The first website started out as viedemerde.fr, originally on an IRC channel which allowed a few friends in France to exchange FML stories with each other. The IRC channel then became a microblog in January 2008. As the general interest in the stories reached a wider audience, the website grew and developed to the point where an international English language version seemed necessary, and is now available. Well yeah, you're on it, so you already knew that.
This version has already been known under several working titles. Under the advice of numerous visitors, the name we've decided to keep is Fmylife (a great idea from Jessy Cyganczuk). The website works thanks to a few voluntary administrators: Frans the Scotsman, Alan the Brit, Pauline the Australian, Guillaume & Didi the Frenchies (who will probably be able to speak English correctly when pigs grow wings).
It was a pleasant surprise to see FML stories coming in not only from the UK and the US, but from all over the world. Therefore, we have already been able to scientifically prove that a new form of life has appeared on earth: an F my life!
We've now got a 'members only' area which allows you to have your own F***mylife account, with many extra advantages like your profile page, you can receive comment notifications on an FML you've commented on, get sent a newsletter... and many more to come. Sign up now!
All your advice, comments and ideas are welcome, so: spill the beans.
Today Shit Happens,
What A Fail,
Fuck My Life....
For the guy who paid for all these domain names, and the one that had to change the banners 3 times, FML
#1 - On 01/13/2009 at 6:00pm by vdm
#6 this is the original site, like it says in the blog it is related to viedemerde.fr and exists since january 2008, all the others are just copies.
I've not ever been kind in my comments (and been abusively moderated, btw), disappointed by several decisions of the staff you took earlier. But this time I must say I totally agree with you, and F***MyLife is far far more adapated to the spirit of this website than the previous titles.
Congratulations so, and I hope this time things are going to go on well, as you hope.
#10 - On 01/14/2009 at 4:15am by Monsieur N
Well Monsieur N you're not the only one who annoyingly got moderated a lot... anyway this feels like a good name :) Good luck with it boys!
#11 - On 01/14/2009 at 12:46pm by Thibaud
I prefer this name actually :D
Frankly FAIL seemed out of context sometimes...
And we can finally make accounts ! w00t
#12 - On 01/14/2009 at 1:40pm by DivideByZero
#10, #11, #12, Thank you for your support:)
DivideByZero... what about your picture? We are still waiting:)
#14 - On 01/14/2009 at 3:35pm by Didi
(0)Oh, I liked FAIL... but this one is good too ^^
*goes to sign up*
#18 - On 01/14/2009 at 6:57pm by Aquamarine
so glad FML is back, but does every entry need to start with "Today?" It often times seems out of context.
#19 - On 01/15/2009 at 12:22am by johnsmith
Oh, thank you for bringing it back! It just made me so happy! I was about to give up on the site, clicked my bookmark one last time, and did a double take. Thank you!
#20 - On 01/15/2009 at 2:32am by No longer Bummed
(0)ha c'est chouette, we can sign up now :D
i'm not registered on VDM cos my french is veryvery limited..
oh and i do hope you keep the name, it was getting confusing
Hey, another xxxxxxx.com lookalike site...Good deal guys!
Keep up the good work...
#25 - On 01/15/2009 at 11:33am by Johnny
(0)You guys,
Like the new name a lot!! good stuff.
#25: this IS the original. 1) it looks a million times better than xxxxxxxx.com which is a half-assed depressing grayscale piece of shit and 2) xxxxx life has a lot of stolen and poorly translated french vdms. look'em up and you'll see which ones got published first.
Hail FML!!
P.S.: Fly Eagles fly!!!
(0)Oh by the way, when you go over the FML number with the mouse, it still says "FAIL comments"... just FYI if you meant to change it.
#30 - On 01/15/2009 at 10:14pm by Aquamarine
#30 Hi Aquamarine:)
OMG you're right! Thank you very much. We are going to fix it.
#31 - On 01/16/2009 at 3:12am by Didi
Thanks so much for bring FML back! All the FAIL type sites are all the same. You guys are great!
#32 - On 01/17/2009 at 4:24am by E Flo
I just found FML & I love it! I feel much better about myself now!
#33 - On 01/18/2009 at 12:09am by louisiana
(0)Good name but do you think you can talk about other people with F*ck *My* life as the phrase "VDM" can be used to talk about somebody else's shitty life too (and not only your own) since it is more neutral? I don't really know how to explain but I think "WAF" was more adaptable. I found it more striking too but as I am not a Native, it could be just me.^^
Hihi, this reminds me of long series of comments when the delightful "Today Shit Happens" version of VDM was created. No one would listen, and _finally_ a title that makes sense has been chosen ^^
#36 - On 01/26/2009 at 6:07am by ParadoX
#35 Hi Sassie! I know what you mean. It's a little bit different, but don't worry, it works - same effect.
#37 - On 01/26/2009 at 9:38am by Didi
Hi guys, and thanks for the good work.
May I suggest though that the FML story selection be more restrictive? I know I'm going to sound like a mood killer but a lot of present FMLs wouldn't be published on the French counterpart, either because they're not funny/pathetic enough or because they're too gross. Prefering quality over quantity would help making FML as good as VDM.
Cheers
#39 - On 01/28/2009 at 11:58am by Kev
Yes! Thank you for retiring "what-a-fail" since I wanted to punch someone everytime i heard that name. At that pace i was going, I would be in the ER and facing 5-10 in prison.
#40 - On 01/28/2009 at 12:11pm by Egadsman
#39 Hi Kev,
I understand what you mean. Don't worry, I think quality will be better and better, because the more visitors we get, the more we'll be able to get interesting stories to post.
#42 - On 01/30/2009 at 10:12am by Didi
I liked WAF better. FML is fine too...though i usually say WTF
#43 - On 01/31/2009 at 12:44pm by Spider
OMG you guys changed the name again!! haha I doubt you'll ever find one that would satisfy everybody so you should just stick with this one... Definitely FML for whoever has to make all the changes when the name gets modified.
#44 - On 01/31/2009 at 4:32pm by smurfette
(0)I have been telling every single one of my friends about this website today at school, and have been making status updates on Facebook about fmylife.com. And every friend of mine who went on the website loves it. Ive been going on every day now. It is so AWESOME.
Also, maybe when the site gets big enough, maybe having a forum would be a good idea? Hmm?!
(0)Oh, also: There's a small typo in the profile settings section: Under email, where it states whether or not your email has been verified, it says this: "Statut : Your email address has been confirmed :)"
I believe "Statut" should be "Status"...?
(0)You're welcome. Also, if you guys or anyone else have Facebooks, I created a fan page for your website.
We already have a facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/fml#/pages/FML/55821604168?ref=ts
#50 - On 02/01/2009 at 3:17pm by Guillaume
I'm one of many who wrote a big post on why FML was better. WAF just wasn't funny, so I stopped visiting. I stumbled on it like I did the first time around and saw the name went back to FML, and here I am again laughing at misfortune.
So you've got one visitor back. :D
#53 - On 02/16/2009 at 11:28am by That Guy
can i just suggest a new category "your mom jokes gone bad" or something to that effect there seems to be a lot of those
#58 - On 02/21/2009 at 6:28am by sac
(0)i think you should be able to befriend people so you can follow there accounts easier and find cool stuff
#59 - On 02/21/2009 at 7:13pm by holynemesis1208
It would be nice to be able to save my favorite f**ked up stories.
#60 - On 02/25/2009 at 9:28pm by Ahsatan78
Hi Ahsatan78,
If you have a members account you can save FMLs to your favorites. Check out my account, you'll see my favorites ;)
(0)Is it possible to place a cookie so I don't have to log in manually every time I come to the site?
#62 - On 03/02/2009 at 4:32am by slayermet420
You need a "so what?" option besides "your life is fucked" and "you deserve it"... some of these anecdotes are mostly a "yeah but... how does this affect you actually, this is just something that happened regardless?"
#64 - On 03/03/2009 at 6:46am by Pomax
(0)I have a suggestion... I think an option in addition to 'your life is fucked' and 'you deserved that' should be 'that's not really THAT bad,' or something along those lines. It seems that many of these FMLs aren't *that* terrible, so an option like that would be nice :)
Oh whoops that suggestion is right above me! Okay maybe that means you should add it ;)
(0)This version has already been known under several working titles. Under the advice of numerous visitors, the name we've decided to keep is f***mylife (a great idea from Jessy Cyganczuk). The website works thanks to a few volontary adminstrators
I think "volontary" is spelt wrong.
(0)Seems like traffic is really picking up on this site and the general response time is slowing down. Seems like some new servers will be needed soon.
(0)This website is great, I love viewing others pain and laughing about it.
#70 - On 03/21/2009 at 4:21pm by Commentator
(0)i love this website guys(:
and the name rocks, hope it stays for good.
#71 - On 03/25/2009 at 8:17pm by lizziebugg92
(0)love the site but have a (maybe stupid) question: How do I favorite an FML post?? I've looked everywhere but I can't find a link to click or anything and there are no instructions when I go to "My favorite FML."
#76 - On 04/05/2009 at 8:41pm by photogblue
(0)i have a question. i sent in my FML today and it hasnt been confirmed and i dont know why.
does anyone know?
#77 - On 04/07/2009 at 3:41pm by peacevitalove
(0)#77...it's not good enough. If it makes you feel better, I've submitted 3 in the past month and none have been confirmed.
#78 - On 04/10/2009 at 1:54am by photogblue
(0)I think with the enormous quantity of FML posted, a lot of the good ones are lost in the voting stages and then alot of shitty ones are pushed to the choosing stages. I honestly don't see how "Today, I was telling my sister about how I am horribly depressed and how I can't function and she responded with, "Oh, shit! I've got to go Jeopardy is on!" FML" is funnier than "Today, while talking to my lesbophobic roommate, I dropped a huge plastic dildo from a rolled up shirt onto the ground. I was cleaning out under my bed a week ago, and hid it there thinking she would never see it. She won't talk to me now, and I have to live with her for the next 6 months. FML." Some of them just really suck, and it's disappointing to see so many good ones just die.
#80 - On 04/15/2009 at 11:01am by SpammityCalamity
(0)what are the odds of my actually posts being accepted. so far ive put up two and i see some peoples profiles havent had any accepted posts. just curious :)
calisto
#86 - On 07/29/2009 at 12:16pm by fangbanger90
