In a speech on Wednesday night, Matt Ramme, the creator of the popular trivia Web site Sporcle, gave Georgetown students an inside look at the Web site’s evolution since its founding.
According to Ramme, the idea behind the quiz, “Name the U.S. Capitals,” spurred the creation of the Web site.
According to Ramme, he and his wife – a literature connoisseur – enjoyed completing crossword puzzles together before he created Sporcle, although he felt he had little knowledge to contribute. Turning to geography to match his wife’s literary knowledge, Ramme settled on memorizing the U.S. state capitals.
“So, now drunk with power, I had to learn more. I couldn’t stop there and so began my downward spiral to trivia junkieland,” Ramme said.
Ramme searched for a Web site where he could upload his quizzes but found that most were either outdated or required payment, so instead he created his own.
Sporcle’s first big break came on July 4, 2007. The news, photo and site-ranking Web site, Digg, featured the Sporcle quiz, “Name the U.S. Presidents,” on its front page.
“I mean, this little game I made got played 100,000 times,” Ramme said. “I think maybe 20 or 30 people had been to the site before that, so it was, forgive me in saying it, it was pretty cool.”
Soon after, a columnist for The Times of London covered Sporcle during the columnist’s quest to memorize every element on the periodic table. The event helped Sporcle expand internationally, and now, the second highest percentage of users comes from the United Kingdom, after the United States.
Today the Web site has nearly 3,000 published quizzes, with thousands more user-created quizzes behind the fold. Ramme and his team review quizzes before making them available to the Sporcle community. They also make an effort to keep these quizzes updated, according to Ramme.
Sporcle currently employs four people and is financially supported entirely by Internet advertisements. Ramme hopes to keep the Web site free now and in the future. He says he and his colleagues are working on an application for the iPhone and are considering adding sound and video features to quizzes in the future.
Sporcle is no stranger to Georgetown students, some of whom utilize the Web site as a way to take a break from rigorous academics.
“We play Sporcle every day and it’s a great way to distract us from class,” said Wanda Archy (SFS ’13).
At the event, Ramme addressed whether or not Sporcle was more than just a recreational, online game.
“This makes us ask the question, is Sporcle important? Is it more than a diversion during or between classes? I like to think in our own way we are helping people to get smarter and become more aware of their world,” Ramme said.
Some students enjoyed meeting Ramme and learning about Sporcle’s inception.
“Seeing him [Ramme] in person was cool. It put a face to the Web site and the guy responsible for many incomplete homework assignments.” said Alex Sanchez (COL ’13). ”
