How Salon Fell

Are there lessons to be found in the fate of a content trailblazer?

“There was, at first, a lot of money and excitement about Salon. There was no one else, really, in that space. … It was kind of a brave new world, and Salon was at the forefront.”
 — There’s a lot going on in “The fall of Salon.com,” which should serve as both a signpost to the Internet’s past and warning for its future. Of course it won’t, because that’s not how things work, and everyone rushes blindly on, making the same mistakes but at larger multiples. “I think it’s very similar to what a Vox or a Buzzfeed seems today,” former editor in chief Kerry Lauerman says. Could he be correct? These analogies are never precise, so it’s difficult to accurately assess, and surely the flashy content factories of today have much to differentiate themselves from the buzzy pioneers of the past. In any event — and completely unrelated — this morning’s offering from Vox is an explainer of the popular “dat boi” meme.