Online Unloading

'Handmade? It looks like you made it with your feet."

That's the tagline for regretsy.com, the mockery Web site that aims to incite laughter at the expense of the crafts on the more popular etsy.com - a hipster marketplace where artists from around the world sell original and (mostly) cool wares. Baby clothes. Jewelry. Dog pillows.

But truth be told, some of the items for sale on etsy are eyebrow-raisers - not in a good way. And that's where regretsy comes in.

Some of the items that regretsy targets need little explanation, such as the knitted poncho for a baby chicken or the moose-poop nugget necklace. In other cases, the site throws in its own commentary, highlighting the obvious absurdity like the narration paired with those Funniest Home Videos.

"Christmas nativity meerkats" - $55 crocheted versions of the Christian holy family - are shown with a reading from Mongoose 2:15-20: "When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see the meerkats, which the Lord has told us about on Animal Planet.' "

Certainly the artists who pour their heart and creative juices into these projects don't appreciate the ridicule. But the rest of the world sure does: The site was launched Oct. 1 and had more than five million visitors a week later.

The site strives to blend humor with criticism, said Gina Loukareas, a spokeswoman for regretsy.

"Mean is easy, but funny is hard. . . . I think it's human to judge each other," said Loukareas, who helps monitor the site. "We've read comments threads about the site, where people say, 'Well, I personally don't like those crafts, but I would only tell my friends.' Making fun with your friends doesn't make you more virtuous than doing it anonymously on a Web site."

Sir Isaac Newton told us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. He was referencing physics, but the theory seems to hold true for the Internet, too: For every successful idea or product, there is an equal or opposite outlet for making fun of it.

So etsy has regretsy. Facebook gets its daily comeuppance on lamebook.com. Wal-Mart finds its customers unflatteringly depicted on peopleofwalmart.com. Locally, septafail.com allows public-transport users to vent their frustrations, and hundreds of others are part of the "fail movement" as highlighted on failblog.org. Just attach "fail" to any word - Phillies fail, motherhood fail, job fail - and you've got life parceled and judged.

David Grazian, a professor and undergraduate chairman of the sociology department at the University of Pennsylvania, said that in some ways, the anonymity of the Internet does away with "civil inattention," that same instinct that keeps people from commenting on the spinach stuck between their dinner partner's teeth. In other words, when online, people don't feel pressure to hold their tongues. It's the same phenomenon that happens on Web sites' comments sections. Within minutes, the conversation can go from civil to sinful.

"With the Internet, we're no longer held accountable for our action," Grazian said. "Without the usual social sanctions that keep society civil, it breaks down into mockery and meanness."

Andrew Kipple, one of the creators of peopleofwalmart.com, has heard that accusation before. His site, too, went viral, launching in August and attracting more than six million hits one day in late October. The premise is simple: Users submit photos of absurd things they've witnessed while shopping in Wal-Mart, generally fellow shoppers with somewhat questionable - maybe even offensive - fashion choices.

"We're making fun of poor decisions," said Kipple, a law student in Indiana. The site will not accept photos of people with physical or mental disabilities, and users who submit photos are supposed to get the permission of the person photographed.

"You can go to Wal-Mart wearing whatever you want but there is a level of appropriateness. Goodwill sells whole shirts. There's no reason for you to wear a half shirt and cutoffs. You don't have to look like you're ready for the runway, but if you're 300 pounds, you shouldn't wear a pink mesh tube top."

"To be honest," he added, "I'd have thought we'd have run out of material by now. America doesn't disappoint."

Besides, say many of the people administering mockery sites, criticism is normal. "That's happened since the beginning of time," said Loukareas of regretsy. "Maybe the Internet allows us to do it faster and be more transparent and creative about our judgments, but it's who we've always been."

Yet who wants to be the source of others' amusement? Even though lamebook.com obscures people's photos and names, some Facebook users have unhappily recognized themselves on the site. If you find yourself a target on lamebook and want out, you can request that cocreator Jonathan Standefer take it off (and he will).

Others choose to engage in the conversation.

"Some of the more popular posts are the ones that have those people involved," he said.

Standefer and a friend, both Texas-based graphic designers, got the idea for the site last year after witnessing many "lame" friends on Facebook. That can mean couples who are oogly-googly over each other on status updates, friends who fight on wall postings or individuals who think it's OK to announce their sexually transmitted disease and drunken adventures in a public forum.

"People overshare on the Internet," Standefer said. "My favorite ones used to to be the mushy ones, but the fights are the funniest. It's like fighting drunk with one of your friends, but everyone else is in the room."
Standefer hopes the site isn't seen as mean-spirited. He sees it as "a shared eye-rolling."

"We've all had moments when we cringe over things we've seen on Facebook," he said, "and this is a way to vent."

Still seems evil? There actually are benefits to anonymous venting, especially when it comes to confronting bureaucracies. A concealed identity allows people who might normally feel intimidated the ability to speak the truth. "It's a wonderful tool for citizens who want to make their officials more accountable," Grazian said.

When Albert Yee created septafail.com, he wanted to have a little fun at SEPTA's expense. A freelance photographer, Yee posted photos of SEPTA-related snafus, such as an alarm system that was disconnected or a sign posted by a prankster at a station detailing how the transit system is open to everyone, including "gentrifying transplants, raging maniacs, tourists, obnoxious Penn students, corner boys, pimps, drunk rich kids who still think Old City is cool, and terrified suburbanites who tremble with unease at the sight of everyone."

But soon after creating the site earlier this year, Yee started getting e-mails from people complaining about the transit agency - service, accessibility, scheduling. He decided to post the e-mails directly to the site.

Although SEPTA hasn't approached Yee, he knows someone within the organization is reading: His Web statistics show multiple hits from the agency's domain name.

"I would love for this site to help SEPTA. It shows them how many people are fed up with certain things," Yee said. "It's an outlet for passengers. People see that the problems they have are universal, and it's almost a relief to say, 'I'm not the only crazy one.' "

Indeed, these sites actually may help the entities they mock. Kipple of peopleofwalmart.com said people had told him they were going to return to Wal-Mart after years of staying away. Similarly, lamebook fans have told Standefer they're spending more time on the social networking site looking for things to send in.

Adam Brown, a spokesman for etsy, said even regretsy creates more business.

"We don't want people's feelings to be hurt, but if it's bringing in more traffic, that's good," Brown said. "I feel like now some people have started making things specifically for regretsy."

Regretsy.com keeps a tally of which mocked items have been sold, and it's impressive to see that the misspelled "You are magnicifent" sign and the miniature denture keychain were, indeed, snatched up. So were those Christmas nativity meerkats. Don't worry, though. According to the seller, there are more.