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I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

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Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#101

Post by MartinCron »

sfbsfbsfb wrote: post #27

I have the utmost respect for anyone that can take their natural (legal) talent, go to a park and turn it into beer/food money in an hour or two. When I met my wife she was substitute teaching occasionally and to make ends meet she would do pencil portraits in the park. She would always wear a floppy hat and a colorful long skirt. Back then (1975) she would have been referred to as a hippy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/w…

I work just up the street from Seattle's Pike Place Market where I see talented street performers of all kinds. Guitarists, sax players, one guy with a big parrot, magicians, everything. I don't see the idea of writing a super-short story as any different.

Now I'm surprised I haven't seen it yet.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#102

Post by protomyth »

It just saddens me when someone is doing something unique or looks different and people have nothing better to do than trash talk.

I get the feeling that our lack of ability to deal with actual mental health issues as a society can be seen in the general reaction to the healthy, spirited, marching to their own drummer folks.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#103

Post by hackula1 »

philwelch wrote: post #73
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #23

Tangentially related, things like this are why I have not stopped wearing my fedora (in appropriate situations, with appropriate outfits). Dear Internet Fashionistas: You've decided that fedoras and suspenders are the mark of a horrible person. Your opinions have no connection to reality. Over here in the real world, I look good. When I come back to the bar the next day to pick up my credit card, and the bouncer reme…

Fedoras come off well with the right outfit, sure. Most fedora-wearing nerds don't get that right. If you do, more power to you.

When I think of fedoras I think of terrible ska bands from the 90s where every member of the band had one on. I have no issue with the current variant, but I do think I was permanently scarred by ska music, so the hate will remain in that context.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#104

Post by canthonytucci »

drcode wrote: post #38

NEWSFLASH: If you're doing something specifically to get attention, it's possible the attention you get might not be to your liking. (Though I agree people should be more open to people doing fun performance-ish stuff like this, it does not mean a performer is entitled to receive only positive reactions.)

Context is so important.

I remember seeing this on reddit and thinking that surely it must be staged satire, poking fun at the types (pun intended) of people one sees around Chelsea. Without the context of it being a piece of (really rather compelling) performance art, the photo looks like a person who is trying very hard to be noticed.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#105

Post by badman_ting »

mikestew wrote: post #51

Masses of comments from people one has never met, and likely never will meet, aren't much to be concerned about especially when the comments are based on a single picture with no context. We all quickly build stories based on a single glance or vastly incomplete information. "He looks like a douchebag marketing guy." "The way she walks, she's probably one of those types that...", etc. The really insecure among us go…

I actually agree, but a weird thing happens to me where I get pissed at people saying these things about someone else, or about groups of people. I can totally let personal insults to myself roll off my back, because like you I've seen a lot of internet.

And I agree that the face-punching probably won't actually happen in reality. But the widespread phenomenon of supposedly normal or good people talking about complete strangers having "punchable faces" feels ominous to me. I guess my problem isn't with the insults as such, but rather the widespread cultural acceptance this kind of attitude has gained.

Sorry, but you can't decide you hate someone based on their appearance and also be a good person. That makes you a psycho. Look, we all do this to some extent in private moments. But turning it into a group sport? And, again, the acceptance of it all?

People who talked this way on the internet used to be called "internet tough guys", and we scorned them. Now it's de rigeur. Maybe it's just the new form of hating communists. Maybe we just need to have someone to hate, and it's not that big a deal. But it feels bad to me, very bad.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#106

Post by forgottenpaswrd »

steve-howard wrote: post #62
forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #39

Well, being ridiculed by people in Reddit is something honorable. Who cares what they think about you? Don't lose your time with these people. Take a video camera and explain what you do for people in the internet, youtube and vimeo... Better, you could create a cool kickstarter project in which by the way, you explain better what you do. Never forget that being able to tell stories is one of the most important abili…

Sure, we all know that we should ignore people that get us down. It's a lot easier for some than for others to put that into practice.

The first step for that is to acknowledge it.

Could you believe the people in customer service had not realized what they were doing?

They were going home depressed, feeling so bad, because this focusing made them live this reality.

Just making them notice and putting some simple rules made a world of difference.It was also much better for our customers.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#107

Post by roryokane »

sp332 wrote: post #42

I'm not claiming to have much fashion sense, but how is wearing giant plastic glasses "sincerity"? Is it about self-expression? What sentiment do huge glasses express? The reaction, then, had nothing to do with hipsters... they hated me because I looked like I was nakedly desperate for attention, and had gone about that attention-grabbing by glomming on to marginalized trends. I thought that was the whole reason peop…

He said later in the article that his clothes were a function of budgetary constraints. Maybe he couldn't afford well-fitting glasses.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#108

Post by hackula1 »

D9u wrote: post #93

I, myself, would have started, and stopped, with the last sentence: I prefer to let these little cesspools of cyberspace fester and then stagnate, forgotten as they should be, secure in the knowledge that I am doing something that matters to me. As reddit is nothing other than a festering cesspool of cyberspace.

For certain things, it is unfortunately one of the few options. Slashdot is a wasteland nowadays. Hackernews is good, but the emphasis has been shifting to startup finance rather than hacking. Programming subreddits are some of the best sources for info, at least in combination with others.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#109

Post by im3w1l »

>Thinking about her own troubles in creating something viral, she remarked, “It’s too bad you can’t figure out a way to exploit this somehow.” Other than sometimes posting my Twitter handle on pages where I saw the picture, I couldn’t do much.

Since this is hackernews, it would be interesting to discuss this portion. What would be the best way to use this to propel oneself into success? It seems he was granted a strong brand for free. Mostly negative, but also with some positives. My idea would be to try to be even more hipstery, to really validate peoples impressions, and then try to sell things associated with hipsters: Second hand stuff. Organic, fair trade, hand made clothing. Maybe try to appear in a commercial for glasses. I don't know much about marketing so sorry if this is completely wrong. Just wanted to put some ideas out there to start a discussion.

Re: I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything

#110

Post by alxndresp »

I don't understand why people hate on others so much, for no reason at all. What is the point? Just let people do whatever they damn like, it isn't like their interests are affecting you. How do people grow this mentality? I have never once negatively judged or put down someone because of some "weird" interest they had, such as preferring to use a typewriter. I seriously don't understand.
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