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Something Awful

“the general public on the internet fucking sucks shit and I want those braindead idiots as far away from this site as possible”
– Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka1)

Something Awful (SA) began as a cynical 'comedy' website, founded by Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka on November 16, 1999, but later accepted its reputation of housing a notable forum with a $10 paywall that was meant to filter out 'low quality' posters2) and discourage ban evasion.3)

The website once purported itself to be 'anti-mainstream'4) despite reinforcing it in a roundabout way, then fell out of relevance by the late 2000s5) as other websites existed. After two decades, Kyanka's track record of domestic abuse6)7) forced a change in ownership to “Jeffrey of YOSPOS”8)9) on October 9, 2020,10) so Kyanka committed suicide on November 11, 202111) after losing leverage and his second divorce ruling.12)

There was a blog?

In the past, Something Awful used to house a cynical, humor-oriented variety blog, which typically made fun of things on the internet. When the forums eventually became their main attraction, the blog attempted to adapt with columns like 'Photoshop Phriday' or 'Comedy Goldmine',13) and some users were even allowed to write for the blog if they were considered to be 'funny' enough.

However, traditional blogs have since been overshadowed by microblogging, and writing for Something Awful isn't exactly an accolade.14) With the change in ownership, its last article was published on April 19, 2021.15) Around June 15, 2023, the 'somethingawful.com' domain finally began redirecting visitors to their forums,16) so the blog's front page was moved to /frontpage and left in a seemingly archived state.

Cultural impact

Cringe culture to helldumps

The cynical nature of Something Awful had turned 'making fun of things on the internet' into a hobby, but this created a culture that bullied people if they deviated from what was 'normal', now dubbed cringe culture, and ironically enforced mainstream beliefs through harassment. Much of these early targets were: anime fans, furries,17)18) homosexuals, neurodivergent,19) socially awkward, etc.20)

It often gets overlooked that Something Awful initiated the harassment campaign against C.W. Chandler,21)22) while 4chan didn't pay attention23) until then.24)25) During this, a 'Helldump 2000' subforum was made to out problematic users in 2007, but this naturally devolved into a self-cannibalizing shitshow26) and closed in 2009. However, the lessons to learn are often reduced to the idea that it 'created' callout culture.27)

Lesser things of note

Over the years, Something Awful has been credited for a number of things that its own userbase had created, though its actual 'importance' or 'relevance' gets exaggerated. This section lists some of the more 'notable' creations and projects (e.g. fan translations, memes, spin-off websites, etc.) that would typically get brought up, while also mentioning if the forum's connection is warranted.

Year Subject Relation? Additional notes
2001 All your base are belong to us Popularized The phrase would be popularized by *other* internet forums, before reaching Something Awful and Newgrounds.
2003 4chan Exaggerated 4chan came from the Raspberry Heaven offshoot, but it was technically advertised on Something Awful.28) Some verbal histories mention events that happen much later, though that's more of a question on how 4chan got popular.
2004 Image macro Popularized The website helped define said phenomenon,29) but it didn't make O RLY?, Advice Dog, Lolcat, etc.
2009 Slenderman Originated The website made faux paranormal images for fun,30) which went viral as 'creepypasta' stories were trendy at the time, then came the infamous stabbing incident in 2014.31)
2011 Dangan Ronpa Popularized The website housed the original Let's Play thread32) and it got so popular, a fan translation was made33) before an official localization was even announced. A notable phrase of this era was “what the gently caress” for logged-out users.34)

Forum acronyms

Most of the subforums on Something Awful use a vaguely descriptive acronym, which occasionally changes whenever the moderators decide to mess around with the name. This section does not cover every single acronym. It's meant to be a reference point of sorts, as verbal histories often resort to using said acronyms, so the subforums with more interesting cases or histories are listed below:

  • GBS (General Bullshit)
  • FYAD (Fuck You and Die)
  • PYF (Post Your Favorite)
  • BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer)
  • YOSPOS (Your Operating System is a Piece Of Shit)
  • TCC (The Crackhead Clubhouse)
  • ADTRW (Anime Death Tentacle Rape Whorehouse)
  • DPPH (Don't Post Porn Here)
  • NMP3s (No MP3s Here)
  • BTB (Bit Torrent Barnyard)
  • LF (Laissez's Fair)35)
  • YCS (Your Console Sucks)

Notes

  • Something Awful users are called 'goons', referencing an angry complaint from an alleged webmaster whose guestbook was spammed after it was featured in the 'Awful Link of the Day' column.36)
  • The ban message of “(USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)”, that 4chan and derivatives borrow, was originally meant to show people what not to do, which the paywall reinforced.
  • In 2006, Something Awful had declined a $13 million buyout offer. It was later speculated that the offer potentially came from Condé Nast, who ended up settling on Reddit in a $10 million deal.37)
  • Honestly, I could've just written “shit nobody cares about” and called it a day, and I would be correct.

See also

  • Something Awful - The front page of Something Awful, now redirects to the forums.
1) , 5)
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!" [Archive] (March 11, 2019). The Something Awful Forums.
2)
"Forum Rules" (January 1, 2006). Something Awful.
3) , 4)
"Fuck You And Die: An Oral History of Something Awful" (April 12, 2017). Vice.
6)
"Yikeseroo Lowtax accused of domestic violence again? This time by SA admin?" [Archive 1, Archive 2] (June 23, 2020). The Something Awful Forums.
7)
"Richard Kyanka is a domestic abuser. Stop giving him money." (June 24, 2020). Something Awful.
8)
"I, Jeffrey of YOSPOS, have reached an agreement with Lowtax to transfer all Something Awful LLC assets to me." (June 25, 2020). Something Awful.
9)
"Pardon Our Dust" (July 4, 2020). Something Awful.
10)
"Something Awful, a Cornerstone of Internet Culture, Is Under New Ownership" (October 13, 2020). Vice.
11)
"Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, Founder of Something Awful, Is Dead at 45'" (November 11, 2021). Vice.
12)
"I have been sitting for hours debating whether or not to disclose this, and I feel like it's something I do need to get off of my chest." [Archive] (November 11, 2021). The Something Awful Forums.
13)
"Products Not Found In Stores" (June 17, 2002). Something Awful.
14)
I won't name anyone specifically, but I found a random Tumblr blog in the wild and it perplexed me that the blog was actually linking to articles that they had written on Something Awful.
15)
"Let's improve landmarks" (April 19, 2021). Something Awful.
16)
"The Front Page is Dead" (June 21, 2023). The Something Awful Forums.
17)
"Something Awful". WikiFur.
18)
"DEAR FURRIES: WE WERE WRONG" (June 30, 2020). Something Awful.
19)
At the time, Something Awful was very hostile towards people with autism or aspergers, to the point that 'sperg' was a memetic pejorative after they noticed they were just bullying people with aspergers.
20)
"SomethingAwful gave me a fucked up view of left politics (and myself)" (November 18, 2020). Reddit /r/GamerGhazi.
21)
"There really must be something about Sonic." (October 26, 2007). The Something Awful Forums.
22)
"Sonichu and his quest for a boyfriend-free girl" [Archive] (October 27, 2007). The Something Awful Forums.
23)
"Apparently this person lives in my area..." (September 20, 2006). 4chan /b/.
24)
"Hey /b/ what do you think of my site?" (October 27, 2007). 4chan /b/.
25)
"Dear /v/" (October 29, 2007). 4chan /v/.
26)
It should be noted that mean-spirited communities tend to 'self-cannibalize' (i.e. start attacking each other) whenever they run out of targets, but only if 'self-cannibalization' is allowed to fester unchecked. This is why communities like Kiwi Farms have rules discouraging the frivolous creation of threads attacking its own users, unless the thread is absolutely warranted with moderator approval.
27)
"How Message-Board Culture Remade the Left" (August 12, 2017). Jacobite.
28)
"4chan.net - English 2chan.net!" [Archive] (October 1, 2003). Something Awful.
29)
"Image Macro". The Something Awful Forums.
30)
""we didn't want to go, we didn't want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time..."" [Archive] (June 10, 2009). The Something Awful Forums.
31)
"Please Do Not Kill Anybody Because of Slenderman" (June 4, 2014). Something Awful.
32)
"Super High-school Level Let's Play Dangan Ronpa! (new fanart policy in OP)" [Archive] (November 5, 2011). The Something Awful Forums.
33)
"[Release] Danganronpa English Translation v1.0" (November 23, 2013). Project Zetsubou.
34)
Logged-out users would see wordfilters, so 'fuck' became 'gently caress', 'fucking' became 'loving', etc.
35)
"A Short History of LF: The Original Dirtbag Left/Weird Twitter" (August 11, 2017). Reddit /r/chapotraphouse.
36)
"Awful Link of the Day owner came over here back when registration was open to anybody and made a thread in GBS calling all of us goons for putting mean words in her guestbook." [Archive] (November 28, 2014). The Something Awful Forums.
37)
"This reminds me of something i can share now." [Archive] (November 12, 2021). The Something Awful Forums.
something_awful.txt · Last modified: by namelessrumia