The Grenade is Something Awful's symbol, similar to the Newgrounds Tank.
Something Awful is a comedy website that features funny images, articles, reviews, and forums. It was created in 1999 by the late Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka, who used the site to showcase his writing, in a similar manner as to how Tom Fulp initially used Newgrounds to display his game. Since its founding, Something Awful has had a major impact on internet culture. However, the site has gained some notoriety from charging a one-time fee of $9.95 for use of its forums, a privilege that's usually free on other websites, including on Newgrounds's BBS.[1][2]
Influence on Newgrounds[]
The Something Awful tradition of photoshopping images has spread to Newgrounds, where many threads are now based around modifying images with humorous intent. Several popular memes also originate from the site, including Slender Man, "I Can Has Cheezburger?" and the All Your Base craze, which has its own collection on Newgrounds.[3]
Something Awful itself has also been referred to in a variety of Newgrounds movies. In the animation eBaums world dot com, a Lemon Demon animation that is featured in the Flash Portal History for 2005, Something Awful was cited as one of the websites that Eric Bauman stole content from.
Internet Significance[]
According to Wikipedia Since it was created in 1999, the site has become quite noted in internet circles. Its forums have over 165,000 accounts, which is significant, considering users have to pay to join. A few notable events, include a conflict with the Spam Prevention Early Warning System; the hurricane Katrina difficculties, when PayPal blocked thousands of dollars of donations and William Freund posting a question about ammunition on the site before a shooting.