Here They Come to Snuff The Rooster.

Over the weekend, Dean Allen unexpectedly killed his survival-of-the-funniest Twitter curation site Favrd with a glib, abrupt, and profane announcement. The nugget:

There are still lots of clever and funny things to read every day, but finding these is no longer a challenge – you already follow your sources. Sites like this one now serve mainly as fuel for emotional up-fuckedness in the guise of a game.

Although I never had much luck with Favrd—my most favorited tweets only gathered a handful of stars, the majority coming from fellow Pittsburgher Jason Logue—it undoubtedly sharpened my game. Competing for laughs with the likes of Tim Siedell, Jason Sweeney, and Dan Wineman will have that effect. But while Favrd’s rising tide raised all tweets, it also created the conditions that ultimately forced its demise. What started as a daily bulletin board for Twitter’s funniest quickly mutated into a destination for shameless ego-boosting. This is not a new concept, Favrd just made it quantifiable.

Since I come not only to bury Favrd, but also to praise it, Favrd had another unintended consequence: people became friends. They didn’t “friend” each other, mind you. They became real-life, meatspace friends. And out of this accidental syndicate came tweetups, collaborations, and iPhone apps. It also spawned two, uh, “short films”: SeoulBrother’s two-fisted eff-you to John Gruber and Skyward, Geoff Barnes’ “We Are The World” to the tweet incubator app, Birdhouse—not to mention Birdhouse itself. Not a bad legacy (your move, Favstar).

If you’re looking for a proper eulogy, I’m hardly the person to deliver it. Besides, there are plenty out there already. But I can’t say I’m not gonna miss it. Favrd is dead. Long live Favrd.