| Type of site | Sex, relationships and culture |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 1997 (1997) |
| Owner | HowAboutWe |
| Created by | Rufus Griscom and Genevieve Field |
| Editor | Peter Smith |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Current status | Defunct |
Nerve, or Nerve.com, was an American online magazine dedicated to sexual topics, relationships and culture. Founded by Rufus Griscom and Genevieve Field, Nerve published articles and photography on its website and several books, in partnership with Chronicle Books and Three Rivers Press. It also hosted blogs (one of the first sites to do so without fees), forums and a section for personal advertisements. Although they originated on Nerve, Nerve Personals eventually became part of a larger network of over 100 websites and print publications.
In 1999, Nerve was nominated for the Webby Award for "Print and Zines" while under the editorship of Jack Murnighan.
In 2005, under editor-in-chief Michael Martin, Nerve was nominated for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online. The other nominees were The Atlantic, BusinessWeek, Consumer Reports and Style.com. Of the nomination, AdAge said Nerve was "the only original online publication in the bunch ... The judges' write-up called Nerve 'brainy and brash' with a 'youthful spin on sexuality style' ... It's not only redefined the model for profitable niche publishing, it's also one of the freshest editorial voices to come along in years." Under Martin's editorship, the site was nominated for a 2007 National Magazine Award for Best Interactive Feature, a 2007 Webby Award for Best Copy/Writing (alongside The New Yorker) and another National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online in 2008 for its spinoff publication, Babble.com.
Nerve was one of the first publications to publish photoblogs. They followed a number of young photographers daily, including Clayton James Cubitt, Naughty James, Ryan Pfluger and Cate & Camilia.
In January 2014, Nerve was acquired by HowAboutWe, which was in turn purchased by InterActiveCorp (IAC) less than six months later. After a long period without updates, the Nerve.com archives were taken offline on January 9, 2018, and the domain began redirecting to www.datehookup.com.
References
- Violet Blue (January 31, 2019). "How sex censorship killed the internet we love". Engadget. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- Wortham, Jenna (December 14, 2011). "Nerve.com Introduces a Hip Dating Site — Again". The New York Times.
- Donaton, Scott (April 25, 2005). "What Nerve! How a sexy site has redefined online magazines". Advertising Age.
- "On Always on".
- Roberts, Daniel (January 29, 2014). "HowAboutWe buys Nerve.com". Fortune. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
- Isaac, Mike (July 14, 2014). ""Digital Love, Consolidated: IAC Buys HowAboutWe Dating Site"". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
- "Wayback Machine: www.nerve.com". Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
