March 25, 2009
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This bothers me
I'm upset about an entry I just saw on Xanga's sister site "The Popsite".
I seldom get upset at something I read about here on Xanga, or on the internet in general. Actually, I can get upset at things quite easily, but outwardly, I don't "rant and rave" too much about small things like differences of opinion, unwavering stances, or lack of internet etiquette. Life is too short, and the internet is a great big "place" full of every shade of opinion known to man.
Xanga has a grand total of eleven "sister blogging sites" now, each dedicated to a specific pursuit or interest. Back when there were only seven of these sister sites, I blogged somewhat humorously about "Xanga Groups." making up a few of my own. One of the real sites, The Popsite, is dedicated to "decoding popular culture." Since I have a website on AllThingsMike called "The Cultural Blender" and have called myself a "student of popular culture" for many years, I figured I'd enjoy the entries on this site. Even though every tiime I visit a Xanga sister site, I immediately get a "friend request" (but never any visits or comments) and this has bothered me, since I accept the request, and then get bombarded with "announcements" for each and every entry posted on the site, I still made the visit, and read back three entries, until I got to the one which upset me.
The first couple of entries were innocuous enough. One celebrated "funny women" in media, and the next was a "featured question" about favorite movies in the 90s. Then I came upon. "F***, Marry, Kill", which was described as a "new Popsite game". The entry has 30 comments, and was posted on Monday. There are photos of three young pop divas, and the instructions are to name which star you would want to have sex with, marry, or kill.
Inasmuch as marrying someone hopefully means that one would have sex with them, making the "f**" and "marry" choices somewhat similar, I got upset at a couple of things regarding this post.
One: I'm not that upset that asterisks were used in place of a somewhat inappropriate verb. I use asterisks on my blog when transposing some of my older poetry which contains profanity. Why couldn't the title be "Fornicate" instead of "F***"? Aren't younger people reading and participating in these blog challenges? This might pass muster if the blog entry is just a normal person writing a normal blog, but this is on a Xanga Sister Site and I would hope this means it's approved for ALL Xangans.
Two, and this is the most important upsetting thing about this entry to me. It might be innocent enough, in a "Celebrity Deathmatch" sort of way, to ask bloggers to hope for someone to die. But I'm upset at this request. As humans, we should be celebrating life, not wishing to snuff it out. The three pop starlets mentioned in the post might be fading icons, or maybe one's favorite stars. It doesn't matter. What matters is that in effect, Xanga is asking bloggers which of these startlets deserves to die. This upsets me.
I know it's all meant in fun. Maybe it's just because I'm an old fogey. But this upsets me greatly. I might not like one or all of these pop stars, but I don't wish ill will on any of them, and I certainly don't think Xanga should be promoting this kind of behavior. Of course I'm one of those people who believe that the abundance of "shoot em up" video games over the past 20 years has added to the mindset that human life is disposable. Every week I read about some other crazy who has gone on a killing spree. More and more people are buying into a mindset that tells them it's perfectly okay to take the lives of others, including yourself, if you don't like the way they look, think, or act. A lot of folks killed in mindless shooting sprees are strangers to the shooter. I have to think that being asked on a blogsite who you would rather kill feeds these terrible behaviors rather than serve to eradicate them.
I don't think I'll accept The Popsite's friend request when it arrives. I would like to think that my friends don't condone either the action, or the thought, of taking a human life. There must be a lot more fulfilling and encouraging "games" one can play on the Popsite's blog!
EDIT: 1:48pm pdt. As I figured would happen, I just got the "Popsite subscribed to you, Popsite added you as a friend, but you need to add Popsite back" message. Obviously Popsite didn't read this entry!!! Xanga must employ a bot to subscribe to the people who visit the sister blogsites. MFN/ppf
Comments (52)
I find the majority of what's on the internet to be incredibly disturbing; although for years I was able to say that Xanga was the shining exception to this apparent rule. NOW? Not so much.
sounds like we're catching up with the whole asian "anti-s" which has bugged me a long time. if you don't like someone famous, why let it bug you? they don't need your negativity in a career that's full of that crap already and you don't need it in your own life. and why think it's ok to fantasize about taking the life of another? it desensitizes you and dehumanizes them. where's the fun in that? argh!!! this sort of stuff makes me want to rant!!!!
Dear Michael! :wave:
I stand and applaud you, my friend. I'll be honest and admit I don't visit any of the "sister sites" although I have had several blog posts picked up by Revelife. The perceived lack of respect for life is mind-boggling, and downright angering to myself as well. Many will say, "chalk it up to adolescent immaturity," but I see that as a cop-out that we need to stop adhering to... or maybe now that I'm 40, I'm joining you in "fogey" status?
BE blessed.
Steve :sunny:
you are the man Mike.
:yes:indeed and dehumanising rules the day, the internet and even it has come to a pass where all things xanga are not nice.
I saw that post yesterday and was disturbed as well.
You're not an 'old fogey.' You're a kind human being who has compassion for others.
Hey, Mike -- I don't blame you. I thought there was a way to report sites for "inapproprate content". I know there is on every Xanga site I've visited. Maybe not on "sister sites"?
Personally, I have no interest in most "sister sites" since I discovered that if one is visited an automatic "friends" invite is sent. I will not accept those.
Anyway, I agree with you. I consider myself a strong supporter of "freedom of speech" and freedom of the press, but I'm also equally supportive of the freedom to object to what is spoken or printed.
~~Blessings 'n cheers :goodjob:
You are totally cool, dude. (Not an old fogey at all!)
Just goes along withe cultural indecency to which we are constantly exposed.
I don't visit the sister sites, tho I did join Facebook. I find my old friends here on Xanga are all I need. You have been a freind for a long time. I hope we will be till I am gone.
I fell Dec. 26th, had the replacement the 28th and Janurary 1rst I could walk without pain. I think I had a wonderful doctor tho I had never met him previously. I don't know about the screws. I did not see them in my xray last month. I am going to ask about that. My friend Ginny had hers done and came home with her son. She sat down the wrong way and dislocated the hip. It was terrible for her since she had it done In Indianapolis and that is 80 miles away. She had to have an ambulance take her and she said she felt every bump. I have a weakness in that leg, but I think it is going to get stronger as I do my circuit training. I wish you all good luck with yours, Mike, and I will be thinking of you come June!
That site should definitely get a red flag!!! i agree with you that that sort of thing should not be encouraged. Have you passed on your concerns to anyone at Xanga?
@suzyQ_darnit - Dear Suzy, The entry in question is on the front page of a Xanga sister site, so I will assume Xanga already knows about it. It's getting more comments, and one commenter even wondered aloud why nobody was upset about the "quiz". I was going to comment, but I didn't. I figure by writing this entry, I've already said my piece. I see Jeri recommended my entry. I guess if I got enough recommends then Xanga would know for sure, but I'm not being judgemental, so I won't write the Xanga Gods an email which they probably wouldn't see anyway. Some of them are subscribers to my blog, so they'll see my entry if they read me. I want to point out, my intent isn't to point fingers, just to show that there is a mean streak shot right through the whole of humanity, and this is a good (bad) example of the trend . MFN/ppf
yes they do use the bots... i gave up on all the little extra things like that. they aren't "friends" so to speak... they are more like subsciptions to nothing. i have heard of this before though. it's a kind of joke evidentally they turned the joke into a blog topic. like i think i heard this when i was in college along with "dead baby" jokes which i thought were also distasteful.
I did not accept the friend requestes from any of the other sites either. Some of them look like spam to me.
I don't think you are an old fogey, not at all. That's BEYOND disturbing.
please
Dear Mike,
I have observed over the past few years that many younger bloggers are under the impression that foul language and disregard of anyone outside their small circles as human beings, is what adults do. Far be it for me to condemn the use of explitives, since I use them myself, but the art of reserving them for solely shock value to reinforce a point seems lost on those who use them like commas. The good part about the internet and blogging is they can be treated like a radio or tv. If we don't like what we see or hear, we remain free not to tune in to such tripe (just as you have done).
Botolf, idiot at large
The killing part of that is rather sinister. Not because I think it is serious, but like you said how many times we have read about some bozo going berzerk.
i think its interseting that we have a society that is based on the idea of free speech and freedom of expression but when someone does something that violates what we consider conseptual morality we get offended and then we wonder why other people with more conservative or liberal mindsets get offended when we express areselves now i do agree that video game violence is causing damage just becaues of their target demographic (YOUNG MALES ) but we cant stress over that stuff to much cause it will drive us nuts if we do
I MAY NOT AGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY SIR BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH THE RIGHT TO SAY IT
i do aplaude your senserity and compasion for man kind though
That entry was disturbing on so many levels. Thanks for speaking out about it.
Sorry to say, yes we are old fogeys. I was born this way, what's your excuse? Thankfully, the young people I know are like you and me (take Curt(ainsopen) for example). The superficial media panders to the ignorant masses and most young people are still ignorant. No harm in speaking up for decency and compassion though; it does take a village...
that sort of game is the kind played on message boards, far away from public eyes.
i agree. it's inappropriate to put that on a blog intended for a large audience.
xanga seems to want these ish sites to mimic other specialty blogs out there, but in comparison they look really unpolished.
You're not just an old fogey - I agree with you. It's not funny or entertaining to joke about "offing" somebody, for whatever reason. I think it's totally inappropriate for Xanga to promote that post.
i'm not entertained by that popsite post at all. it's not smart or funny or cleverly written so has no value which ever angle it's approached.
now this post, on the other hand, is smart and well written and i'm glad i read it.
Today I was commenting that whenever someone who looks below the age of consent, that I cannot act too friendly to that person no matter what they say.
Yes I would be offended if I read that blog about killing. I don't even think that person deserves looking at their content or context. They crossed the line nonetheless.
Now if they suggested that if everyone turned into a "zombie" and perhaps need killing, I might grant that blog an exception...
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