9/420
The other night I was on the roof of my friend Sam’s apartment building and we got into a really intense conversation about Gawker, even going so far as to comment on the commenters, and on the odd fights (Gawker vs. Jezebel, Gawker vs. Keith Gessen/n+1, Gawker vs. Julia Allison) and I realized that Gawker is like a more intellectual version of that weird internet game Second Life. You become someone else, anonymous, yes, but also an exaggeration of your real self. And it’s also an intensely private experience, because rarely do you talk about the ins and outs of posts or commenter squabbles with one of your real life friends. Gawker has become like internet porn. We all (okay, most New Yorkers) use it, but we don’t really talk about it in day-to-day conversation.
-Mary Jane
