that is updated extremely frequently. A live journal or spot is a type of site that is generally concerned with excerpting or pointing readers to other news sources, rather than collecting news itself. With a site like Slashdot, the creators don't have to worry about the burden, and don't require the resources of actually gathering news and reporting on it. Because Slashdot functions more as a compendium of technology related new stories, it is much easier it for it maintain a high turnover of content.
What makes a site like Slashdot interesting are the comments that users can post to articles, and Slashdot often becomes the source of fierce debate on controversial technologies. Because the internet has grown so extremely quickly, a situation has been created where the amount of available news on a given topic is completely unmanageable for an average user. The role that a blog-like site like Slashdot fills is in becoming a trusted source for a user interested in technology news, acting is many ways like a filter.
The Slashdot model of website is an example of how quickly the internet can change the way we get our news, and create entirely new types of information dissemination - the creators of Slashdot bear a resemblance to reporters, but the job is fundamentally different. What Slashdot 'reporters' do more than anything is take the time to search and seek out information that deems valuable to Slashdot's readership. Because the average user couldn't possibly have time to read all the daily technology related news available, Slashdot fills an import role. By having a team of employees scour vast amounts of information and select appropriate topics, Slashdot becomes, for many people, a doorway and trusted source into technology news.
Although blog type sites like Slashdot fill an important gap in the average user's ability to collect information, there is, of course, a downside. Namely, by using only Slashdot - or any live journal for that matter - for one's news sources one is placing an inordinate amount of trust in the provider. Much like paying attention to only a single news source, the reader risks missing out entirely on a subject deemed not newsworthy by the site. How much of a drawback this really is is difficult to tell: in the case of technology news it may not be hugely important, but in the case of sites like Slashdot that condense and collect political or international news, the an implicit bias becomes more dangerous - something every user should consider when relying solely on these types of sites for information.
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