''Lifehacker'' is a
weblog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
about
life hacks and software that launched on January 31, 2005. The site was originally launched by
Gawker Media
Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American online 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 Is ...
and is currently owned by
G/O Media
G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs ''Gizmodo'', ''Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'', '' Deadspin'', '' Lifehacker'', ''Jezebel'', '' The Root'', '' The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', ''The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''.
Histo ...
. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including:
Microsoft Windows,
Mac,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
programs,
iOS and
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
, 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.
In addition, ''Lifehacker'' has international editions: ''Lifehacker Australia'' ( owned by
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically.
The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...
), ''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 September 9, 2020 when its UK publisher decided not to renew its license.
History
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
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
. The highly publicized ad campaign was rumored to have cost $75,000 for three months. Since then, 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
Matthew Haughey (born October 10, 1972) is an American programmer, web designer, and blogger best known as the founder of the community weblog MetaFilter, where he is known as ''mathowie''.
Life and career
Haughey grew up in Placentia, Califor ...
,
Meg Hourihan,
Jeff Jarvis.
On January 16, 2009, Trapani resigned as ''Lifehacker''s lead editor and Adam Pash assumed the position.
On February 7, 2011, ''Lifehacker'' revealed a redesigned site with a cleaner layout. Then, on April 15, 2013, Lifehacker redesigned their site again to match the other newly redesigned Gawker sites, like
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
.
On January 7, 2013, Adam Pash moved on from ''Lifehacker'' to a new
start-up
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...
, and Whitson Gordon became the new editor-in-chief.
On January 1, 2016, Whitson Gordon parted ways with Lifehacker to another popular technology website, How-To Geek, as their editor-in-chief replacing Lowell Heddings. In his 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 February 1, 2016.
On February 3, 2017, Alan Henry left his position at ''Lifehacker''. He has since moved on to write for the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
.
On February 28, 2017,
Melissa Kirsch became the editor-in-chief. Alice Bradley was named editor-in-chief in June 2020, but left in March 2021. 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.
Accolades
*In 2005, ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' named Lifehacker one of the "50 Coolest Web Sites" in 2005, one of the "25 Sites We Can't Live Without" in 2006 and one of the "25 Best Blogs 2009"
*
CNET named Lifehacker in their "Blog 100" in October 2005.
*''
Wired'' presented Gina Trapani with a Rave Award in 2006 for Best Blog.
*In the 2007
Weblog Awards
A blog award is an award for the best blog in a given category. Some blog awards are based on a public vote and others are based on a fixed set of criteria applied by a panel of judges.
Blog awards are a descendant phenomenon from awards given by ...
, Lifehacker was awarded Best Group Weblog.
*''
PC Magazine'' named Lifehacker in "Our Favorite 100 Blogs" in October 2007.
*US
Mensa
Mensa may refer to:
* Mensa International, an organization for people with a high intelligence quotient (IQ)
* Mensa (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname
* Mensa (constellation), a constellation in the southern sky
* Men ...
named Lifehacker as one of their top 50 sites in 2010.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
International
Lifehacker AustraliaLifehacker Japan
{{Univision Communications
Gawker Media
American blogs
Internet properties established in 2005
Former Univision Communications subsidiaries