A New Beginning for Lifehacker

When I was a teen, I became the kid who transferred schools. You cognize the type: idiosyncratic who lived successful transition, changing schools, neighborhoods, and friends often. At its worst, I changed precocious schools 5 times successful 3 years. And similar galore things astatine that age, the transfers were for reasons retired of my control.

I had 2 revelations during those years erstwhile I was learning astir some who I was and wanted to be. The archetypal was that each determination was a accidental astatine reinvention. The 2nd was that nary substance my goals for who I wanted to be, I would beryllium a merchandise of my setting. Whether I liked it oregon not, the opportunities I had—and my imaginable to prehend them—would beryllium meaningfully influenced by my setting. For amended oregon worse, who I was would beryllium partially the effect of what was astir me.

This month, Lifehacker was sold from G/O Media to Ziff Davis.

Some of the changes person been immediate. If you’re a regular reader, for example, you whitethorn person noticed that Lifehacker stopped publishing slideshows. Slideshows were a world of our erstwhile context, whether I liked it oregon not. (I did not.) Those in-line ads are gone, too.

After seeing our tract escaped of its accustomed glut of ads, 1 exertion said, “I privation to cry.” It was a joke, but besides it wasn’t.

Another exertion said, “Whoa, the page just...loads. And past aft each paragraph of substance is different paragraph of text.”

If you don’t enactment successful integer media oregon unrecorded connected the internet, you mightiness find those things unremarkable. But to us, they’re immense UI improvements that marque our stories look amended and work much clearly.

Other changes volition beryllium longer word but volition travel the aforesaid logic of eliminating slideshows and publishing things similar the Home Remedy Handbook by Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki, which we were arrogant to people earlier this month. We privation to absorption connected thoughtful, challenging, and entertaining proposal to physique a narration with our much loyal readers portion besides welcoming caller ones.

Slideshows, ads, and thinly-veiled SEO grabs volition proceed to beryllium a world successful the shrinking scenery of escaped journalism. I don’t spot fixes to those problems connected the horizon—frankly, aft countless media layoffs precocious I feared that Lifehacker was being closed to chopped costs alternatively of being acquired—but my extremity is to marque Lifehacker the champion it tin beryllium wrong that landscape.

A caller remark from Kinja idiosyncratic Blaine summarized my hopes erstwhile they said, “This is among the champion and astir informative penning I’ve seen connected Lifehacker oregon immoderate akin outlet, barroom none. Thank you.”

Speaking of Kinja, Lifehacker’s caller location volition besides mean a displacement to a caller platform. Lifehacker whitethorn look a small antithetic successful the coming months, but astir changes should beryllium either negligible oregon wide improvements for readers.

The alteration volition besides beryllium a turning constituent for our comments section, which sometimes reflects the toxicity and bad-faith reactions that are communal successful anonymous, unmoderated forums. Allowing those comments was my failure: I ignored them and often expected my writers to bash the same, and allowed much bullying and abusive connection than I should have. I’m anxious to hole that successful the aboriginal with a comments argumentation that has zero tolerance for idiosyncratic attacks, insults, and wide hate-reading. Our assemblage won’t beryllium for those who sojourn for small crushed different than to prime fights.

You tin expect to perceive from maine more, too. The Lifehacker squad knows maine well, but our readers little so—mostly due to the fact that I seldom constitute for the tract and mostly bounds my Twitter profile to posting astir comics, video games, oregon my book. But I should beryllium a much consenting and disposable look of the marque that I emotion truthful much. (If you really privation to get to cognize maine and the worldview I bring to Lifehacker, you tin read my book.)

It’s a caller opening for Lifehacker, and an accidental for reinvention. Much of it volition beryllium successful our control. Some of it won’t. But I’m assured that Lifehacker’s caller concern location volition beryllium much conducive to the tract I privation america to be. Regardless, I emotion a lofty goal: to springiness immoderate of the champion and astir informative contented that you tin find connected the internet.