May 11th, 2007 Annoying Online Habits

I’ve been thinking of putting this mini-rant together for a while. The fact that I’m working on an essay due next Monday has made this possible.

Before you read on: Both online and real life friends are aware of my strong reluctance to debate. Everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion, but when there is a debate, people tend to lose their heads and try too hard to prove others wrong. I like hearing other people’s thoughts but I do not desire talking to someone who thinks I’m stupid because I have different opinions on certain matters. Feel free to share your thoughts no matter you agree with me or not. Just keep in mind that my intention is far from upsetting anybody and I am not interested in getting in any sort of argument. Discussions are fine, arguments aren’t.

A few friends have pointed out that I’m very much an internet person and that I cannot live without it. Although it is not always true, I admit I like being on the internet. There are too many things about it that I like, such as the amount of information and the possibility to interact with people on the other side of the world. However, when a place is filled with too many diversities, some things are bound to go wrong. A few popular online habits have recently come to my attention, in a bad way. Allow me to explain why they bother me so much.

1. Pay Per Post
I might have lofty standards, but selling your (supposedly personal) blog sound like a bad idea to me. It is even worse than putting advertisements on your site because PPP posts are advertisements in disguise occupying the main content area of the website. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against anyone who just wants to make some money for their debts or loans. However, I have also made it very clear that I do not want to read those posts. A few of my LJ friends crossposts all their PPP posts to their LJ, which takes up most of my friends page. That bugs me to no end.

2. Text speaking
While I don’t text speak in text messages, I completely understand how painful it is to type on mobile phones and feel obliged to endure poor spelling in my phone. You have no excuse to do that when you have a full proper keyboard with you though. Text speaking shows extreme laziness and poor communication skills. You will eventually lose the ability to spell, although it is not like you treasure it now.

3. Posting self portraits on public messages boards saying “OMG I look so awful!”
For the last time, if you actually think you look awful, do not show your pictures. If you think you are gorgeous, do not pretend you lack self-confidence and throw lines like that to get compliments. There are people who really need such encouragement, and those people can’t even look at themselves in the mirror - not to mention taking pictures.

4. Overuse of internet slangs
Using “lol” or “lmao” can be funny at times. But when you type “lol” every five words in an instant messaging conversation, it gets tiring and very, very annoying - not to mention when you use it like that in a blog. Seriously, we all know you are not even laughing or rolling on the floor. Because if you laugh at that frequency, you should already have died of suffocation and we would have been rid of such stupidity.

5. E-pokes and nudges
Or whatever you call them. The above two are the terms used on Facebook and MSN. These refers to an online way to get someone’s attention with just one click without saying anything at all. It is like those people have problems communicating. You’d wish they knew people usually start a conversation with “hi”. In fact, if they actually don’t know what to say but want to talk, just tell me so. When someone cannot gather the energy to even type a “hello”, I will take it as I’m not even worth the minimal effort.

Hopefully I have managed to express my sentiment towards these habits. I wish for them to disappear every single day, with little luck. I doubt they ever will - like I said certain ridiculousness is inevitable with all the diversities. Now that you know how I feel about them, I’d appreciate a favour of leaving me in peace without harassing me with them.