Waiting for Speedway Fowler

Boy, the past few weeks haven't been kind to one of the internet's most well-liked sites.

FARK has always been a hang-out for some of the web's wittiest and most creative people. It was also arguably the net's premier news aggregator site, with a simple, easy to use design.





But Drew Curtis, FARK's founder, has made some bad decisions coupled with bad timing.


He decided to freshen the site - not a bad idea - and introduced a new look that virtually EVERYBODY hates. It's crowded with ads and hard on the eyes.

He more or less sprang the re-design on the FARK crowd with no announcement and zero input for a site that prides itself on its image as a real community.

And both bad moves happened just as Reddit and Digg are finding their stride.

As a result, Fark seems like a ghost town lately. The TotalFARK submissions consist of row upon row of zero-comment items. The stories that make it to the main page now get 30 or 40 comments rather than numbers in the hundreds.

It's a startling example of the fickle tastes of the 2.0 crowd.

I still like FARK. I hope Drew can regain his groove.

But right now, it feels like the clock is ticking on FARK's peculiar brand of cachet.