5 ms·

The Onion was great back when their Youtube channel created real videos. Now it's a mild chuckle every few months

by atleastoptimal 3y ago

vundercind 3y ago
I think they’re great and I’ve only seen like two or three of their videos ever.
- astrange 3y ago
  Their Autistic Reporter series is probably the best thing they did.
modeless 3y ago
They had amazingly high production values on classics like "Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA and "Sony Releases Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ I wonder why they stopped.
- dralley 3y ago
  I assume video content is much more expensive They may also have been victimized by the scandal where Facebook was lying about the engagement that short-form videos generated over other kinds of content, leading several content producers into bankruptcy or near bankruptcy through loss of ad revenue when they pivoted towards it. https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/facebook-online-video-pivot-metrics-false.html https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/facebook-online-video-p... https://www.ccn.com/facebook-lied-about-video-metrics/ https://www.ccn.com/facebook-lied-about-video-metrics/
  - actionfromafar 3y ago
    Never trust a con artist.
- PyWoody 3y ago
  HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8
- jkestner 3y ago
  From what I gather, they invested in Onion News Network for IFC, and when that got canceled relatively quickly, they didn't risk online-only distribution. Maybe 2011 was too early to pivot to video? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_News_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_News_Network My favorite bit, still stuck in my head whenever I see politicians from both parties rush to the scene of a protest or whatever, is "New Live Poll Lets Pundits Pander To Viewers In Real Time": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFpK_r-jEXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFpK_r-jEXg
  - Talanes 3y ago
    >Maybe 2011 was too early to pivot to video? The whole pivot to video era that crippled a whole bunch of online writing outlets was still four years out, so definitely too early.
- swyx 3y ago
  pepperidge farm remembers when the onion produced hilarious articles. lets collate the best of the best. i'll start: https://www.theonion.com/protagonist-scrolls-intensely-through-microfilm-1819571094 https://www.theonion.com/protagonist-scrolls-intensely-throu... https://www.theonion.com/jumbled-nest-of-cords-makes-move-to-third-new-apartment-1819592125 https://www.theonion.com/jumbled-nest-of-cords-makes-move-to...
- karaokeyoga 3y ago
  “EVERYTHING is just a few hundred clicks away”
- jenny91 3y ago
  ~1:40 of the Apple video has this amazing headline scroll through the bottom: > Congress approves intellectual stimulus package giving every American a graduate degree
- dyno12345 3y ago
  I think they raised a bunch of funding at one point and then ran out of it
KittenInABox 3y ago
According to the new buyer, he is letting the writers do what they want (more freedom), so I assume they were increasingly tamped down on
Avshalom 3y ago
Ben Collins says they're bring back ONN https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3kqyj7u2zqh27 https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3kqyj7u...
- culturthrowaway 3y ago
  This is a splash of cold water if you're familiar with who Ben Collins is. This will not not be a return to The Onion you fondly remember. Most likely it will be a continuation in the same direction it's been going.
  - chomp 3y ago
    Ben Collins, the guy who got suspended from MSNBC for criticizing Elon Musk too hard? Upset Nate Silver because he criticized him too hard? Upset Matt Taibbi for making fun of him for doing PR work for a billionaire? I think he’s perfect for the job honestly.
    - thrownawayfray 3y ago
      If _MSNBC_ thinks he’s too overtly partisan and not up to journalistic standards, I’d say Collins fails to clear the absolute lowest bar in news media ethics.
      - chomp 3y ago
        Boy do I have to warn you about The Onion’s content then. Also if you think being partisan is the lowest bar instead of “report the truth” or “be accurate and fair” then that tells me enough already about your values.
  - afavour 3y ago
    OK, I’ll bite: why? I don’t know who Ben Collins is and at a first read of his bio I’m not really sure who would. My first instinct is that this is one of those terminally online things, like how I kept reading references to “Taylor Lorenz” as if she were the devil incarnate and when I finally looked into it she was just another pretty boring journalist.
dontupvoteme 3y ago
They were great when they weren't shackled 'Little Boy Heroically Shoots, Mutilates Burglar' 'Black Man given Nation's worst job' (After Obama won) I've never laughed so hard at headlines
- pants2 3y ago
  And who can forget their famous headline "Jurisprudence Fetishist Gets Off On Technicality"
  - hyperhello 3y ago
    Standard Deviation Not Enough for Perverted Statistician
    - paulsmith 3y ago
      This, this is the GOAT.
- mangosteenjuice 3y ago
  The Onion had two events that resulted in a huge drop in writing quality and edginess: OG writers refusing to relocate from NYC to Chicago in 2012 when the HQ was moved, choosing to part ways instead. Then, the remaining writers being called out for the following tweet, somewhat rightly, but being neutered forever after: https://crasstalk.com/2013/02/sorry-former-onion-staffers-calling-a-9-year-old-the-c-word-isnt-funny/ https://crasstalk.com/2013/02/sorry-former-onion-staffers-ca...
  - ddingus 3y ago
    Yes, both sad days for what was razor sharp satire.
  - Nition 3y ago
    I don't know any of the context around that tweet, but The Onion has obviously chosen the most innocent, blameless celebrity they could think of to make sure it's a clear joke to everyone, right? Like finding the skinniest person and calling them obese. The writer of that article seems to have still somehow misunderstood and come to the conclusion that The Onion actually hates Quvenzhané Wallis. I wonder if they really don't get it, or if they're just sort of performatively not getting it for the outrage article.
dj_gitmo 3y ago
The was the greatest legacy of the ill-fated “pivot to video” era.
OJFord 3y ago
You're clearly not alone in this, but I never realised they even did videos, fwiw. Similar era I was enjoying great content on the site, and it just sort of faded but didn't disappear, from my perspective, so I don't know to what extent it's purely about rise and fall of video really. (I did just watch the very good MacBook Wheel one though.)
dogleash 3y ago
Comedy was hit hard by the broader online media shift from personalities to soulless "personalities." It feels like there's a big hollowed out void between hackneyed mass appeal, and full sending to absurdist and surreal comedy.

The Onion was great back when their Youtube channel created real videos. Now it's a mild chuckle every few months

vundercind 3y ago

I think they’re great and I’ve only seen like two or three of their videos ever.

astrange 3y ago
Their Autistic Reporter series is probably the best thing they did.

modeless 3y ago

They had amazingly high production values on classics like "Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA and "Sony Releases Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ I wonder why they stopped.

dralley 3y ago
I assume video content is much more expensive They may also have been victimized by the scandal where Facebook was lying about the engagement that short-form videos generated over other kinds of content, leading several content producers into bankruptcy or near bankruptcy through loss of ad revenue when they pivoted towards it. https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/facebook-online-video-pivot-metrics-false.html https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/facebook-online-video-p... https://www.ccn.com/facebook-lied-about-video-metrics/ https://www.ccn.com/facebook-lied-about-video-metrics/
- actionfromafar 3y ago
  Never trust a con artist.
PyWoody 3y ago
HP Offers 'That Cloud Thing Everyone Is Talking About' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8
jkestner 3y ago
From what I gather, they invested in Onion News Network for IFC, and when that got canceled relatively quickly, they didn't risk online-only distribution. Maybe 2011 was too early to pivot to video? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_News_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_News_Network My favorite bit, still stuck in my head whenever I see politicians from both parties rush to the scene of a protest or whatever, is "New Live Poll Lets Pundits Pander To Viewers In Real Time": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFpK_r-jEXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFpK_r-jEXg
- Talanes 3y ago
  >Maybe 2011 was too early to pivot to video? The whole pivot to video era that crippled a whole bunch of online writing outlets was still four years out, so definitely too early.
swyx 3y ago
pepperidge farm remembers when the onion produced hilarious articles. lets collate the best of the best. i'll start: https://www.theonion.com/protagonist-scrolls-intensely-through-microfilm-1819571094 https://www.theonion.com/protagonist-scrolls-intensely-throu... https://www.theonion.com/jumbled-nest-of-cords-makes-move-to-third-new-apartment-1819592125 https://www.theonion.com/jumbled-nest-of-cords-makes-move-to...
karaokeyoga 3y ago
“EVERYTHING is just a few hundred clicks away”
jenny91 3y ago
~1:40 of the Apple video has this amazing headline scroll through the bottom: > Congress approves intellectual stimulus package giving every American a graduate degree
dyno12345 3y ago
I think they raised a bunch of funding at one point and then ran out of it

KittenInABox 3y ago

According to the new buyer, he is letting the writers do what they want (more freedom), so I assume they were increasingly tamped down on

Avshalom 3y ago

Ben Collins says they're bring back ONN https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3kqyj7u2zqh27 https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3kqyj7u...

culturthrowaway 3y ago
This is a splash of cold water if you're familiar with who Ben Collins is. This will not not be a return to The Onion you fondly remember. Most likely it will be a continuation in the same direction it's been going.
- chomp 3y ago
  Ben Collins, the guy who got suspended from MSNBC for criticizing Elon Musk too hard? Upset Nate Silver because he criticized him too hard? Upset Matt Taibbi for making fun of him for doing PR work for a billionaire? I think he’s perfect for the job honestly.
  - thrownawayfray 3y ago
    If _MSNBC_ thinks he’s too overtly partisan and not up to journalistic standards, I’d say Collins fails to clear the absolute lowest bar in news media ethics.
    - chomp 3y ago
      Boy do I have to warn you about The Onion’s content then. Also if you think being partisan is the lowest bar instead of “report the truth” or “be accurate and fair” then that tells me enough already about your values.
- afavour 3y ago
  OK, I’ll bite: why? I don’t know who Ben Collins is and at a first read of his bio I’m not really sure who would. My first instinct is that this is one of those terminally online things, like how I kept reading references to “Taylor Lorenz” as if she were the devil incarnate and when I finally looked into it she was just another pretty boring journalist.

dontupvoteme 3y ago

They were great when they weren't shackled 'Little Boy Heroically Shoots, Mutilates Burglar' 'Black Man given Nation's worst job' (After Obama won) I've never laughed so hard at headlines

pants2 3y ago
And who can forget their famous headline "Jurisprudence Fetishist Gets Off On Technicality"
- hyperhello 3y ago
  Standard Deviation Not Enough for Perverted Statistician
  - paulsmith 3y ago
    This, this is the GOAT.
mangosteenjuice 3y ago
The Onion had two events that resulted in a huge drop in writing quality and edginess: OG writers refusing to relocate from NYC to Chicago in 2012 when the HQ was moved, choosing to part ways instead. Then, the remaining writers being called out for the following tweet, somewhat rightly, but being neutered forever after: https://crasstalk.com/2013/02/sorry-former-onion-staffers-calling-a-9-year-old-the-c-word-isnt-funny/ https://crasstalk.com/2013/02/sorry-former-onion-staffers-ca...
- ddingus 3y ago
  Yes, both sad days for what was razor sharp satire.
- Nition 3y ago
  I don't know any of the context around that tweet, but The Onion has obviously chosen the most innocent, blameless celebrity they could think of to make sure it's a clear joke to everyone, right? Like finding the skinniest person and calling them obese. The writer of that article seems to have still somehow misunderstood and come to the conclusion that The Onion actually hates Quvenzhané Wallis. I wonder if they really don't get it, or if they're just sort of performatively not getting it for the outrage article.

dj_gitmo 3y ago

The was the greatest legacy of the ill-fated “pivot to video” era.

OJFord 3y ago

You're clearly not alone in this, but I never realised they even did videos, fwiw. Similar era I was enjoying great content on the site, and it just sort of faded but didn't disappear, from my perspective, so I don't know to what extent it's purely about rise and fall of video really. (I did just watch the very good MacBook Wheel one though.)

dogleash 3y ago

Comedy was hit hard by the broader online media shift from personalities to soulless "personalities." It feels like there's a big hollowed out void between hackneyed mass appeal, and full sending to absurdist and surreal comedy.