March 27, 2012

"[T]he things that matter in the world don’t have to be boring and guilt inducing."

"And the addictive stuff we love doesn’t have to be completely substanceless."
To that end, Upworthy, which is meant to be spread via social media, is using strong visuals along with arch, but serious, curation to find the sweet spot between things that are both “awesome” and “meaningful.” Among the memes they’d like to start, the “17 sexiest pictures about income inequality.”
A nice NYT boost for a very early stage effort at a political website (which I'm not sure is really ready to be looked at).
The site is small and rudimentary, but it has some backing from Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook who recently doubled down on seriousness by buying The New Republic.
The founders of the website come from The Onion and MoveOn.org.

16 comments:

Tibore said...

"Among the memes they’d like to start, the “17 sexiest pictures about income inequality.”"

Wonder if it can be a posed picture. I was thinking of a girl I knew a couple of decades ago. Back then, she was doing some part time secretary and accounting work for a firm I worked at while also working with her siblings and parents at cleaning offices at night. Last I saw, she now owned a restaurant and grocery store, and when I ran into her last, her ride was better than mine.

Income inequality. The problem with the liberalism behind the meme is the notion that something other than economic upward mobility is the answer. I wish I had a picture of her before at her old jobs, and one in front of her current proprietorship. I'd totally submit that.

edutcher said...

Looks just like the textbooks The Blonde's nephews had in high school.

All pictures and little text.

And, of course, it's all about selling all the Lefty agenda as hip and sexy and cool - like the President who's made sure many of them won't have jobs for another decade or so.

WV "cisrs" What you shouldn't run with.

kcom said...

"A nice NYT boost for a very early stage effort at a political website (which I'm not sure is really ready to be looked at)."

Was there a fascinating follow-up article on the Coffee Party on the same page? How have they been faring since their NY Times boost?

Carol said...

Boy, that "income inequality" catchphrase is really going around the MSM isn't it. And the Democrats are always saying it, too.

Almost like a coordinated effort.

Known Unknown said...

They should have called it echochamber.com

Paco Wové said...

Same old liberalism, even less substance.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

Went to the site. What a disappointment. Nothing but highly embarrassing sophistry.

Complete waste of time. Kind of sad, actually.

Or am I missing some subtle satire?

Mr. Forward said...

If you plan to put the MoveOn don't order The Onion.

paul a'barge said...

MoveOn.org?

Get the heck out of town. Seriously? You're slinging terms of praise at them?

Are you starting that slide back to the left, getting ready to vote for Obama again?

Just wow.

Unknown said...

Nasty Moveon plus snark.

This will appeal to all lefties under age 23.

Fail.

Known Unknown said...

It's a fantastic idea, really. Let's reduce complex socio-political issues to snarky Facebook-friendly rejoinders to further bolster blind partisanship among "friends."


"(which I'm not sure is really ready to be looked at)"

Why would anyone launch anything that's not ready to be looked at?

Henry said...

"Among the memes they’d like to start, the “17 sexiest pictures about income inequality.”"

Kim Kardashian holding up her pre-nup.

(Probably not number 1, but better than number 17).

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

We already have this.. Its called Playboy.

Except I believe Playboy doesn't put the articles on line.

Not sure.

tim in vermont said...

What would the world do without one more liberal xenophobic h8 site?

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Blech. Seriously, how is this different from Slate or HuffPo or anywhere else?

If they get good writers they'll be poached by a big media site, anyway.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

I should have written:

Huffpo with editors?