I’m not the only one who’s Superficial.
October 9, 2007
All right, I admit it. After I check The New York Times every morning, I check TheSuperficial.com. Ok, sometimes, I even check the Superficial first. But only if I am having a really rough day and I need a good chuckle.
I’m embarrassed by my admission for a couple reasons. For starters, the Superficial is an online celebrity gossip site. The site’s full title is The Superficial: Because You’re Ugly. Like its rival celebrity gossip site Perez Hilton, the Superficial’s writer, also a witty young male, incessantly mocks celebrities. But the superficial blogger goes above and beyond Perez. He is both lude and crude. And, he’s certainly more clever. The Superficial guarantees daily laughs at the expense of promiscuous young princesses (think Lindsay, Paris, Britney and Nicole).
The site is set up like a blog, with short daily stories accompanied by numerous celebrity photos. If you want a play-by-play of who the paparazzi stalked that day, this is your site.
But the greatest thing about the Superficial is the titles, which bring laughs before you even read the posts. The titles alternate between two types. The first style, in true journalistic fashion, is simple, honest and direct, such as “Eva Longoria wears a bikini.” The second are clever and satirical, such as “Paris Hilton is beacon of repentance.” The accompanying story features Paris Hilton dancing at a nightclub. Earlier that day, she announced she would make a humanitarian trip to Rwanda.
October 10, 2007 at 4:19 am
While I can’t admit to ever even hearing about this site, I can admit to previously being an avid watcher of The Simple Life. There’s just something about celebrities doing funny/dumb/random stuff.
I’m sure this site could give me a laugh, but what it made me think of was the presentation I gave just yesterday where I spoke at one point about the rising of tabloid readership alongside the falling of newspaper readership in the United Kingdom. While I cringe at the thought, I hope the majority of Americans, like you, know where to go for laughs and where to go for news.
October 14, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I admit, when I check my RSS feader, I read the Superficial headlines first. Then I usually go to the site to look at pictures. Finally, I come back and look at “real” news.
If tabiod readership is up and newspaper readership is down, what messages could this be sending editors about potential solutions? In the end, don’t you have to provide readers with the news they want?
October 22, 2007 at 11:39 am
Sounds like this site would make a good study break. Sometimes I just need to roll my eyes at the absurdities of American culture!
October 22, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I’ll admit PerezHilton is one of my frequented sites. And now that Lindsey is out of rehab how can you not read it? I still read intelligent news sources.