# Cracked lets everyone (almost) you know go. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2017, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611 "2017-12-05T06:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/41 "2017-12-05T18:28:45Z")
Well, we’ll always have Gladstone, Seanbaby and “Caption this pic contests”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/42 "2017-12-05T18:34:47Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Shouldn’t the OP title have been: > 10 Employees that you (almost) know leave Cracked. > > ? Yes. I was trying to come up with something to that too. Congratulations, **k9bfriender**. You don’t win money. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/43 "2017-12-05T18:48:21Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > John Cheese, Christina H., and a couple others, etc. were the few writers worth following. With AuntiMeme, Winston Rowntree and others, it had become all recycling of old Cracked posts for clicks and views, and also political lecturing or agenda-pushing. Sadly, I don’t think Cracked will have learned its lesson from all this. That reminds me that apparently one of their writers REALLY didn’t like GamerGate after GG started to spam the comments sections of their articles after they wrote an article GG didn’t like. So from then on the author would start including anti-GG rants in every one of their articles even if it had nothing to do with the article at all. It was funny at first but then it literally started to get in the way of the articles themselves and made reading them a chore after a while. ---
**Author:** ![WilyQuixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/44 "2017-12-05T18:51:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They not only don’t want to pay subscription fees, they also think it’s wrong to be asked for voluntary donations. And they put up ad blockers so they won’t be annoyed when a free site tries to gain some revenue that way. I wonder what the bulk of Cracked subscribers think of the mass exodus of core Crackd writers? I think that small pool just got a little smaller. When they introduced paid subscriptions a few months back it had the whiff of desperation, Allowing only paying customers to upvote/downvote reader comments echoed the desperate and ineffective cost-cutting strategies of companies on their last legs, such as eliminating free coffee for employees and replacing double ply with single ply. Their latest act doesn’t exactly contradict my earlier reservations. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/45 "2017-12-05T19:22:03Z")
I’ll miss _After Hours_ and _Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder_, but [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) was going the same was as _The Onion_ circa 2003. Hopefully ‘the talent’ will move onto other projects while the website devolves into useless clickbait. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/46 "2017-12-05T19:34:54Z")
Also, utter misuse/overuse of the term “insane.” I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that at least 100 Cracked articles over the past few years had the word “Insane” in their titles, no exaggeration. Even just glancing at the Cracked website right now, there are two posts/articles right there on the front page with “insane” in their title. (“6 Tiny Movie Moments that Took \*\*Insane \*\*Amounts of Work,” “The 6 Most \*\*Insane \*\*Things Happening Right Now.”) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/47 "2017-12-05T19:36:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I saw it more as _“We have to eat too. We can’t give you this stuff for free.”_ > > Unfortunately, some people feel entitled to free stuff. They not only don’t want to pay subscription fees, they also think it’s wrong to be asked for voluntary donations. And they put up ad blockers so they won’t be annoyed when a free site tries to gain some revenue that way. Unfortunately, some publishers feel entitled to make a lot of money on websites, in spite of all the reasons you list for why publishing a website is not a very good way to make money. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/48 "2017-12-05T19:47:19Z")
This was crazy. I stumbled upon it on Twitter last night and had to dig to find anything “official”. I did see a quote from an article that Scripps (the company that bought Cracked a few years back) where they said the site was not meeting earnings and would be downsized into profitability in 2018.Ouch. On the plus side so many people have left, they could probably form their own site now the way a lot of AV Club writers formed The Dissolve when that site was purged of talent (maybe not the best example since The Dissolve folded but still…) ETA: We need to learn to pay for writing again. It’s a profession that gets little value because everyone thinks they can do it well and is thus easy. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/49 "2017-12-05T19:54:01Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > it had become all recycling of old Cracked posts for clicks and views, and also political lecturing or agenda-pushing. God, about a week ago there was some “Venkman in Ghostbusters must be a rapist because he had Thorazine” article that was just the worst. This is why we can’t have nice things. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/50 "2017-12-05T21:24:03Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > God, about a week ago there was some “Venkman in Ghostbusters must be a rapist because he had Thorazine” article that was just the worst. This is why we can’t have nice things. But that was a retread wasn’t it? I agree though with the tone of your post. I kept waiting for “Ok, he didn’t fuck her when she was possessed and invited to do so”…and it was mentioned but given incredibly short shrift. YES, Venkman is a letch by even 1984 standards and would be fired within a week today. BUT he’s also fantastic under pressure and saved the world. Not only saved the world but was willing to sacrifice his life to do so…so maybe we give 'Hits on 18 year old test subjects" a pass. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/51 "2017-12-05T21:29:21Z")
Which was the writers was always shilling his snarky book on History? I got the impression the book was written in the same style as the Cracked articles. IIRC the book was in the guy’s tag line at the end of every cracked article. Can’t recall who it was. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/52 "2017-12-05T21:33:37Z")
For me, locking the upvotes was the last straw. The comments section used to be one of the best parts of Cracked, and then when Cracked started going downhill it frequently _was_ the best part of Cracked. But they held the upvotes for ransom, and the comments section dwindled to almost nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/53 "2017-12-05T21:42:07Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > But that was a retread wasn’t it? I don’t think so. It was dated Nov 29 where the repeats usually keep their original dates. And it was by a couple of no-names. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/54 "2017-12-05T22:23:08Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Not John Cheese! ☹ I really enjoyed his articles. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/55 "2017-12-06T01:28:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Katie Willert has [posted](https://www.instagram.com/p/BcTiGuqhHCr/) that After Hours is done. Which is not surprising, considering most of the cast no longer works for Cracked. Crying shame. [She will be missed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNbeyRwT8Uo). ---
**Author:** ![JPrescott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e36b37/32.png) [@JPrescott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JPrescott)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/56 "2017-12-06T03:40:20Z")
This breaks my heart. I read cracked every day on my phone while I’m on my exercise bike. I’d noticed a dearth of familiar names lately, but didn’t know it was this bad. FWIW I pay them $2.99 a month to be ad free on their app. I’m firmly in the “we can’t run this website on warm wishes” camp. Ads are annoying, but necessary to pay the bills, and ad blockers are robbing sites like these blind. All these writers left or were fired probably in relation to the cash crunch. I hate to say it, but this may be the tip of the iceberg for websites such as this. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/57 "2017-12-06T04:13:57Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Crying shame. [She will be missed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNbeyRwT8Uo). [I liked the pudding one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqpRHOqKKrA) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/58 "2017-12-06T04:17:27Z")
The thing that bugged me was that the comments were covered in Trumpists whining about how they would harsh on Trump. It was pretty much the reason everyone gave for the site’s problems. I did my best to point out that this wasn’t the problem, as evidenced by how Trump has revitalized comedy elsewhere. Normally I say “who cares what shitty people think, if I don’t have to see them?” But it’s so hard in this case. That said, the writing had been on the wall for a while. None of those complaints started until after people knew they weren’t doing so hot (which is more evidence that they were wrong, BTW). Jack O’Brien left. They started pushing for money more (though it was always clear from the title). And, yes, they locked down voting in a desperate attempt to get people to buy subscriptions. The only thing that seemed weird was After Hours, where they switched to having two shows instead of one. Maybe that was because videos made more money, so they were trying to increase video output? " BTW, so the After Hours with Katie and crew is over, but what about that other crew? It would make sense for them to continue on, and the whole thing to have been some sort of bridge. But Katie did say the last episode of After Hours, not her last episode… ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/59 "2017-12-06T04:46:46Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The thing that bugged me was that the comments were covered in Trumpists whining about how they would harsh on Trump. It was pretty much the reason everyone gave for the site’s problems. I did my best to point out that this wasn’t the problem, as evidenced by how Trump has revitalized comedy elsewhere. > > Normally I say “who cares what shitty people think, if I don’t have to see them?” But it’s so hard in this case. > > That said, the writing had been on the wall for a while. None of those complaints started until after people knew they weren’t doing so hot (which is more evidence that they were wrong, BTW). Jack O’Brien left. They started pushing for money more (though it was always clear from the title). And, yes, they locked down voting in a desperate attempt to get people to buy subscriptions. > > The only thing that seemed weird was After Hours, where they switched to having two shows instead of one. Maybe that was because videos made more money, so they were trying to increase video output? " > > BTW, so the After Hours with Katie and crew is over, but what about that other crew? It would make sense for them to continue on, and the whole thing to have been some sort of bridge. But Katie did say the last episode of After Hours, not her last episode… Cody was in the other crew and he’s gone. Also i just didnt care for them. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611/60 "2017-12-06T09:52:41Z")
It’s a shame. I didn’t read many of their articles anymore, but they had some great videos (particularly anything with Daniel O’Brien), and I was enjoying their weekly “Some News” videos with Cody. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-lets-everyone-almost-you-know-go/803611.md?page=4)