Slashdot was preceded by rob malda 's personal website chips & dips, which launched in october 1997, [13] featured a single rant each day about something that interested its author รขโ‚ฌ typically รขโ‚ฌยฆ Slashdot (sometimes abbreviated as /. ) is a social news website that originally billed itself as news for nerds. Stuff that matters.