slashdot effect

1. An immediate surge in hit rate on a webserver caused by an announcement on a high-traffic website; a Nivenesque "flash crowd".

2. An unintentional denial of service to a website as a result of a surge in hit rate following an announcement on a high-traffic website.

See also: slashdotted
Bill Joy's _Dangers of Lego Blocks_ site succumbed to the slashdot effect scant hours after going live.
by Tarrasque November 19, 2002
Get the slashdot effect mug.

slashdot effect

A.K.A. Slashdotting, Slashdotted, etc.

Refers to the effect a Slashdot post has on a website. Because of slashdot's gigantic audience, any link placed there quickly goes down; very few sites can handle such huge traffic coming to their site.
Though the slashdot effect is similar to a denial of service, most webmasters don't mind the huge publicity and traffic to their site.
by progamer124 May 12, 2004
Get the slashdot effect mug.