The Hairpin

The Hairpin
Type of site
Current events, culture
Available inEnglish
Dissolved2018; 6 years ago (2018)
Created byEdith Zimmerman
Editors
    • Edith Zimmerman
    • Emma Carmichael
    • Haley Mlotek
    • Sylvia Killingsworth
Key peopleMichael Macher
URLthehairpin.com
Launched2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Current statusContent farm

The Hairpin was a women's writer-led website in The Awl network.[1] It was founded in 2010 by Edith Zimmerman. It ceased publication at the end of January 2018.[2]

From 2013 to 2014, The Hairpin was edited by Emma Carmichael,[3] with Jia Tolentino as contributing editor. Haley Mlotek was editor at The Hairpin from 2014 to 2015,[4] with Jazmine Hughes as contributing editor, followed by Alexandra Molotkow.[5][6] The site went on hiatus briefly but was revived in 2016 when Sylvia Killingsworth left The New Yorker to become editor of both The Awl and The Hairpin.[7]

Carmichael described her role as the first new editor at The Hairpin after Zimmerman stepped down in 2013 as "really hard; Edith created a perfectly formed product in The Hairpin and her voice was...The Hairpin".[8]

The Hairpin had been home to several recurring features including Jia Tolentino's "Interview With a Virgin",[9] Jolie Kerr's "Ask A Clean Person",[10] former This American Life producer Jane Marie's makeup tutorial series "How To Be A Girl"[11] and Lindsay King-Miller's advice column "Ask A Queer Chick".[12]

Glen Weldon discussed the demise of The Hairpin as being in response to the decline in advertisement-driven website revenue, making a difficult situation for independent publishers.[13] The URL and brand was resurrected with SEO-optimized AI-generated articles in 2024. Some articles remain, but the bylines have been replaced with generic male names. The new owner, a Serbian DJ named Nebojša Vujinović Vujo, bought the site because it had "great reputation and excellent backlinks." Vujo was able to buy the domain because the previous owners had let it lapse.[1][14]

  1. ^ a b Knibbs, Kate (January 26, 2024). "How Beloved Indie Blog 'The Hairpin' Turned Into an AI Clickbait Farm". Wired. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "A Note About The Hairpin". The Hairpin. January 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 12, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Deadspin's Emma Carmichael Will Replace Edith Zimmerman at The Hairpin". Observer. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  4. ^ Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (30 October 2015). "The Hairpin's Editors Are Leaving". The Observer. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  5. ^ "About". The Hairpin. Archived from the original on October 17, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ Mlotek, Haley (October 30, 2015). "Bye!!!". The Hairpin. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "The Awl Names Silvia Killingsworth as Editor | Cision". 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  8. ^ Emma Carmichael, "Longform Podcast # 118: Emma Carmichael" Longform.org, 19 November 2014.[time needed]
  9. ^ Tolentino, Jia (January 9, 2013). "Interview With a Virgin: Ben". The Hairpin. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ "Tag: Ask a Clean Person". The Hairpin. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ Jane Marie, "How To Be A Girl" on Vimeo.
  12. ^ "Tag: Ask a Queer Chick". The Hairpin. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ Weldon, Glen (19 January 2018). "Is That Awl There Is? Remembering The Awl And The Hairpin". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  14. ^ Loewinger, Micah (February 9, 2024). Meet the Serbian DJ Running an AI Clickbait Business (Radio broadcast). WNYC Studios.