Break.com
Break.com (formerly Big-boys.com) is a popular humor website that features videos, flash games, and pictures among other material. Users are able to register with the site for a free account which allows them to upload content for private or public viewing. Users are paid if they submit original content that is featured on Break's main page.
Content
The main focus of the site is on the videos, which consist of short clips of varying humorous merit. These often include home video footage of people being injured, usually as a result of their own recklessness or foolishness,on purpose or on accident, but may also include television clips and viral videos. The content in many ways echoes that of the MTV series Jackass. Generally, any video has a chance at being featured so long as it is humorous or entertaining in some way.
Visitors are able to rank site material on a scale of 1 to 5, which is factored into an average score. Users can also comment on each individual entry. In January 2006, Break.com introduced a new file hosting system for its users to share their files. Shared files can be promoted to the homepage to be featured. Users that host original files promoted to the homepage are payed as much as $2,000 USD.
Break.com has an Alexa rating hovering in the high 200s (as of February, 2007).[1]
Culture
A tradition that has arisen in Break discussions is a tendency of certain users to insist that submitted material is "fake." This likely first arose from a reasonable skepticism that some of the content posted on Break consisted of staged "injuries" or "pranks" aimed at garnishing payment for being posted on the main page. These claims have since evolved into a kind of self-mockery, with users now insisting that even material depicting thoroughly-verified news events are fake.
References in the media
- Break.com was featured in the January 23, 2006 segment of the "Mank blog" on Dateline NBC [2].
- On March 24, 2006, radio shock jock Howard Stern mentioned Break.com on his satellite radio show. The audio can be heard here: [3].
- On April 12, 2006 radio shock jocks Opie & Anthony mentioned Break.com on their XM satellite radio show. The audio can be heard here: [4].
- On November 27, 2006 Keith Richman of Break.com was interviewed by socalTECH.com.