9gag
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Type of site | Entertainment website |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ray Chan[citation needed] |
| URL | File:9gag favicon.png 9GAG |
| Registration | Optional |
9GAG is a comedy website set in Hong Kong[2] and hosted in the United States. Launched in 2008,[citation needed] this website is best known for recurring use of internet memes.
Content and style
The website is, to some extent, similar in presentation to a blog, whose posts are called ”gags” and are shown nine per page, hence the name of the website. Gags consist entirely of images (and less often YouTube embedded videos), sometimes accompanied by text captions, together with a title which usually acts as a short comment or a short description of the gag. The contents and themes of the gags feature existing internet memes like rage comic characters or lolcats, sketches showing day-to-day activities in a humorous style, jokes concerning stereotypes associated with men, women, politicians and others, criticism of certain artists and actors together with the works of art they are involved in (such as Justin Bieber or Robert Pattinson), the general issue of trolling, certain works of art (often street art), life stories - either humorous or sad, parodies and comments on certain current events, various sayings and citations and sometimes even calls for solidarity for a certain cause.
Any registered user can upload gags. Once available, these images go through a vote, on the section of the website titled "Vote". If they receive many votes, they move to a section called "Trending", from where they can later move to the main page, if one gets enough positive votes. Some gags are not available to unregistered users, as they feature jokes or comments on explicit sexual behaviour (even though they are soft in nature).
It is not necessary to register to access the site. However, to vote, access restricted (NSFW) content, or comment on posts, one must be registered by completing a simple form, where a user can enter their e-mail and username, or just sign up with a Facebook account. The website's popularity is increasing radically, day by day, as users share many of 9gag posts over social networks.
Ranking
9GAG is among the 500 most visited websites in the world, ranking 22nd among the most accessed in Portugal, 23rd in Macedonia, 24th in Romania, 29th in Cyprus, 32nd in Estonia, 40th in Philippines, 45th for those in Costa Rica and 71st place in Brazil. It's currently number 314 globally.[1]
The author Clay Shirky, in his book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in the Connected Age, refers to 9GAG as "a product of the cognitive surplus".[3]
Criticism
Lack of originality and rivalry with other websites
Even though gags are uploaded by registered users, many of them aren't the users' own creation. This has led to extensive criticism of the website for the recurring use of internet memes which appeared first on websites like 4chan or Reddit and were then thought of as being original when they appeared on 9GAG.[4][dubious – discuss]
Cyber-bullying
In January 2012, members of 9GAG reportedly engaged in a cyber-bullying attack on the Facebook memorial pages of 15-year-old suicide victim Amanda Cummings, posting offensive pictures and comments mocking her death. [5]
References
- ^ a b "Statistics Summary for 9gag.com". Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ "Ray Chan - 9GAG". Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ Shirky, Clay (2010). Cognitive surplus : creativity and generosity in a connected age (1. publ. ed.). New York: Penguin Press. p. 242. ISBN 9781594202537.
- ^ "Urban Dictionary definition of 9gag". Retrieved January 11, 2012.[dubious – discuss]
- ^ 'Activists Counter Cyber Attack Against Bully Victim Amanda Cummings'PIX11 News, 7 January 2012.