Just ran across this today (it's about four days old), but all I can say is damn.
Praise the Lord this is preserved for posterity. It is just about perfect. Now I want to be an internet anthropologist.
(Be sure to read through at least a page or two of comments on the article. This will not be onerous. Try not to rupture anything laughing, and remember, the warning in bold a few paragraphs into the article was added later – not that it appears to have helped matters at all. The further it goes, the better it gets.)
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Comment 97. "Best comment thread ever. How do more of these people not get caught up in phishing schemes?"
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when we take the mighty power of computers and give it to the masses.
Now, I've left a comment. Can I log onto Facebook yet?
Sure. Just send me your username, password, and credit card details for verification.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, if I had time and the know-how, I'd start an anthropological study based on this. It was absolutely fascinating.
Wait, really?
ReplyDeleteI mean, sure it's funny, but what is it you'd actually be studying? The inability for the majority of computer users to know how to properly use their browsers?
Or is there some secondary phenomena here that I'm not getting?
Well, the inability, etc, sure; but really just ... all of it. It's not just the complete "Bzuh?" of so many people (and one wonders just how many) using Google to navigate even to their frequently-visited sites, but what that says about us.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which people master (or don't) new/complex technology, the extent to which they are inclined to experiment to see the best way of doing things (rather than the familiar but massively inconvenient way).
The dependence/addiction to FB - and that raises the question of just how much FB (or other social sites) is grooming them to remain unadventurous, intentionally or otherwise.
Even within the article, that so many people didn't read the explanation, didn't have the internet literacy to realize they were not on FB. I mean, that's stunning, and that says so much about how we process information.
And then, also, the reactions of the highly net-literate readership of the site itself, especially as it continued into the hundreds of comments. I mean, that immediate intersection between two such ... I don't know, demographics, I guess? - was highly unusual, and then seeing how the meme mutated as broader groups of internet users discovered what was going on....
All in all, the behaviours of the different groups are well worth a case study. I'm hoping someone will do it.
"oh facebook. I hope you realize you have many miles to go before many of your users figure out FB connect. meanwhile let me just say WHEREZ MY FACEBOOK I WANNA LET ME IN SUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK"
ReplyDeleteI liked that guy.
And the one "immenantizing the Eschaton" (or however you spell that). He was pretty awesome too.
ReplyDeleteO.K., Nina May, let me take a run at this (in re. a separate site): Whisk Key Cooks Relativity?
ReplyDeleteOr maybe also:
Whiskey Cat Eats Fishy Relatives?
I'm intrigued.
I'm still working on it, so don't tell me. (I'm stuck on Théodule Armand Ribot right now; there's too much interesting shit that comes up when you Google artists like this.)
ReplyDeleteOff to the wilds, back on Tuesday.
Probably best. The wilds can be tiresome on Wednesdays and Thursdays, although I've found Fridays to be bearable.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there's the lingering question mark of whether you're talking literal or virtual wilds. At least if you get lost in the literal wilds, it ends in a week or two with your death from exposure. Getting lost in the virtual wilds can be something you have to endure for decades more. I'll take the "Tuesday" literally, though, if you don't mind. It pleases me.
And don't worry, I won't spoil it for you. I look forward to letting you work it out for yourself.
So do you actually do anything apart from lurk and froth at the mouth on Rogers' site, freeload on your mate's blog, and get distracted by obscure French psychologists? Or are you just a particularly belligerent, esoterically erudite, malfunctioning spam-bot?