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TomFulp
Hi there! In case you didn't know, I created newgrounds. No, it wasn't made by some giant company - just some dumb kid who now has help. I also co-founded the Behemoth; we made Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. Icon by Pegosho, banner by OmenaKettu.

Age 46, Male

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Glenside, PA

Joined on 12/15/99

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Biography

Posted by TomFulp - March 9th, 2010


We've been working on a series of new docs for the site and I've been evaluating what existing content should carry over and what should get phased out.


While ultimately I think it would be cool to have a "Bio" tab on every user page, at the moment I'm really tempted to remove the old biography I have for myself here on the site.


I wrote the majority of it while I was in high school and it shows. On the plus side, it might resonate better with young users - it's written in a way I wouldn't write now and full of details that seem extremely non-noteworthy in the scope of my life. But maybe it helps everyone relate to me a little more; after all, my modern day e-persona is a bit of an automaton that just tries to filter important news to the NG public and let them make up their own minds about everything else.


So I guess the question is: Have any of you found that reading my bio page brought you closer to the site, or is it just more clutter? Or worse, is it LAME?


Comments

The bio resonated a lot with me when I started coming to NG back in the day. I say keep it.

I think you should keep it. I remember reading it a few years ago when I was in high school and it did help me feel a little closer to the site, much so because it is so personal. It helps show users show how Newgrounds was created and how it developed, the big point being that it is not a faceless corporation and was the creation of some "dumb kid" that evolved into something great. I don't think its clutter, though you should actually update it if you don't delete it.

Or you could just move it to your userpage if the Bio tab is implemented. A bio tab would be a great addition to people's pages if they want their fans to know more about them without having to link them to an external site.

Though when you release these docs, are you going to post them in a way so people can easily find them? Some things on this site are very hard to find, like the icon helpers page.

Hopefully they will be easy to find. We're trying to keep info more unified in one spot.

I enjoyed reading your bio when I first started using NG when I was a teenager. The tone and style showed you were in highschool, but that's what made it appealing. Even the emotear bits about not liking school I was able to relate to at the time, because I was bitter about how my academic life was going.

I would have liked to see some more added to it, like how your views on education and working on your website full time changed how you lived, what it's like raising a kid as a small business owner and any difficulties with health care or bills you may have faced, just that you are a normal guy getting along helps new users relate to you and thus your website. Seeing how tinkering around with Flash in highschool can lead to success.

I've been thinking of updating it but it blends together so much with the Newgrounds site history that it gets hard to decide what goes where anymore. I might give it a shot though.

i Think that you should just get a hang of it. Think it through and make it shorter and a bit clearer so it makes sense. You don't need to rewrite it - just clean it up :)

I say keep it for history's sake, but if you want to update it, and submit the original high school bio to the Literature Portal, that could work too.

If there were a documentary on NG, I would watch it as well.

You shouldn't remove the biography

Edit it if you feel some information should be kept to yourself.

But people really enjoy reading about the life of one's achievement through the use of the internet.

I mean come on dude! You got NG started in your garage back in highschool!

That's saying something!

And now your making games for X box and they are considered some of the best arcade game EVER!

Trust me, it's not wasted space.

I'd like your biography to remain on the site whether it would be where it is now or on the suggested biography section for user pages. It's an interesting read for those who want to know more about the founder of this site. :)

its ok, maybe you should take off the link but keep the page sort of like what you did with the cats etc.

keep the bio. page its cool and if you feel that it needs to be changed, go ahead and change it but its really your option and your the only one that can decide if you like it or not

its lame, but i like the gay picture of you with berries

I ported the bio over but I actually left that picture out.

I read it within a few days of me finally becoming a member. It was easy to comprehend, I think once you reach a certain point in your life you lose your ability to express yourself through writing, or at least as not as well as you used to.

I would leave it up, maybe add it as a link if you make a new one. Staff bios would be pretty sweet.

When I ported it over I structured things in a way to allow future staff bios to fit in well....!

You should keep it. It helps people get to actuly know that the site is run by someone. Not a company. I also think you should update teh LIT page. I love reading all teh hate mail xD makes me feel like less or an ass sometimes

Actually thinking of ditching the hatemail. It's just so... Dickish.

I myself like it. I don't think you should get rid of it.

I like it, it made NG morepersonal for me when I first started visiting

It brought me to my knees :D
Ever since i read your biography, i wanted to work for you guys at Newgrounds HQ when i get older. It would be my dream job! So i'm investing the rest of my life trying to learn flash, web design, coding and anything else that i may be of use to you guys so that one day you will hire me :3
But i'm just a kid :p And your biography is inspirational, Tom.

I think you should keep it, and if possible, update it.

I read it and I thought it was pretty interesting to read some information about you, it felt much more personal than other websites. It is also one of the things that shows that this website is run by a normal guy like any of the people who come here every day, and (as dirtshake and the NG Primer said) not by a faceless corporation.

I updated it when I ported it over, although the recent years are pretty sparse. My life pretty much stabilized in recent years so there isn't a lot to report that isn't directly part of the Newgrounds history page... Which will also be updated when the new docs launch (already did that part). I'll have to keep fleshing it all out over time.

I say not only keep it, but build on it.

Like some sort of retrospect towards your life in high school, you know? I know that I enjoyed it myself, and the fact that you put so much emotion into your life really 'shows' your biography, and doesn't just 'tell' it.

It brought me closer to this site, and I like to see that this site wasn't created by just 'some dumb kid'. I'm grateful that you did it for the fans of newgrounds, and I can't wait for the Bio Tab to come out!

Also, keep the Hate Mail.

It serves as how society has truly changed. Or not. I'm confused on that topic.

To be honest, yes. When I first came to this site, first thing I did was explore the site and I found tones of interesting things, such as screenshots of you and Wade going on business trips, meeting users and old webcam apps; alongside that was a user complaints list that you displayed that were pretty funny at the time, then again everything was funny at 12. I read your biography and it seriously looked like something I could easily read and make sense of, and since then, it has related more and more to my own life, weird. I guess your example was the root of my interest with flash animation and drawing in general. NG community ftw :D

You shouldn't remove your bio as it also tracks your life as a teenager and displays how you have matured over the years, I know I wouldn't want to delete any documented past biography I had written, I'd just add to it. Also a bio tab would be pretty cool, would be interesting to see what others put down, easier way to judge character.

While we are on the subject of website content, the 'Add Movie/Game to favourites' button is broken.

I enjoyed reading your bio just now. It would be fun to read bios of other admins. Also, it could be cool to incorporate a Q & A type thing in the bio tab if it ever surfaces.
JUST SAYIN

I felt that I could understand the passion that went into making this site. You really should keep it; at least for the people that like it.

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