HIGH PLAINS SCRIBBLER: DANGLING CONVERSATIONS

Nicely written. I feel like I see this on twitter more than anywhere else, with people constantly going out on a limb with dumb jokes. Most embarrassingly to strangers and famous people. I know I've done it before. 

I do this a bit on Facebook as well.  Definitely something I've been aware of somewhat recently.  Good column!  I hope you get well sooner rather than later.

Great article, Elisabeth. In fact, you've been putting out some brilliant stuff lately that's very much in line with the way I've been thinking about being a geek and our collective culture in general. Arse-kissery aside, this piece brought out some genuinely bittersweet feelings in me. I often go for a quip when posting online because that's most natural for me. I've always written comedy because of the influence movies like Ghostbusters had on me as a kid - in fact, I credit Douglas Adams, (80s) Richard Curtis and the Comic Strip crew as giving me my whole sense of humour. It's a huge part of who I am, and it naturally comes out when I post.

However, it comes with numerous risks as you said. It can become a schtick to hide behind; it can become focussed on snark and general obnoxiousness (In fact, I can name a few full fledged Internet Personalities who have at least partly based their careers on this); worst of all, you run the risk of simply being unfunny and tedious. Personally, I try and keep the quippage only to where it is appropriate and will (Hopefully) be appreciated, and step away from the keyboard when it may cross over into dickishness. I have no idea how good a job I actually do of this, but just try and judge it the best I can.

Though I think you're right in that people are sometimes a little too influenced by their favourite films/shows/etc, a large part of the blame comes from the Internet itself and how it's given everyone a potentially infinite audience, regardless of how many people actually care what you have to say. Everyone's dropping little pearls of wisdom, but nobody's actually ASKING for them.

And yes, there is a lot of roleplaying going on too. I agree with the Tina Fey example, where people are emulating pop culture personalities (Real and fictional) without any thought as to what makes those personalities tick. In fact, there's a general 'film fanatic' archetype that you see a lot of people trying to adopt - part Tarantino movie knowledge, part Hunter S. Thompson straight-talking wit - that turns a lot of discussions into 'I know more trivia and am more quotable than you' competitions, which become more about pop-culture dick-measuring than actual discussion. No more readily is this apparent when the discussion turns to something a lot of people hate (And hate to say it, even CHUD can be prone to this: it's why I tend to avoid any thread with 'Tron' or 'Kevin Smith' in the title)

Basically, a lot of people see the Internet as a stage when sometimes, it'd be far more useful as a place of conversation. Fuck, I don't know; maybe I'm just getting old but these days I'd rather just crack a joke when I think it might actually get a smile out of someone, but not have to strain for the zinger all that bloody time - and actually have discussions with people who aren't too busy constructing a persona to actually say something. 

There's a balance. Be unfunny enough and people don't wanna be friends with you. It makes casual conversation harder when you never exercise that part of your brain. Be too funny (or more realistically, try to be) and people think you're a lightweight without substance. I'm pretty sure my mix is off but this thread isn't about my social problems. It's about how twitter and facebook have turned everything into a 140 character set-up and punchline. We're all learning to communicate with each other one hashtag at a time.

I'm really digging this column, Elisabeth.

I'm very guilty of this. Part of it is laziness. Part of it is wanting acceptance and wanting to entertain. I don't feel it's so much needing to adopt someone else's personality (although I did grow up with Venkman and co), as it is shielding myself. I'm short and got picked on a ton as a kid. My case is a bit more complex than "aping pop culture behavior", but I'm sure that paradigm hasn't helped. I also have a terrible "brain to mouth/keyboard" filter and a humor style that resemble "throw it against a wall and see if it sticks". And the fact that I spent most of my life as a cartoonist, in one form or another (having to communicate a funny idea in as few words/lines as possible)... it was job security of sorts. Experimentation. Honing a skill. Mastering a trade.

This sad clown is reminded of this old thread...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 

I'm very guilty of this. Part of it is laziness. Part of it is wanting acceptance and wanting to entertain. I don't feel it's so much needing to adopt someone else's personality (although I did grow up with Venkman and co), as it is shielding myself. I'm short and got picked on a ton as a kid. My case is a bit more complex than "aping pop culture behavior", but I'm sure that paradigm hasn't helped. I also have a terrible "brain to mouth/keyboard" filter and a humor style that resemble "throw it against a wall and see if it sticks". And the fact that I spent most of my life as a cartoonist, in one form or another (having to communicate a funny idea in as few words/lines as possible)... it was job security of sorts. Experimentation. Honing a skill. Mastering a trade.

 

 

This sad clown is reminded of this old thread...

Yup, that's kind of similar to where I'm coming from too. But that's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. The problem is when people are showing off without actually contributing something to the discussion or, worst of all, is doing it to be snarky (Which is basically destructive to decent discussion)

So you don't have to feel bad for being funny. You're always giving valuable contributions to the dicussions at hand, the humour's just a bonus!