Slashdot效应（Slashdot effect）也称作slashdotting，指的是当一个受众广泛的网站介绍了另一个小众的网站后，小众网站流量激增的现象。小网站流量的激增使得它的访问速度变慢或者一时间完全不能访问。这个效应的名字来源于科技新闻网站Slashdot，因为每当Slashdot链接到其他的网站时就会给其他网站带来很多流量。这个效应也能应用到其他的网站和元博客（metablog），例如Fark、Drudge Report、Reddit、Twitter和Digg，衍生了一批词汇例如Farked、Drudged、以及受到“Reddit效应的影响”。Google doodle由于会将人引导至和Doodle相关的搜索结果，也会导致相关搜索结果页面的流量激增。通常，不那幺鲁棒的网站因无法处理如此巨大的流量而导致网站无法访问——常见原因有缺乏足够带宽、服务器无法处理这幺多并发请求、配额（quota）已满等。建在虚拟主机上的网站遇到Slashdot效应时往往会变得无法访问。

The Slashdot effect, also known as slashdotting, occurs when a popular website links to a smaller site, causing a massive increase in traffic. This overloads the smaller site, causing it to slow down or even temporarily become unavailable. The name stems from the huge influx of web traffic that would result from the technology news site Slashdot linking to websites. However the name is somewhat dated as flash crowds from Slashdot were reported to be diminishing as of 2005 due to competition from similar sites. The effect has been associated with other websites or metablogs such as Fark, Digg, Drudge Report, Imgur, Reddit, and Twitter, leading to terms such as being Farked or Drudged, being under the Reddit effect, or receiving a "hug of death" from the site in question. Google Doodles, which link to search results on the doodle topic, also result in high increases of traffic from the search results page. Typically, less robust sites are unable to cope with the huge increase in traffic and become unavailable – common causes are lack of sufficient data bandwidth, servers that fail to cope with the high number of requests, and traffic quotas. Sites that are maintained on shared hosting services often fail when confronted with the Slashdot effect.