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fengiWhat I find most intriguing about the Carl Paladino case: not only are his politics retrograde, but some of the shit he circulated represent a culture of those still faxing the Bart Simpson Crack Kills images to each other. I remember that image from a dry cleaner I used in the mid-90s; they had a wall covered with crudely drawn memes on crumbling thermal paper. It's hard to believe such xerox- and fax-lore existed outside academic journals now. I mean, Paladino might as well have sabotaged himself with a bawdy sea shanty.
A good thing about social networks is they have nearly eliminated the Annoying Email Forward. I am not nostalgic for this crap at all, but I shall reminisce about the three types of unwelcome guests which visited my inbox.
Forwarded Jokes and Articles: for me these actually died out first, perhaps because nearly everyone I know continued to evolve socially after 1998 and found posting or sending links to actual web pages more interesting. I'll admit I have a soft spot for essays circulated by email because it happened to something I wrote back in the day, though under a fake girl's name because it mentioned a fundraiser for feminist causes. This identity confusion is nowhere as cool as Mary Schmich being mistaken for Kurt Vonnegut and ending up as a techno hit, but I'll take what I can get.
Chain letters: At first the online versions indicated one was not only superstitious and inconsiderate, but remarkably lazy as they still contained the instructions for dead tree circulation. Then they evolved, adding lists of vapid aphorisms as if this mitigated the parasitic and selfish magical thinking at their core. I'm sorry but a friendly reminder to always eat brown rice does not excuse the raw self interest in circulating a cursed text. These infuriated me, but not as much as the next group.
The Zombie Activist Email Blast: For me the worst is the PBS/NEA/NPR funding alert. It tested my patience every few months until about two years ago. It may be unfair, but I felt any real supporter such groups should be smart enough to recognize the bullshit.
What bugs me about that one is it was an urban legend from the start. Maybe it's too hard to verify a claim before hitting send (though they should), but one can easily notice the barely coherent text and inconsistent dates. Since then there have been real funding issues, but it doesn't make this stupid email which will not die true.
Here is where Facebook is handy. If someone stumbles across something like this, they'll post it to their walls instead of contacting everyone, and where someone quickly comments HA HA SNOPES.
A good thing about social networks is they have nearly eliminated the Annoying Email Forward. I am not nostalgic for this crap at all, but I shall reminisce about the three types of unwelcome guests which visited my inbox.
Forwarded Jokes and Articles: for me these actually died out first, perhaps because nearly everyone I know continued to evolve socially after 1998 and found posting or sending links to actual web pages more interesting. I'll admit I have a soft spot for essays circulated by email because it happened to something I wrote back in the day, though under a fake girl's name because it mentioned a fundraiser for feminist causes. This identity confusion is nowhere as cool as Mary Schmich being mistaken for Kurt Vonnegut and ending up as a techno hit, but I'll take what I can get.
Chain letters: At first the online versions indicated one was not only superstitious and inconsiderate, but remarkably lazy as they still contained the instructions for dead tree circulation. Then they evolved, adding lists of vapid aphorisms as if this mitigated the parasitic and selfish magical thinking at their core. I'm sorry but a friendly reminder to always eat brown rice does not excuse the raw self interest in circulating a cursed text. These infuriated me, but not as much as the next group.
The Zombie Activist Email Blast: For me the worst is the PBS/NEA/NPR funding alert. It tested my patience every few months until about two years ago. It may be unfair, but I felt any real supporter such groups should be smart enough to recognize the bullshit.
What bugs me about that one is it was an urban legend from the start. Maybe it's too hard to verify a claim before hitting send (though they should), but one can easily notice the barely coherent text and inconsistent dates. Since then there have been real funding issues, but it doesn't make this stupid email which will not die true.
Here is where Facebook is handy. If someone stumbles across something like this, they'll post it to their walls instead of contacting everyone, and where someone quickly comments HA HA SNOPES.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-20 11:32 pm (UTC)(Sadly, the "sarcastic like" button is still a pipe-dream.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-21 03:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-21 04:51 pm (UTC)