There are already two reviews and a whole lot of comments stating how offensive and/or edgy this site is. While I can understand how people might find it offensive on a Shock Site basis, I just find it incredibly stupid.

The problem is the site doesn't have a whole lot of truth to it. Satire is about uncovering certain unfortunate truths about society. The site actively discourages verifiable facts. Don't believe me? Here it is:

Because of this, every article can only be taken at face value. You cannot quote them on anything but the mere existence of what they write. It's not even good bullshit, either. Most of the time, the tone is something similar to that of a hack comedian who thinks he's a lot funnier than he really is. There's also the fact that the site is obsessed with pictures and seems to view smut and gore as automatically funny. When all else fails, post some tangentially related porn. It's as though the userbase has no attention span whatsoever.

Some articles seem to have escaped this unfortunate reality, though. Most of the time, the quality of the article is inversely related to its size and "popularity". Things such as the sexuality pages are just simply preposterous and many of the meme pages just show how destructive they are to creativity, but there are parts that seem untouched by the laziness. The article on David Gonterman reads a lot better than most simply because the tone is more sympathetic than hateful (although it has its bullshit as well) and the article on suicide has some genuinely hilarious dark comedy. I can't even really remember anything else worth reading, to be honest.

As usual, don't go if you can't stomach anatomical pictures, gore, or unguided hatred. They certainly do have a lot of it in place of cleverness...

Encyclopedia Dramatica is by far a very, VERY bizarre and very gross site. They never say anything nice (which does add to some of the humor), but the images will always remain in your mind forever. Sure, this troper can take a joke, but I think I lost some faith in humanity after reading the Deviant Art article and learning about some of what people believe gamers to be. Sure, it's all for fun and some laughs on their part, but it's very gross, very disturbing, and is not for everyone. Heck, not even the mightiest meta-guy/meta girl (or thickest scaled dragon, enormous ego actor, or even Mr. Norris) can handle it.

Trust us few tropers who've ventured into the site.

What was the point of Fight Club? (The fights, not the movie.) It was not sport or training. The point was to beat the living crap out of each other. Encyclopedia Dramatica is Fight Club: Internet Edition.

I won't recommend anyone actually GO to ED, but it exists for a reason. It is a space where (mostly) normal people can act like complete jerks and without having to be a jerk to anyone they know. Further, everyone else on the site is there for the exact same reason (God help the troper that clicks the link out of curiosity though). The people who are actually jerks are the ones who spread hate on a site that has another purpose.

So don't hate ED too much... wait what am I saying? You should all hate ED with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.

I'll probably get a little flak for this review, because clearly, I don't get the joke. Encyclopedia Dramatica is just a joke site, you see. The maliciousness is just "for the lulz." Compassion and accountability for your words just aren't cool anymore. Harassing people you've never met, posting extensive articles ripping apart their every action and word, photoshopping degrading pictures of them...well, apparently that's real satire these days.

ED is made from a lot of people all apparently working from the same young, white male hive mind. Women are kidding themselves if they think the constant misogyny dripping from every article is in any way tongue-in-cheek. Now, here's a scary thought: What if their make-me-a-sandwich attitude and endorsement of rape are what the bulk of young, white males offline *really* want to say but can't? Maybe we should hang one of those banners saying "THIS IS WHAT NERDY GUYS ACTUALLY BELIEVE."

As an example, the article on women's preamble is such: "A woman is the useless skin around the vagina. Only topic of interest about a woman is whether she spits or swallows (and if she spits, punch her in the cunt, fuck her, then chuck her). Always remember that women are basically worthless." The rest of the article presents, among other things sure to make you sick to your stomach, suggestions for beating a woman ("feminist") who disagrees with any of this.

THIS IS WHAT ENCYCLOPEDIA DRAMATICA ACTUALLY BELIEVES.

But onto the actual "humor" content, which is more like a regurgitation of memes, fresh and crusty. On ED, when you've seen one article, you've seen 'em all. Expect to see underlined words linking to pages that mean something else entirely ("insightful" links to the "retarded" page, etc.), animated gifs of people embarrassing themselves, and photoshopped images of people in compromising positions. Some of it is funny in a voyeuristic way, but most people will have a difficult time convincing themselves that an scathing entry on a toddler suffering from a severe birth defect is okay.

In summation, Encyclopedia Dramatica represents everything that's wrong with the internet, especially the unmoderated corners: People, especially young males who feel entitled to offend, can say whatever the hell they want with no repercussions. And everyone else keeps laughing along. Good night.

Why is everyone taking ED so seriously? It's a troll site, and if you're offended, they've done their job. There are a lot of rather disturbing articles on there, but like with everything else, people get desensitized to them. While the point of the site just seems to insult things, most of it just seems to be written because of boredom than malicious intent or actual belief. Some of the stuff could be considered satirical, if not necessary well done, and many of the editors are probably fans of many of the things mocked in the pages. I personally think ED is rather entertaining and that it's a good way to keep up with internet drama.

On the main page, it says not to go to this page. DON'T, it's some nasty shtuff. This troper, being curious as she is went to it. That was a mistake. While I have a strong stomach and have seen many a nasty image before, you may not be the same. If you think you're up for the challenge and you're not used to such nastiness, prepare yourself with a bucket, because you are going to throw up if you haven't experienced things like this before.