Nick Denton Pointed Out This Cool Site on Gawker Today

Is Gawker sometimes willfully cruel for no reason other than to take cheap shots at people who never invited the shit-talking?

Yes.

Have I found myself pulling away from commenting on Gawker because I’ve seen the way that its potshots and cruelty can genuinely hurt people?

Yes.

Do I still check it every day, because I’m a fucking bitch at heart who loves her some schaedenfreude and gossip?

Of course.

And have I been the glad and grateful recipient of its benevolent publicity?

Yes. It helped us sell out the Ultimate Gossip Girl Summit at the PIT in record time.

Is it sometimes fucking hilarious, brilliant, and a wonderful counterpoint to self-inflated Internet douchebaggery?

Definitely. (And I’ve engaged in some self-inflated Internet douchebaggery myself, so I ain’t casting stones at the walls of my glass Modernist home. I’ve also taken a few cheap shots in my day. I like to think I’ve apologized and atoned for all of them, but that just isn’t true. For example, how does one apologize to Michelle Trachtenberg? Is there a phone number, or does one need to go through Lohan? Honestly, though, I can’t get past The Key thing. I just can’t.)

Is Ultimate Gossip Girl Summit panelist Richard Lawson/LOLCait delightful and generally quite a benevolent presence on the Inter-nets whose work everyone should read, ESPESH the TV recaps?

Duh, obvi.

I think the most interesting thing about the latest incarnation of Gawker is that its infamous and highly successful founder and editor-in-chief, Nick Denton, makes a point of highlighting photography and art that readers might enjoy. His recommendations seem to come from an entirely benign place, as in, he genuinely thinks this stuff is beautiful or interesting or intelligent or funny or thought-provoking.

Perhaps this is an extension of one of Denton’s most obvious talents: the ability to pinpoint artistic talent. His writers are uniformly gifted, or at least well-trained and well-practiced enough to come off as gifted. What I’m saying is, the guy’s got a good eye.

Check out the site he featured today, Web Urbanist, and its delightful examples of Steampunk (you’ll see). Super-cool, and I wouldn’t have known anything about it if Denton hadn’t pointed it out.