The Spark (website)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Spark (or TheSpark.com) was a humour web site created by Chris Coyne, Eli Bolotin, Sam Yagan, and Max Krohn. Christian Rudder came onto the scene early on. Created in January 1999, it quickly became very popular amongst students in particular.
The four features of the site which made it so popular were:
- SparkNotes: Free online study notes in a similar vein to the printed CliffsNotes. Originally these focussed solely around literature, but in later years their popularity grew and they encompassed a wider selection of school subjects. SparkNotes.com quickly became a site independent of the Spark, and its success is generally accepted to have been the reason for the main site's closure.
- PimpinCupid: The original idea behind the Spark site, PimpinCupid was a free online dating service in which matches were made based on individuals submitting the e-mail address of their crush. Also launched early on was a reworked, irreverent purity test. More tests followed, including a rather comprehensive, humerous personality test, which is still running today as a subsection of the SparkNotes site.
- Having seen the popularity of the personality test, others were created, quickly developing into their own section on the site, the Test and Answer (T&A) series. Topics covered were generally to do with identity and relationships, as well as the very popular "Death Test". All of these tests contained humorous questions and hypothetical situations. Some are still available under the SparkLife subsite at SparkNotes.com.
- Although PimpinCupid is no longer active, the site's original creators have since launched OkCupid, which bears a very strong resemblance to it.
- Science: Several series of articles by Mahlon Smith and Christian Rudder detailing bizarre "science projects" they carried out. The first and probably most widely-known of these is the "StinkyMeat" project, in which Smith planted several types of uncooked meat in an oblivious neighbour's garden, checking every day for the presence of insects, as well as deterioration and changes in the smell of the meat. This project led to the Stinky Feet project, where Christian attempted to give himself Athlete's Foot and detailed the results. Immediately following the Stinky Feet Project Christian introduced "The Fat Project", in which he found two subjects, a man and a woman, to attempt to gain 30lbs in 30 days and have their progress recorded on the site. Another project was called the "Date My Sister" project and involved Rudder setting up his sister, Melissa, on dates with different men, whilst secretly spying on her with video cameras and recording any progress in the relationships.
- Features (or The Sparkive): Parodic articles written and illustrated in the style of a newspaper, covering a range of headlines, including "Poor-Spelling Children Pay Dearly for 'Letters to Satan'" and "Kid Rock Rocks Kids: Young Goats Treated to Surprise Show".
Whilst it was active, the Spark was also critically acclaimed, having been declared a "Site of the Year" in 2000 by Maxim Magazine, as well as receiving recognition in such publications as USA Today, Time and Newsweek. The site as a whole was purchased from the original creators by Barnes & Noble in March 2001, whose primary interest was in only one of the four cornerstones of the site, SparkNotes. Although the entire Spark site remained active for three years after the purchase, eventually more and more emphasis was placed on the independent SparkNotes site, until finally the Spark was closed altogether in June 2004.
