Well we've known this for a while, so I guess now it's confirmed. Just a couple months ago, we discovered: the Internet is... making people... nicer? For instance, Tumblr was designed in a way that ensured that it "didn't have a lot of avenues for negativity," according to that first story! And in today's (actually very charming) Observer story, "There's a lot of incentive and positive reinforcement when you use Tumblr," is what Tumblr founder David Karp said. David Karp is your Internet mind-controller, because he will not install a button that says "I HATE THIS" on his blog platform! Still it is true I guess that no one has killed anyone by way of MySpace recently, so good job, you horrid wenches!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
27
OMG THAT PICTURE OMG
I KNOW. The mamacita in me wants to post pics of my own little benglet, who is herself handicapped, but it only adds to the awwww factor.
First.
alexbalk liked your post
Kige Ramsey likes this.
I like your mom too!
"Can I do a favor now for this person so they'll do one for me later? Some people feel that's really stressful and that everyone's operating, but I feel like that the ambition, for most people, is to be happy and successful, and from a Buddhist perspective that's something to be supported."
Yeah, that's some kind of spin you put on that, PR lady.
Also, how is this ("ELEGANT PIECE, MS. BAKER") an actual quote in an actual newspaper?!?! This article is just making me ANGRY, I need to go back into the warm, protective bubble of Tumblr and put some little red hearts on shit.
I think we're actually too *lazy* to kill each other over the internet anymore rather than too nice, but that's just me. I'm a glass half full guy.
Why kill people over the internet when you can use it to torment your teenage daughter's peers and drive them to suicide?
If we're all so nice, why's everyone harshing on killing? It's not so bad! (You turned me out/and you turned me on...)
As long as there's ample avenues for pornographic content, the internet will thrive.
These claims of Internet-borne niceness would seem to not exactly square with the phenomenon of "nexting" that is outlined in the video posted earlier. (And let's not even get into the idea of public nice vs. private nice! Oh, eighth grade.)
I fucking quit.
There is a dark side to this. It sort of raises the bar for niceness. On tumblr, there is a lot of sturm und drang when people don't receive a ticker-tape parade at the conclusion of every post. "I don't feel like I can say that I don't like David Foster Wallace because everyone won't agree with me when I say it. That's censorship or a Foucault something-something, you guys!" "Oh noes! Someone unfollowed me! How do they dare to choose who they're reading!" Or whatever it's about... As always, Rich fourfour has a timely and relevant post on the mentality: http://fourfour.typepad.com/fourfour/2010/02/oscarbatory.html.
This is really true. It has gotten to the point where people now send sad, emoticon-laden emails if you neglect to Like something that they had assumed you were going to Like. (You know who you are, people who do this.)
(I'm one of those people probably)
alexbalk liked your comment
wait really?
That's why everyone needs a reliable follower or two who will like every post no matter how stupid it is. It's good for the self-esteem!
Also: makes people more attractive.
Well, 4chan it ain't, but the contention that Tumblr predisposes its users, who are in general the new level of Internet-stupid, toward positivity is empirically false. An inability to instantly click THIS SUCKS does not preclude writing elaborate postings, complete with "reblogged" content from other creators and shitty HTML, explaining how much this, in fact, sucks.
No Internet platform that isn't an unmoderated comments section permitting anonymous users has cultivated this much stupidity. And then they reblog each other's stupidity.
Of course it's fashionable, but Tumblr is the Wrong People's Internets.
I looked at your blog, man. Somebody likes to fight on the internet! Shoot! Is it like a Canadian thing where it's not a good comment thread until someone metaphorically does that weird hockey fighting thing where you pull each other's shirt off (which I like very much)?
But for real, Choire, Maura, Mike Barthel, and that nerdshares lady (I don't know her real name; I'm not a stalker) are all on tumblr. So, until they take their heads somewhere else, you're wrong.
Yes, like how the presence of Momus on LiveJournal proves its population norm is one-eyed crooner æsthetes.
Meanwhile, Nick Denton actually monetizes and profits off his publishing business, all while tormenting any subject they can find over there AND firing people left and right. That fact is conveniently left out of this piece.
Nice!
So is it too late for me to tell everyone here to go fuck themselves? I don't want people to think I'm not hip to the latest trends.