URL: http://www.lifehacker.com (Australian version here)

Affiliations: Part of the Gawker Media network
Launched: January 2005
Author(s): Various, listed on masthead
Google Links: 78,000
Technorati Rating: 16,800 / 6th most popular blog
Run On: Not identified, probably proprietary

Lifehacker is a bookmarked favorite for cubicle dwellers with geeky tendencies everywhere. Every day, over a dozen new posts are made on simplifying life using technology. Lifehacker lives up to its motto to “Don’t live to geek; geek to live.” The idea that you can “hack” life, much in the way a coder may introduce a “hack” to solve a problem in a computer script has its appeal, and the traffic Lifehacker generates proves it. Although Lifehacker’s posts tend to be about open-source software or free or cheap ways to get things done, it is a commercial blog.

Much like other blogs found on the Gawker Media network, totaling 14, Lifehacker fills a niche that has a loyal and dedicated following. The parent company, according to estimates by an article in New York magazine, is that Gawker may be breaking the $2 million dollar mark, thanks to lower operating costs and credibility with advertisers. Lifehacker has gained credibility through its longevity as well as the previous expertise the editors and authors bring to the blog.

The blog is designed to give lots of different options to advertisers on where they could advertise on the page (between posts or skyscraper ads, for example). Much of the material for posts is sourced from other blogs or online publications, and like any courteous blog, Lifehacker gives a prominent link to these websites. Their tone is genial and colloquial, and break complicated geek-talk down into simple steps so that the material is accessible even to the biggest Luddite. Lifehacker also frequently creates top-ten lists and recommends certain products or services. However, they have a strict rule that they never recommend a product or service that they haven’t tested themselves.

Lifehacker also encourages user interaction through a comments feature and an email address for visitors to send tips to, and then Lifehacker often uses these comments and leads to generate more content. This cycle of feedback helps Lifehacker retain and gain more users.

Lifehacker makes it simple for a user to educate herself and expand her technical know-how, and that it a winning formula when the advertising becomes secondary to the useful content the blog’s editors and author generate. That’s how blogging should be.