This has nothing to do with Sgt Pepper and everything to do with Sgt Penguin. Today is the second anniversary of Slap the Penguin, or My Twist as it was called 731 days ago. The first ever post was published on 22nd July 2010 and was titled "Easy Targets - Mel Gibson and BP"
 |
| The first ever post when we were called My Twist |
I called the site My Twist, because it was originally going to be a comical commentary on the current news stories, not unlike a Jay Leno monologue. Somehow, the word news was appended and the site became known as My Twist News.
The site quickly developed from a news commentary site to a satirical news site, where some news stories were exaggerated or even completely fabricated, in order to meet the demands of the growing readership.
By moving through the archives, you can see for yourself how the writing style and content developed, and how the presentation became more sophisticated as experience and skill with the blogging platform increased.
 |
| A montage of images from the first week of posts |
Exploring the archive is also a great way to be reminded of old news stories which you may have forgotten. The archives are also a great way for newer readers to catch up on older stories which they missed.
It took barely a month to realise that spewing out masses of quality content each week was too much for just one person, so in August 2010 I enlisted the help of two writers to lighten the load. Jack and Brad were both a great fit, each with their own style and area of expertise, however, the site was still missing something, until later that month when Tina joined the crew.
Things ran fairly smoothly for almost a year, and then in June 2011, the My Twist News team took a break in an attempt to recover from some behind the scenes stress. The break lasted longer than any of us anticipated and we didn't return until September 2011.
Our triumphant return came with a new name and a thinned out team, since Jack chose not to return with us. This was the moment that Slap the Penguin was born, and another slight change in direction happened. We were outgrowing the category of satirical news, and needed to reinvent the site.
November 2011 saw another expansion in the STP writing department, with Menaj joining us at the beginning of the month and Alexa at the end. Unfortunately, Menaj only stuck with us for 3 months, but he did contribute some good material.
 |
| Our image consultant is taking things literally again |
Mid March 2012 saw another burnout period and the entire team took a well deserved break from writing. There was a moment when it looked like none of us wanted to come back, but everything came together in June as we rebooted the penguin and carried on where we left off.
Now it's July 22nd 2012 and it's been a bumpy ride from Mel Gibson's mouth and the BP oil spill to where we are today. I would like to say how much I have loved every single moment on this site....
On behalf of all of the writers, past and present, through our many incarnations, I sincerely thank everybody who has visited this site and given us a reason to continue slapping the penguin.
Tweet
No comments :
Post a Comment