RE: Foamy's Rant - Social Network of Idiots II

This post is in response to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78JNVMujZVE

Because stupidity seems to perpetuate itself, every so often I need to follow up and remind the masses why they're being fucking stupid. So, once again, we return to the wonderful world of social networking. The friend's list in particular.

Oh goodie. People being stupid. What else is new?

Hiya. I just figured I'd go on a rant of my own, because this rant of Foamy's hit home for me. I've been telling people about this crap for years. YEARS. Yet pretty much nobody listens to me, thinking that I have no wisdom and that they know all...bullshit. Not saying I know all, either, but the least they could do is hear my side of the story.

I do want to add to this, however, the side that people show in reality that just makes all the crap on social networking sites all the worse. So while I post what Foamy had to say, I'll be putting my two-cents in...not cuz I'm better, but just cuz I need to rant. Why? I too am sick of people, especially the people doing a lot of this crap to me in my life right now.

What makes me want to encourage mass hangings is when people on your friend's list start bickering amongst each other, causing all sorts of problems among the rest of your friends. It's a bunch of "he said, she said" pseudo-intellectual arguments with an all around egocentric mentality causing everyone involved to think their view is the right view.

I'm not one to say "go kill yourself" but if you just can't get it and on top of that you're one of those people who turns to the internet because "nobody in reality understands my deep thought process" then I must agree with Foamy. Mass hangings encouraged there.

I hate the people who just can't seem to see it from the other side. You're in an argument with two people, two sides, two different views. The least you can do - even if you disagree with it that heavily - is put yourself in the other person's shoes and see their side of this whole fiasco. That will either (A) help you understand and cause you to realize where you are wrong or (B) help you win this argument without simply saying "I'm right cuz I say so!" Just to let you know, "buddy," you aren't always right. If you took a second to listen to what the other person is wasting hours of their life typing away on a computer screen just so that they can tell you and try to get it through your thick skull could very well be important knowledge. And if it isn't then your time isn't wasted...you've just gained a very good advantage on this other person because you can now dig into where they see as logical and turn it around on them, saying "this is where you see it but it's untrue because..." and then give your side.

I'm not just referring to these internet scenarios though either. I'm referring to the situations where people are just yelling at each other back and forth, where the two people are constantly repeating what they just said with nothing changed but the wording. They say things like, "you just don't understand," and "it's like this" to get the other side to listen to their repeated nonsense. When someone butts in with a question, trying to hear the facts that they supposedly have to back up their views, you get nothing but "uhhh..." "I don't know, actually." and/or "I don't need a reason!" in response. If not, then all they do is repeat their previous bullshit yet again and tell you not to interrupt them when you say anything about the repetition.

It's an endless cycle that can easily be changed if people will just think about what the opposite party has to say rather than wasting hours of their life raising their voice and letting every word spoken, even their own, go in one ear and out the other. Yes, I am saying you should listen to what you say as well.

No one rationalizes, no one thinks things through, and so now all this in-fighting has you caught in the middle where both sides want you to choose sides...and of course, being the rational one, you don't wanna do that because all you can think of is that these people are all fucking stupid and they need to drink Drano!...and stop bitching.

Oh god yes, please stop bitching people... if you're not listening to what the other party has to say, then they are most likely not listening to you either.

Let's start with the cyber crap. Do you really think that just because there is a computer between you now that it'll keep you safe later when it's all face-to-face? No, it won't. In fact doing this crap online is stupider than saying it to someone's face even if they were gonna pound your face in for saying it. Saying this crap online does the following:
A) You may also have this advantage, but you are giving the other party the advantage of the internet as well. So if you are googling all your facts and using at least a little logic, they probably also are, putting the two of you at a stale-mate [in which recruiting friends in a mini-army will not solve by the way].
B) You are giving this person to re-look at everything you said and think every little thing through before they say something. In reality, they might have just said "Alright, you win. I'm wrong." but when waiting for responses, you and the opposing party have near unlimited amounts of time to process the reply given to them, therefore make a harder-to-beat response. Again, you may have this advantage as well but giving it to your enemy only makes this neutral ground [in which recruiting friends in a mini-army will not solve by the way].
C) Proof and evidence. If you dare to utter anything that could be considered cruel, threatening, racist/sexist/etc., or anything along those lines, you've just put it out on the internet where anyone can come by and read it. Not only that, but if the opposite party finds the statement cruel enough, they could end up bringing your petty argument to court with outlined details of the entire conversation, which ends up in lose money, wasted time, and possibly even jail or fines depending on the seriousness of the comment and how things went in court [in which recruiting friends in a mini-army will not solve by the way].

If you know what you're saying and say it with confidence as well as facts on your side, you shouldn't worry about what the person will do or say when you're face-to-face. Besides, even if they do beat you, you have bruises as proof and can take them to court for it even if you did threaten their life [because do they have proof like yours? Not at all! (that's not the way it really works lolz)].

But no one ever stops bitching. They just start deleting friends from their list, like it even matters; like deleting someone is empowering or something; like it gives you the last word.

Let me say something on this alone: What does clicking the delete button really mean? It means nothing but less access to one another's profile information. It doesn't mean anything deep or hurtful - it just means you don't like the person enough to let them see your full photo album, or to view a few old status updates. I'm not saying it's not a smart move to block someone who is being truly harassing, rude, or annoying. I'm just saying that it's not as big a deal as you are making it out to be. If you want to end the friendship, you should probably tell them in person and before doing that you should maybe take a step away from the computer and discuss things like civil people.

The same thing with the kids who are so on-off with their friendships that you can't even tell when they love or hate each other anymore. I can't stand it when my sister comes home and starts complaining about drama between two of her friends who are apparently no longer friends all because of the previously mentioned by Foamy "he said, she said" bullshit. I can hardly hear her anymore because all that's on my mind is "when did this start happening in the 4th grade? When I was in the forth grade the worst that happened to me was I fell off my scooter, my gameboy batteries died in the middle of a Pokemon gym battle, or I didn't get a sticker when I got my spelling test back."

These kids need to stop and smell the roses! They can save that for junior high and high school, and for now just enjoy their childhood while it lasts. And if they pull the "I'm mature for my age" line, then that's damn skippy for you. Still, argumentation can't be done in an intelligent fashion at your age unless you're one of those star-children-geniuses and are about to graduate Harvard at 8. That's not even mentioning your maturity, which has nothing more to do with arguing than that fact that you seem less mature when you argue about stupid things as well as let it effect you to the point of ending a potentially great relationship.

What if the person you deleted fucking hates you and all you've done is pushed the button to end a friendship the other person didn't want in the first place making you seem like a petty bastard giving the other person everything they wanted to begin with!? Makes you look like a sucker...sucker. Do you really think you've won some insignificant discussion? Do you really think your view is now more valid because you eliminated the other party? Cuz it doesn't really work that way. You win a debate by winning a debate. You win it with facts, real facts, and knowledge. And if you can't discuss things rationally, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Keep the peace, and let it go.

I have nothing more to say about this than I completely and totally agree with you, Foamy.

But...no one ever does. So now you're still caught in the middle of all this bullshit wondering [even at the age of 12] if you're a little too old to be dealing with this juvenile behavior.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that arguing with people with such strong view points is the equivilant of arguing with a brick wall. If you're luckily on the outside and being dragged in, be the bigger person and think like Foamy is hoping you will. The arguments are mostly ridiculous, and the fact that the people arguing cant's seem to present any more information than they already have brought to the table is doing nothing at this point but ruining your day and filling up your Facebook wall with curses and repeated sides of the same two stories.

So your friend's list along with everyone else's friend's list dwindles down from 200 to 6 all because you didn't choose sides, so both parties think you're siding with the other side. Stupid. You know, it might be healthy for everyone to weed out the trouble-makers on their friend's list - both parties - like they're 5 years old. "You both go in the corner until you can admit you're all FUCKIN' STUPID. Then, maybe, I'll re-add you."

Think of this as a good thing, because if someone isn't even level headed enough to realize that they aren't always right they aren't worth your time, and will only cause future headaches and emotional pain if you get too attached to them. Also, take that as a heavy hint that needs to be reassured. Keep the same views you have online as you do offline and in reality. If you're so stupid as to let yourself stoop to their level and delete them as an online friend, then try and play nice with them in reality after admitting you hate their guts in a private message, otherwise you're on the same level as them. Don't take things so far, like letting their words emotionally cut you to pieces, but don't be so naive as to think that the internet and reality are two different worlds to be lived two different ways. Regardless of what you want to think, you are you on and offline. Don't pretend otherwise - it causes you too much unnecessary trouble.

I close with only one thing: feel free to discuss this matter with me, or rant your own input in a comment, etc. I hate people too just in a fairly logical way beyond hating for the joy of hating. The rest of my conclusion I will leave up to Foamy, who ended on the most perfect note:

The thing to remember, folks: Everyone sucks. Everyone blows. And everyone lies. The world is a sphere of bickering jackasses whose own opinions seem to be more important than basic human civility. Getting tired of this people! Keep that crap on your own page, and leave. me. OUT OF IT...ass! Now where's my chocolate?

Random End Note: I HATE MY SLOW COMPUTER!!! Internet.....stop......freezing...... o.e
Extra Note: I wrote this somewhere between 4 and 6 in the morning so if there are typos, I'll probably fix them later...if they're still there then DEAL.