| URL | Zug.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Where Comedy Reigns |
| Type of site | User-generated comedy |
| Registration | Required |
| Owner | Media Shower, Inc. |
| Created by | Sir John Hargrave |
| Launched | 1995 |
| Revenue | Advertisement, sponsored content |
Zug (or ZUG) is a comedy website that was founded in 1995 by Sir[1] John Hargrave and Genevieve Martineau.
Contents |
Beginning as a webzine, the site featured weekly comedy articles from Sir John Hargrave and a host of collaborators. As ZUG’s readership expanded, the site launched a threaded message board in 1998 called “GAB on ZUG” to allow readers to contribute additional humor content. This message board eventually became the backbone of the site, with “the world’s funniest comedy community” providing everything from comedy articles to caption contests. “GAB on ZUG” was renamed “ZUG Live” in October 2008, during a complete redesign of the site.
From 1999 to 2001 ZUG took a backseat to Computer Stew, a daily comedy Web show produced, written, and directed by Hargrave and cohorts Jay Stevens, Al Natanagara, and Moses Blumenstiel for the technology Web site ZDNet. After the cancellation of Computer Stew in 2001, ZUG returned full force, with a redesigned site, a daily blog from Hargrave, and aggressive viral marketing tactics (such as an online ballot-stuffing campaign at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival, which resulted in ZUG paralyzing the HBO servers and being disqualified from the contest).
The success of the site caught the attention of Citadel Press, which published 'Prank the Monkey'[1][2], the first ZUG book, in 2007, which went on to become an Amazon.com humor bestseller. Hargrave has now released "Mischief Maker's Manual," a book of pranks for kids aged 9–12; it was released in Spring 2009 by Penguin Children's Group [3].
Aside from pranks, ZUG also features comedy articles written by staff members of ZUG, as well as readers who submit articles to the site. Article series from the community members include Monster Love, where Zolton posted profiles of famous serial killers to online daters to see who would hack into it, Worst Bar Drink Ever, where Chi-Chi Felipe traveled to various bars to find the worst-tasting bar drink on the planet, and Manscaping, where BobJohnson used a hair removal product to carve superhero logos in his chest hair.
Meanwhile, a number of readers have published articles on ZUG. The staff chooses the funniest article submissions, which readers can then rate for the coveted “Funniest of the Month” title. Those who have made it to the list of the top article authors include The Human Guinea Pig's article She's Gonna Blow: The Colon Cleansing Experiment, Joe Peacock's The Wal-Mart Prank, and Hargrave's The Viagra Prank.
ZUG Live, which is billed as “The World’s Funniest Comedy Community,” is a thriving online forum where users discuss every topic imaginable, with each poster able to give and receive “funny points,” which are formally known as “ZUGZ,” or commonly referred to as “orbs.” Frequent posters compete to be ranked on the monthly list of The World's Funniest People.
The ZUG Live software, which has been built entirely in-house, features humorous touches like the “Swearbot,” which automatically turns swear words into the names of famous poets. Still, many threads have coarse language or adult discussions, so ZUG Live requires its users to be over 18 years of age before they are given posting privileges.
ZUG is a user-generated comedy web site that operates on the principle of free speech. While administrators may on rare occasions edit submitted content for legal reasons[4], the site relies essentially on self-moderation, backed with a set of "commandments" that users are asked to follow when contributing content. As with anything else on ZUG, the rules themselves include an element of comedy. The ZUG commandments are as follows:
1. Thou shalt honor the intelligent joke
2. Thou shalt respect the community, remembering that there are real people on the other end of thy computer monitor; be thou neither overly offensive nor easily offended
3. Thou shalt not threaten or flame other members of the community
4. Thou shalt welcome diversity and new blood
5. Thou shalt focus on being funny, not on being mean-spirited as a substitute for being funny
6. Thou shalt not "flood" the board with irrelevant ratings, posts and/or threads, nor shalt thou "invade" other message boards
7. Thou shalt not post the personal information of other community members or offworlders
8. Thou shalt also keep thine personal information to thyself, unless thou wanteth thy phone number revealed to millions of others
9. Thou shalt not "imp" -- post only under thine own user ID
10. Thou shalt not create multiple accounts
While ZUG is the name of a town in Switzerland, as well as the German word for train, Hargrave insists that the name has nothing to do with either, and is actually a recursive backronym for the phrase “ZUG is Utterly Great.”[5]