I've seen our end and it is the Internet
I've seen our end and it is the Internet
Aug 02I know it’s hypocritical to a degree, but I’m going to complain about the Internet on the Internet.
I’ve got to say it – the Internet is the end of the world as we know it. It started out all right – people far removed from one another, able to communicate daily, even hourly when before they would have never even met. It brought us together. Then the assholes found the loophole – the loophole is there is no accountability. And the troll was born – you’re not physically near me, they realized, so I can say stuff that would put you into a murderous rage without fear of harm.
That continued for years, and slowly it warped our perception. In the back of our heads, we realized that we could say whatever we wanted and it didn’t have to make sense or be truthful. We didn’t have to back it up. Having someone stand before you and demand proof is hard – having someone on the internet demand proof is a doddle. It was the yin to the troll yang – I’m nowhere near you, so why the hell should I care if you don’t believe me?
And then the speed of communication caught up with us – before if you had an opinion, how would you share it, right or wrong? Writing a letter to the paper was time consuming – you really had to feel for your opinion to go to the hassle, otherwise it was something you espoused over drinks with friends. But now, if it passes through your head, it can be posted in front of, potentially, millions of eyes. Look at this nonsense for example – my brain, to you, 80 words a minute. Send. Done.
What have we got to have opinions about? Well, thanks to up-to-the-second reporting, and up-to-the-second reporting on the reporting, everything and nothing.
Take for example Activision’s post-Comic Con announcement that they were streamlining their portfolio and Ghostbusters would not be published by them. This, if you’ve ever hung around a corporation, makes sense. It sucks, sure, but it’s not crazy, in corporate terms. Money spent is a write-off, money going out is a cost, and if in the future that doesn’t provide a magic number in return, the company streamlines. The Internet goes ape-shit.
Gaming news sites, presumably beholden to things like, I dunno, years of journalistic ethics, post headlines that read “Ghostbusters canceled!” before explaining in the post that they don’t actually know much of anything, and nobody actually said “canceled”. Now here we are a week later. The details, as far as we know, are as follows;
1) Activision doesn’t want to publish Ghostbusters, but is working with Sony to find it a home.
And that’s it. There are half-decent reports that it might get pushed back from its Fall release, but it doesn’t take much to put two and two together, and realize that if a new deal has to be struck between Sony Consumer Products and a new publisher, which will involved Activision (who presumably will want a cut or the new publisher to pay them back, as happens), it’s not coming out in two months. Everything else is supposition.
So, a week later, where are we at? Well, for starters, I’m burnt out listening to every fanboy under the sun “tell it like it is”, then watching that get picked up and incorporated into the next fanboy’s understanding of what’s up. And then I kind of snap when I step back and realize how fucked up this is – every one of them, without facts or details, believes that their rage is important. Over a video game.
“And yes, Activision is evil for what they’ve done, though I can imagine Sony having their little hand in this deal as well.”
So, Haliburton, Blackwater, Nestle, Dow… and on and on… none of that shit matters to them. Contaminated baby food, cancer causing products, war crimes, not a peep…
…but their video game is subject to the simplest and more boring corporate shift – something completely typical, and harmless (the dev team is still at work – nobody’s out of a job, and in fact teh companies are working to keep it that way), and they’re “evil.”
I can’t cope with that – I’m am the last person to cheer a corporation. But this is the “too fucking far” moment. Cruelty to animals, bad. Killing a human to make a statement about cruelty to animals. What the fuck? Same thing here. Corporations are, by design, controlled by a mass of minds and looking to maximize profits. Down with Wal-mart for killing the little guy and minimizing benefits to their employees. Activision drops your game. Fuck off. You’re not owed it. And shame of you if you can’t wrap your head around the fact that a promise by a corporation (“We’re going to put this game out”) is worthless.
I’m embarrassed to be a fanboy today.
And here’s the kicker (and my attempt to wrap this piece into a ball.)
If we weren’t all connected via the Internet;
1) The press wouldn’t turn to yellow journalism to catch eyeballs.
2) Fanboys wouldn’t have heard about Activision dropping the game until, at worst, the news had more to report than “Ghostbusters not mentioned in the press release”. At best, they’d already be able to read about where it’s landing.
3) I wouldn’t have a headache.
But there’s hope! If individuals learn to think critically and to properly asses perspective, and if the online press aspires to a personal code of ethics, it’ll all be fine!
(balls)
I don’t know. Flashy headlines and rumors were still there to try to sell magazines. Quartermann in EGM would have reported it as canceled and then reported that it got picked up by another publisher the next month.
Well, it’s true, Yellow Journalism wasn’t invented by the web – but it seems to exacerbate it’s effects by speeding everything up.
I think it’s far easier to talk crap in the web than in a print magazine, because regardless of the editorial ethics, it’s harder to argue you’re not causing harm. If you print bullshit in a monthly magazine, that story is going to persist, and advertisers, companies you’re reporting on, etc. will all get up in arms.
But online, if you post crap, there’s always this sense of, “well, no big deal, we’ll print otherwise tomorrow – hey, even more hits.” Regardless of the fact that the first crap posted lingers just as long, in it’s own electronic way.
It’s spitting in the wind really – I don’t think the nature of the net is going to change anytime soon, and I was deep in a hair pulling mess.
Time to retreat, get drunk, watch some TV, and then dive back in later.
I think there’s a single dividing line between People Who Know How To Use The Internet and People Who Don’t:
Think before you post.
Invariably, at some point on one’s development in utilizing the internet to communicate, you are faced with a moment when you can either start to think before you post, or you can decide you don’t give a shit, and post with abandon, regardless of what you say, its truth, or its effect on others.
People who refuse to think before they post–who do believe they are not only entitled to feel whatever they feel, but that they are entitled to communicate it instantly, without hesitation or editing, at any time and for any reason whatsoever–these people should be run off the internet and stuffed into a ditch somewhere without access to electronics.
Everyone else is fine.
It’s a hard lesson to learn, I admit, and even now after a decade on the web I have a hard time hesitating on occasion. But I almost always do, and I almost always feel better for it.
Great post! And I feel your pain. I’ve been blissfully ignorant of the Ghostbuster dust up, but I’ve found myself banging my head against my monitor countless times as a result of similar fit-feasts on dozens of comic message boards.
But, then again, I realize what’s more rediculous: The people getting all up in arms over a video game or comic books? Or me getting pissed about people being pissed about a video game or comic book. And then I go and post a tirade against people having tirades, and that starts a whole new tirade. What a stupid cycle.
That said, I really enjoyed your post.
The was cathartic, that’s for sure – so, if you enjoyed it, that’s a definite bonus. Makes it way less self-indulgent.
I’m wondering if Internet etiquette will ever appear in schools? And if it does, will it be useful, or the easiest hour of class since home ec.?
“What is considered shouting online?”
“ALL CAPS”
“Is it rude?”
“Yes.”
A+ – now get out there, future asshat, and show em you know everything, and are too cool to fact check.
I recently came across someone in my daily job business who used ALL CAPS when writing a work-related document–a memo, essentially.
Bold was also employed. Throughout. As in, every word.