Sometimes the amount of negativity and judgmentalness on the internet leaves me slack-jawed. Not just the amount, but the tone. The pure, unnecessary, intrusively blasé, fart-in-your-face
tone of it all. "I've just come here to ruin your day, because I can." It makes me wonder, what do these people
do after leaving their comments that are more akin to a flaming bag of poo left on a doorstep than actual human discourse? Do they do something ordinary, like pour a cup of coffee or feed their dog or brush their teeth? I somehow imagine them doing all this, but wearing a Twisty the Clown mask. Do they feel the satisfaction of a job well done after posting, or is it immediately forgotten as they go about their (presumably normal) day? I'm almost fascinated by this.
When I say negative and judgmental, I'm not referring to sarcasm or criticism, as long as it's at least
somewhat thought out. I'm talking about negativity for the sake of negativity, and not just in a way I would call "trolling." Trolling, to me, is leaving a comment like "u suk" or "ur gay I hope u die!1" These comments are a bit more thought out than that, which makes them just that much more maddening. "ur gay" can be ignored, but this is the kind of negativity that sticks in your craw just enough to sour your experience.
For instance, I just got off of Facebook, and two posts in my feed were subject to this brand of Debbie Downerism. One was a cute video of kittens playing, and there were SEVERAL comments criticizing THE WAY THE PERSON WAS PLAYING WITH THE KITTENS. Yes, there are multiple people following a facebook page who took time out of their day to complain that
kittens weren't being played with properly. (The kittens were not being treated rough in any way, it was completely ordinary.) I'm just like, where do you go with your life after that? You turned a kitten video into something negative. Congratulations? Is that what you want? I AM MYSTIFIED.
I scroll down to a post from Joel Hodgson, one of my favorite people on the planet, where he shows his solidarity with the French magazine writers who were killed yesterday. A classy thing to do, case closed. BUT WAIT... classy, you say? I see your classiness and raise you my giant asshole! And I quote: "This is basically slacktivism. Just saying that means nothing, you actually have to be willing to act like that the writers and carttonists of of the magazine did."
Okay. Where do I even start with this? I'll let it slide that this is a complete nobody speaking to a famous humorist... um, who exactly has done more for free speech here? But that aside. This kind of literal translation completely misses the point of living in a society. Not everyone is going to be the leader of a movement, some people are supporters. That is not "slacktivism," and jesus how I hate expressions like that. Showing support through an internet post, especially if you're a famous person with lots of followers, is a perfectly valid way of communicating something. Because everyone who reads that will take a moment and think about what happened, and how they don't want to live in a world where things like that happen, and even if they can't personally do anything about it (is Joe Schmoe on facebook really supposed to go fight terrorists?), they
care about it. Caring is important. Maybe someone who reads that will go out and do something nice for someone, or give to a charity, or... write a blog post condemning the kind of fuckwads who only accept caring on their own, unreasonable terms. (Hey, we all contribute somehow. :P)
In short: solidarity is a
good thing. It's a seed from which bigger things grow. Or, it's just a feeling of goodwill. Whatever. It's not a
bad thing. So take your negativity and cram it.
This isn't about disagreement. Disagreement is fine. This is about the kind of nitpicky ridiculousness that makes you want to tear your hair out. It's about people who turn your good intentions into dismissive internet slang. I also think there are times you should hold your tongue, even if you do disagree, in order to be respectful. This is one of those times. It doesn't matter if someone's famous with a public page, it's still a personal sentiment they've chosen to share. And YOU DON'T PISS ON HOSPITALITY. (Cause you know Joel would appreciate the Troll 2 reference. You
know he would.) :)
And this tag gets used again. Hurray, how handy.
