Internet Oddities and Things That Don't Have a Place in Polite Society 1

The internet is an odd creature.  In general, I think it has to be positive.  The dissemination of information, the ability to find anything you want almost instantaneously, the ability to connect with the rest of humanity.  All that is good.  But the internet does pose a few problems.  As far as I'm concerned, the two greatest problems are the decrease of productivity and the growth of stupidity.  The decrease of productivity is pretty self-explanatory; you, by reading this, are being unproductive.  And this blog is in the absolutely nether-regions of the internet.  Hell, I've wasted a solid 2 hours straight on Wikipedia clicking on various characters on the X-Men page. (Also, Jimmy Wales, if you're hurting so hard for cash to run Wikipedia, do some advertising.  You mean to tell me Coca-Cola wouldn't pony up a few hundred thousand dollars for a banner ad on some pages? Stop trying to fuel your meth addiction with personal appeals.)

But the expansion of stupidity is what is most upsetting about the internet.  What I don't mean is that now stupid people have a voice and thus are polluting the web.  That I'm ultimately not too upset about.  Stupid people, or at least people we perceive to be stupid, will always be present, that's just something you have to deal with when you have a feeling of superiority, as many people do, including myself.

No the real problem is that the instant nature of the internet has removed the thought that used to go into writing something.  Anybody who has spent 5 minutes on youtube before will tell you that this is the case in the comments section.  Comedian Pete Holmes can explain it much better and more humorously than I:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1826709

Similarly, on facebook you have the rise of certain quick phrases that need to be eliminated.  For example, "I miss your face," says girl 1 to girl 2.  No you don't.  Maybe you miss the person.  You miss their personality.  You miss conversing with them.  You miss the chance to hang out and do activities with them.  But you don't miss their face.  Nobody misses someones face unless they are a photographer who could use said face to make a living or they are a serial killer who is looking to cut off and wear said face.

There are other examples out there, I'm sure you, the reader, deal with them on a frequent basis.  I don't mean to project an aura of hatred toward people who leave youtube comments or girls who say "I miss your face" because plenty of them are smart enough folks who actually have something worthwhile to say deep down in their souls.  All I'm saying is that our society, at least the portion I'm familiar with, doesn't often think before saying things anymore.  In my experiences at my last job, which required me to work face to face with clients, I was told that "no matter what, take your time and think about your answer...because if you speak too quickly you will lead the client to think you have no idea what you're talking about."  Say what you will about my crappy and sanctimonious writing in this space, at least I took the time to consider what I was saying.