Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Quoted

Wherein "who played Boo Radley" once was a great trivia question until everyone else also thought it was great trivia question and asked it enough until most everyone else knew the answer and it no longer is a great trivia question


Stanley Bing:
Pseudonyms are like Boo Radley. Living in the dark, peeping out at the world from behind louvered shutters … they can live. Hauled into the light of day and made to stand on the porch for all to see, they end up looking like a very young Robert Duvall when he still had a little bit of hair left. And then they die.

Wherein yeah FSJ wasn't as much fun once uncovered. It's like the NY Times poured salt on a slug just to watch it melt away.

5 Comments:

Blogger reader_iam said...

Yeah, it really does suck how that all played out. I expect to see more and more of this type of thing as time goes on.

At the same time, part of the problem is that sometimes pseudonymous figures push the envelope a little TOO much, and in that respect sorta dares someone to out 'em. I'm not sure exactly what the balance is, but we've not achieved it.

My own pet peeve is not pseudonymous bloggers or posters. (Pen names have a long tradition, and this is just an extension). It more has to do with excessive sockpuppetry which then (and often oh-so-quickly!) morphs into intent-to-deceive-and-manipulate trollishness, a real desire to make even bystanders (as opposed to targets) seem like fools. This doesn't bother a lot of people, I've come to understand. But for those it does, it's best to run for the hills, or, at least, just walk away--lest the desire to out overcomes.

Live and let live. I guess.

7/15/2008 03:07:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

I saw you refer to that a few days ago, but don't know to what specifically you were referring to.

The sockpuppet, in general, does seem to be one of the more antagonistic forms of trollery.

Also, in general, there's currently an atmosphere of spoilerism with a race on to reveal as many details as possible in the guise of "being first" with the "news." No content, just pointless facts.

7/15/2008 03:26:00 PM  
Blogger bill said...

spoilerism and gotcha-itis with a virulent epidemic of I-am-so-offended flu

7/15/2008 03:27:00 PM  
Blogger reader_iam said...

Well, the problem is that I literally can't explain without outing someone (or two). So there you go.

7/15/2008 03:31:00 PM  
Blogger reader_iam said...

Your observations are dead on, btw.

7/15/2008 03:31:00 PM  

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