There’s too much noise on the internet
December 28th, 2008 — BoomerIt seems like I’m noticing more and more sources of low intellectuality, which is pretty much a waste of time and gives me very little entertainment or usefulness of any sort. Let’s take digg for example. The very first item is:
Calvin and Hobbes on the Financial Crisis
Nothing wrong with it, except I saw it earlier in the day before I managed to read this (This came out 5 minutes ago). This is a relatively new story, so there aren’t many comments at the time of the writing. Nothing inherently wrong, but this is only the first news article. However, there isn’t anything interesting for another 8 news articles, until you get to:
Top 10 Things to make Good Games Better!
Also, there’s no point in reading the comments because the whole commenting system is infested with people with bad grammar and spelling who can not articulate an idea further than a sentence. In fact, I counted about 5 comments that actually try to articulate and express an idea properly. I’m not expecting an essay, but reading the comments is kind of like crack. It’s very quick, and gives you very little entertainment. I admit, there are some good comments. There are fleeting moments of discussion. However, nothing ever really gets discussed more than 4 comments deep. It’s always very superficial and of no real benefit other than a way of killing time. I gained nothing through reading the comments, and I pretty much just block everyone who can’t even use proper English, because I don’t want to deal with it. Just because this is the internet doesn’t mean that you can forgo everything you learned about English. Sure, everyone makes mistakes and we sometimes mistype, but I’m talking about deliberately missing punctuation and not caring at all about spelling. If you want to type like a child, I’m not willing to read it.
You might see this as elitist, that I’m expecting too much from everybody. This is not true. I’m expecting enough, and people supply too little. Digg is no longer part of my life, I will not use it every again. You’re welcome to submit my stories, but I won’t know until I check where the massive influx of traffic came from in my logs. Now, compare Digg to a website like Slashdot. There is no comparison, Slashdot blows Digg right out of the water. The reason is simple. Digg is too popular. What this means is that it is now flooded with the “average” person. There is no niche, you have everything from sports to entertainment to science. It’s a website for everybody, a place where someone can say whatever they want to say, whether it’s right or wrong. Slashdot, on the other hand, targets a demographic that is smart. More specifically, nerds. The first article is about touchscreen netbooks in CES 2009. Touchscreens are cool, that’s something interesting. But more importantly, what about the discussion in slashdot going on about it? The first comment is from a troll, but it is likewise voted by the members as a troll and hidden from view unless specified to be seen. Digg’s system is very easily abused people people who disagree with you. I’ve seen many comments that are worthwhile and raise a valid point that have been voted down on digg. Not a problem on Slashdot.
More importantly, however, is the fact that the discussion is meaningful to the topic at hand. It is both useful and entertaining, and allows me to understand the subject at hand better. It’s not just a matter of something having to be useful. It can be entertaining as well. The next article is about Microsoft billing 1$ an hour for leasing Microsoft Office. The very first comment is a joke. A proper joke, written properly so that I don’t have to reread it just to understand it. Nothing kills a joke worse than having to first interpret what the person is trying to say. Here on Slashdot, I don’t have to deal with the same amount of trash that exists on digg.
Yes, people say useful things on Digg. But why search through a pile of trash when I have slashdot? This is an important point, because in every pile of trash you might find something useful. If you go to digg, you’re spending your time looking through trash. On slashdot, there is no trash. You’re looking at a fridge stocked to the brim full of food. You’re not wading your way through junk to find a half rotten but edible banana. There is no comparison. Digg is the equivilant of channel flipping on TV, trying to find a show that interests you in someway. This is the internet, you shouldn’t have to subject yourself to this. You can schedule your life around the TV, finding shows that you like and think are interesting on different channels. On the internet, it’s even better. Find some blogs that are relevant to your interests. Find a news aggregation website that is relevant to your interests. I use Slashdot as an example, because it’s a website that posts articles that I find interesting, as well as having a smart and intelligent community. Find your own hub. Choose a niche that is relevant to you, and minimize time spent on trash.
Update: I wrote this with one goal in mind and ended up with a different final product. I ussualy try not to let hate get the better of me, but this is what I ended up with.
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:48 am
I find you pretty much summed up in here the primary reason nerds have the reputation they have. Why is it “nerds”, as society calls them, constantly feel the need to prove to everyone they are better than “normal” people?
Let me explain what I mean.
I will not argue that Slashdot definitely is in a different “niche” than digg. What I have come to realize though is that such niches have been created by the “nerds” because they feel the need to feel special, and more specifically, feel better than the other non-nerd people that might not be less smart then them, but like to have some fun looking at digg or other “fun” sites.
Now I’m sure you’ll find some way to criticize me on the structure my comment or my spelling, but c’mon. Who cares? Why would the Internet have to be so serious. And why assume that anyone who posts a link to “stupid” stuff as you call it on digg cannot make a constructive and well formulated point on something else?
This leads me to think one thing: what differentiates the “nerds” from normal people is they simply do not have the capability to “switch” from common, every-day situation where they might consider having fun, to formal situations where serious and well-formulated opinions are required.
tl;dr : Chill the fuck out, life is too short to take it that seriously.
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 am
The problem is that digg is a fun site for everyone, including those who aren’t nerds. Now this may seem egotistical, but I find that usually when something is popular or becomes popular like digg, you end up with a site that is full of things that the lowest common denominator wants. I am not the lowest common denominator. This is why I like slashdot, because it doesn’t target the lowest common denominator, it targets me. It’s not because I want to feel special, I am who I am and I prefer things that are relevant to me. and my interests. Digg is not fun because it does not target who I am, it targets the general population. It’s a simple and easy website that allows those of a lower caliber of intellect to enjoy, but this in turn means that it’s a website with a low calibre of intellect. This bleeds into the comments section, and you have a lots of people that post comments that are so…dumb, for a lack of a better word. There’s never any deep discussion, it’s all very shallow despite allowing comments be nested beyond 1 level. There’s always one guy that posts something dumb, and you get one counter example from some other guy, and the rest is everyone posting random stuff that just doesn’t contribute anything new.
I honestly can’t derive any humor from digg. I go to websites that target my niche, my wants. On slashdot, there was an article about how a person claimed the doppler effect caused a red light to appear green, which is why he ran a red light. In the comments, someone mathematically proved using their knowledge of physics how this claim is completely BS, and ended up with an insanely large number for the speed of the driver in order for red to turn to green. The lengths of which was taken in order to prove this as well as the end result was humorous and entertaining. Seeing people write random memes, facepalm ASCII, and badly written comments is not fun.
Also, style affects substance. When you have a badly written comment, this will affect your message. Even if you have the answer to world hunger, would you enjoy reading the solution to world hunger if it was badly written? When you are able to eloquently write out your thoughts, it becomes easier to read and gives more impact to your message. Also, I think it would be hard to disagree that there is a correlation between something badly written, and a lack of any solid ideas. When I have the ability to choose between wading through trash and being given solid gold upfront, I’ll choose the gold. It’s not a matter between switching between fun and serious. It’s a matter of being able to identify something that is a time-waster with little or not value (including entertainment), and being able to identify great websites that give you more interesting content.
As for your comment, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. I want comments like yours. I want people to post comments that challenge my ideas.
And honestly, whenever I want to go to digg, it’s just a want that arises from being bored. There are better forms of entertainment than digg. Digg is a sympton of boredom, like how eating is a symptom of being hungry. Now this is an analogy, so don’t talk about how there are people that are unable to stop eating, or other problems, because this doesn’t apply. My analogy was just a method of demonstrating how similar it is.