Lifehacker

Last updated

Lifehacker
Lifehacker-2023.svg
Type of site
 Blog
Available inEnglish, Japanese
Owner Ziff Davis
Created by Gina Trapani
EditorJordan Calhoun
URL lifehacker.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional, through OpenWeb
Launched31 January 2005;19 years ago (2005-01-31)

Lifehacker is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on 31 January 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is owned by Ziff Davis. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Linux programs, iOS, and Android, as well as general life tips and tricks. The website is known for its fast-paced release schedule from its inception, with content being published every half hour all day long. [1]

Contents

Lifehacker has international editions: Lifehacker Australia (as of 2022 owned by Pedestrian), Lifehacker Japan, and Lifehacker UK, which feature most posts from the U.S. edition along with extra content specific to local readers. Lifehacker UK folded on 9 September 2020 when its British publisher decided not to renew its license.

History

The Lifehacker logo used from its founding in 2005 until November 2023 Lifehacker.svg
The Lifehacker logo used from its founding in 2005 until November 2023

Gina Trapani founded Lifehacker and was the site's sole blogger until September 2005, when two associate editors joined her, Erica Sadun and D. Keith Robinson. Other former associate editors include Wendy Boswell, Rick Broida, Jason Fitzpatrick, Kevin Purdy, and Jackson West. Former contributing editors include The How-To Geek and Tamar Weinberg. Lifehacker launched in January 2005 with an exclusive sponsorship by Sony. The highly publicized ad campaign was rumored to have cost $75,000 for three months. [2] Lifehacker Australia launched in 2007, and Lifehacker Japan launched in 2008. [3] [4]

Since its founding, a variety of tech-oriented advertisers have appeared on the site. Lifehacker's frequent guest posts have included articles by Joe Anderson, Eszter Hargittai, Matt Haughey, Meg Hourihan, and Jeff Jarvis. On 16 January 2009, Trapani resigned as Lifehacker's lead editor and Adam Pash assumed the position. On 7 February 2011, Lifehacker revealed a redesigned site with a cleaner layout. On 15 April 2013, Lifehacker redesigned their site again to match the other newly redesigned Gawker sites like Kotaku . On 7 January 2013, Adam Pash moved on from Lifehacker to a new start-up, and Whitson Gordon became the new editor-in-chief. On 1 January 2016, Whitson Gordon parted ways with Lifehacker to another popular technology website, How-To Geek, as their editor-in-chief replacing Lowell Heddings. [5]

In his January 2016 announcement, Gordon confirmed that Alan Henry would take over as the interim editor pending interviewing processes. Alan Henry became the new editor-in-chief on 1 February 2016. On 3 February 2017, Henry left his position at Lifehacker. He has since moved on to write for The New York Times . On 28 February 2017, Melissa Kirsch became the editor-in-chief. [6] Alice Bradley was named editor-in-chief in June 2020 but left in March 2021. [7] Former deputy editor Jordan Calhoun succeeded her as editor-in-chief. Lifehacker was one of six websites that was purchased by Univision Communications in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016. [8] On 13 March 2023, it was announced that Lifehacker had been sold from G/O Media to Ziff Davis. [9] [10] In November 2023, as part of a brand refocus after the acquisition, Lifehacker updated with a new logo, a new site layout, and migration away from the Kinja platform. [11]

In July 2024, it was reported that Lifehacker Australia would shut down amid a restructuring at third-party publisher Pedestrian Group. [12]

Accolades

Time named Lifehacker one of the "50 Coolest Web Sites" in 2005, [13] one of the "25 Sites We Can't Live Without" in 2006, [14] and one of the "25 Best Blogs" in 2009. [15] CNET named Lifehacker in their "Blog 100" in October 2005. [16] Wired presented Gina Trapani with a Rave Award in 2006 for Best Blog. [17] In the 2007 Weblog Awards, Lifehacker was awarded Best Group Weblog. [18] PC Magazine named Lifehacker in "Our Favorite 100 Blogs" in October 2007. [19] US Mensa named Lifehacker as one of their top 50 sites in 2010. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziff Davis</span> American publisher and Internet company

Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, internet connectivity services, gaming and entertainment brands, and cybersecurity and martech tools. Previously, the company was predominantly a publisher of hobbyist magazines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZDNET</span> Business technology news website

ZDNET is a business technology news website owned and operated by Ziff Davis. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991, as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication. After being under the ownership of CNET Networks (2000–2008), CBS Corporation (2008–2020), and Red Ventures (2020–2024), ZDNET was reacquired by Ziff Davis in August 2024. CNET was included in the acquisition as well.

<i>Wonkette</i> American online magazine

Wonkette is an American online magazine of topical and political gossip, established in 2004 by Gawker Media and founding editor Ana Marie Cox. The editor since 2012 is Rebecca Schoenkopf, formerly of OC Weekly. Wonkette covers U.S. politics in a satirical manner.

Freedom is a computer program designed to keep a computer or smartphone user away from the Internet for up to eight hours at a time. It is described as a way to "free you from distractions, allowing you time to write, analyze, code, or create." The program was written by Fred Stutzman, a Ph.D student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Engadget is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially consumer-facing technology. The site's content includes short-form news posts, reported features, news analysis, product reviews, buying guides, two weekly video shows, The Engadget Podcast, The Morning After newsletter and a weekly deals newsletter. It has been operated by Yahoo! Inc. since September 2021.

Gawker is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers that was based in New York City and focused on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month in 2015. Founded in 2002, Gawker was the flagship blog for Denton's Gawker Media. Gawker Media also managed other blogs such as Jezebel, io9, Deadspin and Kotaku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gawker Media</span> Defunct British-American online media company and blog network

Gawker Media LLC was an American internet media company and blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, as of 2012, Gawker Media was the parent company for seven different weblogs and many subsites under them: Gawker.com, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel. All Gawker articles are licensed on a Creative Commons attribution-noncommercial license. In 2004, the company renamed from Blogwire, Inc. to Gawker Media, Inc., and to Gawker Media LLC shortly after.

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Kinja is a free online news aggregator, launched in April 2004. It is operated by G/O Media. It was formerly operated by Gizmodo Media Group, which was purchased by Univision Communications during Gawker Media's bankruptcy.

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<i>Joystiq</i> Video gaming blog

Joystiq was a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 as part of the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs, now owned by AOL. It was AOL's primary video game blog, with sister blogs dealing with MMORPG gaming in general and the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft in particular.

Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be attributed to a smaller number of breakout titles, as was typical of most large-scale successful blog networks of the mid-2000s. Popular blogs included Engadget, Autoblog, TUAW, Joystiq, Luxist, Slashfood, Cinematical, TV Squad, Download Squad, Blogging Baby, Gadling, AdJab, and Blogging Stocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Alvey</span> American journalist

Brian Alvey is an American serial entrepreneur, programmer, designer and blogger. He grew up in Brooklyn and now lives in San Francisco where he is the CTO of Automattic's WordPress VIP Platform. He is best known for co-founding the blog publishing company Weblogs, Inc. with Jason Calacanis.

<i>Gizmodo</i> Design, technology, science, and science fiction website and blog

Gizmodo is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. Gizmodo also includes the sub-blogs io9 and Earther, which focus on pop-culture and environmentalism, respectively.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina Trapani</span>

Gina Marie Trapani is an American tech blogger, web developer, writer, and technology executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geek.com</span> Technology news weblog

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G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that owns and operates the digital media outlets Kotaku, The Root, The Inventory, and Quartz.

References

  1. ↑ Cooper, Belle Beth; Trapani, Gina. "How Lifehacker's Founder Gets Things Done (and Stays Sane)". Ambition & Balance. Doist. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  2. ↑ Mike Rundle (1 February 2005). "Sony Paying $25k Per Month for Lifehacker Blog Sponsorship". Business Logs. Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2007.
  3. ↑ "About Lifehacker Australia". Lifehacker Australia. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  4. ↑ Trapani, Gina (14 July 2008). "Lifehacker Japan Launches!". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  5. ↑ Heddings, Lowell (2 December 2015). "With 1 Billion Views So Far, We're Moving How-To Geek Forward". How-To Geek. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Richard Horgan, "Incoming Lifehacker EIC Is Proud of This Amazon Product Review", Adweek, February 14, 2017. Archived 2017-12-22 at the Wayback Machine .
  7. ↑ Fischer, Sara (30 March 2021). "Editors bolt from G/O Media after 2019 sale". Axios. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Calderone, Michael (18 August 2016). "Gawker Media Was Saved, But Gawker.com Is Over". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Fischer, Sara (13 March 2023). "Scoop: Lifehacker sold by G/O to Ziff Davis". Axios. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  10. ↑ Calhoun, Jordan (30 March 2023). "Scoop: A New Beginning for Lifehacker". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  11. ↑ Calhoun, Jordan (14 November 2023). "Welcome to the New Lifehacker". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Jaspan, Calum (8 July 2024). "Pedestrian boss to depart as group slashes staff and titles". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  13. ↑ Murray, Maryanne (20 June 2005). "50 Coolest Web Sites". Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  14. ↑ Murray, Maryanne (3 August 2006). "25 Sites We Can't Live Without". Time. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "25 Best Blogs 2009". 13 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "News.com's Blog 100". CNET News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "Wired 14.06: Real Simple". Wired. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  18. ↑ "Seventh Annual Weblog Awards". The 2007 Bloggies. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  19. ↑ Heater, Brian (15 October 2007). "Our 100 Favorite Blogs". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  20. ↑ "American Mensa | Top 50". 30 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011.

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