If you were kicking it with your socialist or illegal immigrant friends today you might've missed the launch of Fox Nation, the Fox News online community for people "who believe in the United States of America and its ideals in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Emancipation Proclamation." (I know. Got something against the Specie Circular, Fox Nation?)
It was greeted with the oddly courtseying coverage and swift lefty beatdowns you'd expect. Less expected was the site itself, which resembles a mildly tricked out Drudge Report, with a design lightly swiped from the Huffington Post. If this is Fox News's great adventure in social content, Matt Drudge can pour himself another big strawberry daquiri and buy another closet of fedoras.
There's no crime in trying to build a better Drudge, of course. That's essentially what the Huffington Post is -- for all the vaunted talk of HuffPo's blogging, that site has evolved into an impressive and entertaining aggregator of scraped content from other places. And it's huge. So why wouldn't Fox try to build the right-wing equivalent?
But in the six hours since I first checked the site out, it has kept the same features at the top of its page -- a pretty tepid lineup of overcooked headlines. My favorite -- "Easter bunnies in PETA crosshairs" -- is such a dopey mischaracterization of the actual story ("... PETA warns Americans who are thinking of getting their children a real bunny come Easter to 'please think again.'"), it achieves a zippy Onion-level comedy. There's lots of Fox zaniness to be found ("Rush says Hillary twice the man Obama," "'Sexiest Swimsuit Model' inspired by Pope," "Malkin: Did 'Canadacare' kill Natasha Richardson?"). Hey, they know their audience.
But damn, is Fox Nation a slow, lumbering beast. The appeal of big story sifters like HuffPo and Drudge is the constant speed; they switch up their cover lineup as quickly as news -- or whatever can be ginned up to look like it -- breaks. You can tack "Scary!" on a headline for a middling NY Post story if you want, but after the fourth time we see it at the top of your page we'll sprain our fingers trying to get away and to where the action is.
Fox Nation tells us it's "a community that believes in the American Dream....a place for people who believe we live in a great country, a welcoming refuge for legal immigrants who want to contribute their talent and abilities to make our way of life even greater." But those legal immigrants better not try to contribute their talents to Fox Nation. There are no ways to do anything there, no rating tools, no blogging software. Howie Kurtz wrote today that "the site will attempt to emulate the social aspects of Facebook -- as well as MySpace, which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch -- by encouraging readers to post comments and argue with one another." That's emulating Facebook? It sounds more like building a better BBS.
Fox Nation plans a more detailed registration in a few months, and I'm sure many more features will follow. But considering the ambitious, successful experiments out there, from CNN's iReport, to MSNBC's Newsvine to a dazzling member-generated magazine I keep hearing about, this is a weirdly unambitious launch that seems aimed at an angry nation screaming into the darkness.
Others have already noticed some stomach-churning comments that have been approved by the site's moderators. That's probably the least of Fox Nation's problems, though. Without being much of a content filter, the Fox Nation allure must be in the company it provides. But can enough angry people really find friendship and camraderie around nothing more than anonymous comment threads? Then again . . .
Emily Holleman
Mignon Khargie
Scott Rosenberg
Thomas Rogers
Rebecca Traister
Dan-onymous
Salon.com
Comments
Now I want to know what the trolls are like over at Fox Nation.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll be avoiding it.
Rated
I will never visit this site but I do see it as one rich and ripe with unintentional satire - the kind you just can't make up. And for that it's a good thing to see what the kooks and weirdos say among themselves when they feel free to drop any facade of respectability.
And I think it's simple-minded because, like you said, they know their audience.
"If you were kicking it with your socialist or illegal immigrant friends today you might've missed the launch of Fox Nation"
Yeah, sorry, missed it, I was out playing the baseyball with my friends Karl and Jesus. Karl throws a mean right handed twister but Jesus can still hit them out of the park. We think Jesus cheats. Corked bat and all that.
But you say that Fox Nation is going to be just like Myspace? Oh my, I'll be there in heart beat!! I bet they get the really hot gals sending unsolicited messages! I mean, look at the title of their site, FoxNation!!! Oh my yes.
Here's my one word answer what I think about their site --- and you can quote me ---
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!
:)
Bwahahahahaha!!!
(God, those people depress me.)
Imagine what Olbermann will do with this.
Fido?
Dodo? That's it! Can't fly, small-brained, doomed to extinction, living on remote islands, far away from civilization as we know it.
Kind of admirable that they understand themselves, as bird-brained, in this way. Quaint.
OS is more of an Amen Corner. The political blogs all basically say, "Conservatives Suck," and the commenters find a million ways to snicker and add, "Yeah, they totally suck."
Maybe some OSers should go over to the Fox Nation, if you dare, and eloquently speak your piece.
Yeah, it's true that Canada doesn't have enough neurosurgeons. You know why? Because, like many of their U.S. counterparts, many north american neurosurgeons come to MONTREAL to train at one of the most highly regarded neuroscience centers in world. And then they take off to the U.S., to make the big bucks in a system where few neurosurgeons would deign to work in E.R. situations.
This is a problem in the rest of Canada. But not in Montreal, probably one of the best places in the world to have a head injury.
....If you go and get it examined right away, which tragically Richardson didn't.
Still, I wouldn't take any of them too lightly. Nothing scares me more than ignorant people in large groups. We can't forget the last eight years and Americans are known for their short political attention spans.
I bet though that funny stuff ensues. That is, I bet they start calling each other crazy and lamenting themselves as the only sane ones out there. At least it will be amusing for everyone else and probably embarrassing for the rest of the Repub party, who one can tell are regretting their ill-advised marriage to these nutballs even now.
Of course, these nuts want a dictatorship, with the emphasis on 'dick' so there you go.
Hey, maybe Open Salon needs a slogan! Like "Come here if you believe in the Bill of Rights, Separation of Church and State, Equality for All, and Tequila Tuesdays!!" heh heh
So does Larry have the other half of the forehead? At least you chose the "Left" side. :)
On the current evolution "showdown" in Texas:
HERB
I DIDN'T COME FROM NO MONKEY! AND I AGREE WITH OTHER POSTERS, THEY BETTER NOT TAKW EMUY MY HEALTH CARE!!!! I AM A VET! DON'T SOCIALIZE MEDICINE, AND SEND THE ATHEIST SCIENTISTS TO MEXCO WITH THE ILLEGALS!
Monday, March 30, 2009 at 06:56 PM
On Obama at Notre Dame:
Anonymous
This is just another good example of american catholics, preaching one thing and doing another. I'm surprised at Beck and O'Reilly - one doesn't support someone who doesn't share your values - President or not.
I can't wait to see what's next.
Your comment is awaiting moderation." My comment is awaiting moderation? HUH?? Definition of moderation- "to eliminate or lessen extremes" Mind you I have been waiting to see my comment show up for 30 minutes now. There must be lots of moderations needed.
"HERB
I DIDN'T COME FROM NO MONKEY!"
____
No, pardner, it gets much worse. You are the progeny of a 4+ billion year random walk begun by microbes.
LOL!
Then I'll try to clean my brain out by trolling through alt.usenet to see if "Porchmonkeyforlife" is still around.
As for the Nation, I'm tearing up. I just, sniff sniff, love this county as much as Glenn Beck.
Wait, too much Greek and Roman mythology!
Doesn't have anything to do with those menacing asiatic features of his, does it?
What really interests me though is the pitch. Apparently a memo went out recently that it's time to start reaching out to minorities, because suddenly everywhere you look there's (exactly) one hopefully-aimed shoutout -- the Emancipation Proclamation, immigration (legal of course), all that "ethnic" stuff.
Today the talking points are asinine (the Emancipation Proclamation? Do they even know what it says, let alone what a bunch of tools it makes them seem?). But this is our first warning shot -- the right wing troglodytes have started crawling, painfully, up the learning curve of racial outreach. They're going to start getting better and better at it, and a few years from now their message machine will be a force to be reckoned with.
So let's ask ourselves today: what's the plan for that?
What disturbs me most about this site, if truly part of Fox News, is the fact that the far-right wing of the conservative movement has access to television, newspapers and internet all under the same corporate ownership.
Rated
"Scary" is what some of them need -- some people actually get an adrenaline rush from being scared. That is why scary movies "work". For these people, a non-stop diet of "scariness" is all it takes to keep them going...they are tittilated by the news and feed on sensationalistic content.
To a few of you: I'm not against free speech, and I'm not anti-conservative. I'm just anti-crappy Web sites. I actually think Matt Drudge has an evil genius for what he does, and I think Arianna was canny for ripping the concept off and making it better.
Fox might pour money into Fox Nation, and maybe it'll become a smashing success. But I personally think you only have one chance to strike the right tone when you launch a site (thank you, Open Salon beta testers!) and they've started with a pretty low one.
It was supposed to be the conservative answer to The Daily Show.
Ha.
They distort, rant, criticize, lie, smear, attack, spin everything, discredit, and NEVER OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO WHAT THEY PURPORT TO HATE!!!!!!!! The only reason such lightweights are on the air is due to the fact that Republicans, or their lackeys, own the media. Could there possibly be a less free media?
Stories on the "news" include either fluff, that is, stupid, sappy, useless crap about pet clothes or Britney, or else stories attacking the Obama administration.....again, no substance whatsoever....It's very sad to me to think that there are actually adults out there who listen to the likes of Karl Rove and company.
What a sad, sad commentary on this nation that adults would listen to those who offer them nothing........
You have paid us an high compliment. Back at you, sir.
Does this mean that ACLU members like me are welcome? We seem to be big on the Constitution ;0)
I think I will join with two different sign on's and then post as a pro Romeny and a pro Jindal and then have ongoing arguements against myself just to see who wants to take the bait.
Thanks for the heads up. As Stellaa suggested, it will be fun to troll over there every now and then. We'll probably bring a few back here for awhile though, so watch out.
On a personal note - now that you are left-eyed, what's up with Larry? It's hard to see what you two are up to avatar pic-wise ( I made that up. Can you tell?
Good for you for having the energy to keep trying.