Gossip blog PopSugar is a lot like a Web version of real sugar. The site is enticingly sweet and, as the tagline proclaims, “insanely addictive.” Launched in 2005, the San Francisco-based blog makes a point of avoiding the condescending celebrity jibes that are the stock-in-trade of some of their competitors.
PopSugar is the flagship site of the Sugar Network, which now includes nine women’s interest Web sites, such as PopSugar for fashion, YumSugar for cooking and SavvySugar for financial planning. The site’s original editor, Lisa Sugar, began the project as a hobby that has now grown into a huge business with several million visitors a month. Says Lisa’s husband and editor-in-chief, “We’re all grown up now.”
While some gossip blogs are short of journalistic skills, favoring personal commentary over reporting, PopSugar’s battery of writers bring a slick, magazine-quality writing style to the table, making the site reliable, readable and fun.
With more actual news than sleaze, PopSugar covers celebrity stories, baby bumps and relationship updates, but also keeps readers informed of notable television and movie premieres, fashion news and up-and-coming trends.
The site is created for women, and it shows in the choice of photo features. Instead of the topless bikini photos prevalent on the sites targeting men, the emphasis at PopSugar is on actresses with their clothes on, letting readers see the latest fashions their favorite celebs choose.
Eye candy in the form of sexy (and sometimes shirtless) hunks makes regular appearances on PopSugar, from Ryan Phillipe showing off his muscles in a tank top to Taylor Lautner riding a motorcycle while clad in leather. Other photo features let readers guess the celebrity (faces are blurred out) in candid shots that are always picked to be surprising.
PopSugar maintains several interactive features, hosting a forum where registered users can share their opinions on hot celebrity topics and weigh in on current controversies. Readers can also share their own photos and videos with friends on the site.
