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About

Shock Sites are websites that are designed to offend or startle the viewer. According to description provided by Wikipedia^[1], such sites are typically of a "pornographic, scatological, extremely violent, insulting, painful, profane, or provocative nature." A person may be linked to a shock site directly, asked to view one "as a challenge," or through Bait and Switch. "Traditional" shock sites are intended to get an immediate reaction and generally fall into one of the following categories.

Pictures – Displaying a static image:
Example: Goatse

Flash loop – Short looping SWF video clip, usually set to music
Example: Meatspin

Video – Extended video, usually not set to music
Example: swap.avi

Virus – Displaying shock content and simultaneously crashing the viewer's browser or harming the viewer's computer
Example: Last Measure^[2]

There are also "Nontraditional" shock sites that can be just as provocative, but instead offend in a subtler way by attacking the viewer's principles (covered later in the entry).

Bait and Switch

The most common way to get people to view a shock site is through the bait and switch technique. The practice involves sending a link to a victim, and suggesting that they should open the link because of some incentive (humor, information, service, etc.). However, the link will not be what was suggested.

Example of Bait and Switch being used for Shock Sites

For the complete article on Bait and Switch, click here.

Rotten.com

Founded in 1996, Rotten.com^[3] was one of the first sites on the web to curate morbid, graphic, and perverse content. Many shock images that still get passed around on sites such as 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica originated on Rotten.com.

Goatse

For the complete article on Goatse, click here.

List of Popular Shock Sites and Compilations

Here is a list of some of the most notorious traditional shock sites:

- Goatse.cx
- Funnelgirl
- 2 Girls 1 Cup
- Jizztini
- Church of Fudge
- Meatspin
- Zippocat
- Bluewaffle.net
- Tubgirl
- Mr. Hands
- Pain Olympics
- eFukt
- 1guy1jar
- Stile Project
- Last Measure
- Lemonparty
- Cakefarts
- Eel Girl
- 3Guys1Hammer
- Whoomp.org
- Weticecream.com
- JarSquatter.com
- Specialfriedrice.net

Here is a list of some traditional shock site compilations:

- Ballsack.org
- Discharges.org
- Shock Horror Media
- Gardener Plants ^[2]
- Ogrish.com
- Rotten.com

Most shock videos cannot be uploaded to YouTube without being taken down quickly because of their offensive content, and thus require the internet user to watch the video on another website.

One shock video, however, called Goosh Goosh has not been for three years.

"Ethical" Shock Sites

These websites are not usually pornographic or scatological in nature, but instead offend the viewer's principles. They sometimes offer a "realistic" service or product, but are mostly hoaxes.

The most infamous example would be Bonsai Kittens, also known as Rectilinear Kittens. This was a hoax claiming that kittens could be raised in a container for the purpose of molding the kitten into a specific shape.

Another example is Dog Island, a site advertising for a fictional land where thousands of dogs without homes can be sent to live out the rest of their days enjoying wonderful encounters with bears and hurricanes.

Examples

- Bonsai Kittens
- Puppy Beef
- Child Trader
- AIDS Mapper
- Kids Concentration Camps
- Victims of Children
- Abortion Tracker
- CheapAbortions.com

Reaction Videos

The spin-off of Shock Sites are reaction videos, where the viewer records his/her reaction while or after they look at the shock site. The most famous example of a Shock Site producing reaction videos is 2 Girls 1 cup. Examples include:

Reaction to 2 Girls 1 Cup

Reaction to Meatspin

Reaction to 2 Guys 1 Hole

Reaction to 2 Guys 1 Horse

Search Interest by Region

External References

^[1] Wikipedia

^[2] Encylopedia Dramatica (Very NSFW)

^[3] Rotten.com