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Author Topic: Lifehacker: critique - the decline and fall?  (Read 2937 times)

IainB

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Lifehacker: critique - the decline and fall?
« on: December 21, 2016, 08:10 PM »
Time was when I considered the Lifehacker blog to be an essential item in my RSS feed agggregator - formerly Google Reader, now bazqux - but now, alas, not so much.

It's not that my tastes have changed particularly, but I am about to permanently delete Lifehacker blog from my bazqux feed-reader, because, quite frankly, it has become variously boring, useless and insubstantial.
Instead of it being full of seriously clever and useful tips n'tricks to - well, hacking one's life (as it was previously) - it now seems to have become a sort of Pinterest, focused on assorted vacuous, touchy-feely new age junk. In short, nothing like the meaty thing it used to be. Maybe what it used to be was unsustainable? I don't know, but I rather miss it anyway.

So I am disappointed. Yes, as a realist, I do understand that things are in state of perpetual dynamic change, but, from being arguably a leader, Lifehacker seems to have progressively sunk into an irrelevant editorial mediocrity, where its blog seems to be a list of apparently relatively fatuous content. It apparently does seem set on becoming irrelevant - much like the UN seems to be set on becoming (per George Bush).
One wonders: Is this the likely fate of all seemingly "good ideas" that manifest themselves as ideas only - unsustainable, no matter the number of camp-followers?
One suspects that it's all about "monetisation" and the inexorable drive to the bottom.

For example, today (2016-12-22):

22_1020x634_322148FB.png

Sheesh.

Deozaan

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Re: Lifehacker: critique - the decline and fall?
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2016, 09:23 PM »
The decline of Lifehacker may have something to do with it being a Gawker site.

IainB

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Re: Lifehacker: critique - the decline and fall?
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2016, 09:56 PM »
The decline of Lifehacker may have something to do with it being a Gawker site.
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Aah, I see. Thanks. I had not realised that.