Tweakers (formerly called Tweakers.net) is a Dutch technology website featuring news and information about hardware, software, games and the Internet. The name is derived from the verb "

tweaking Tweaking refers to fine-tuning or adjusting a complex system, usually an electronic device. Tweaks are any small modifications intended to improve a system. In electronics, it is a synonym for "trimming." Analog circuit boards often have small ...

", which is a word used to refer to optimisation of hardware. Tweakers has grown substantially since its founding in 1998. As of 2023, it publishes news, reviews, features and video reports about technology subjects, with a strong focus on the Netherlands and Belgium. Tweakers has more features for computer enthusiasts, such as reviews, bi-monthly Best Buy guides, a classifieds section for jobs and used hardware, the Pricewatch and the Shop Survey, among others. While the majority of the reviews are written in Dutch, several articles covering non-standard topics are translated into English. Tweakers has more than 1.000.000 members and its forum has over 29 million posts. It has won several awards, including "(Dutch) website of the year" in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

History

The website was founded in 1998 by Femme Taken, a computer enthusiast, under the name ''World of Tweaking'' as a student's hobby project to offer a Dutch alternative to hardware review sites such as

Tom's Hardware Guide ''Tom's Hardware'' is an online publication owned by Future plc and focused on technology. It was founded in 1996 by Thomas Pabst. It provides articles, news, price comparisons, videos and reviews on computer hardware and high technology. The s ...

. As of March 2006, Tweakers was taken over by the Dutch

media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or ...

VNU VNU may refer to: * Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen, a Dutch publishing company * Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU), a public university system in Hanoi, Vietnam * Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam National Univers ...

, now known as The

Nielsen Company Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

. After The Nielsen Company sold its Business Media division to

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm 3i,

VNU Media Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

became owner of the Tweakers website . In October 2012, Tweakers launched a new design, designed by Femme Taken, the founder; the community was critical of this change. A couple of days later, Tweakers launched a new feature that enabled the community to change the appearance of the website. A number of changes and improvements were made in 2014. The current

responsive design Responsive web design (RWD) or responsive design is an approach to web design that aims to make web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes from minimum to maximum display size to ensure usability and satisfactio ...

was introduced on 6 January that year. The Android and iOS apps were removed from their respective stores on 7 October 2014. In February 2014 Tweakers significantly improved the price comparison tool for sim only contracts. In June 2014 Tweakers added prices of Belgian webshops to the ''Pricewatch'', which now shows prices from Dutch and Belgian webshops. Changes continue. In April 2015 Tweakers launched a completely new

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

to be uniformly used throughout the website.

Gathering of Tweakers

An important area of the site is the

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

. Tweakers's forum is known as the Gathering of Tweakers (often abbreviated as ''GoT''). The forum is focused mainly on technical subjects and tries to maintain a relatively high standard of posting. It has a fairly strong moderation policy, especially when compared to other online discussion forums. Users of the forum are strongly urged to read the

FAQ A frequently asked questions (FAQ) list is often used in articles, websites, email lists, and online forums where common questions tend to recur, for example through posts or queries by new users related to common knowledge gaps. The purpose of a ...

and to have invested a fair amount of his/her own time into finding an answer, either on GoT using the search tools, or anywhere else on the Internet, before asking a question.

Tweakers Awards

Tweakers Awards (formerly known as "Tweakers Gouden Steeksleutel Awards" 2007 to 2011) is a contest in which members can choose the best products from different technology categories.

References

External links

* {{Official website Computing websites Dutch-language websites Dutch news websites 3i Group companies Internet properties established in 1998 1998 establishments in the Netherlands