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Update:
31 Oct. 2006
Why is it that the rudest people always seem the loudest? ... Perhaps because only those with the least to say have time to say it.
For example, I sometimes receive flames. (A "flame," if you're not familiar with online lingo, is an insulting message usually sent by someone with nothing better to do.) There's no point to flames. In fact their only purpose is to whine, complain, and create as much trouble as possible.
The logic behind this eludes me. Why bother to say something if there's nothing meaningful to say? Constructive criticism can be helpful, but flames are just a waste of time for everyone.
Yet flames are part and parcel of today's online interaction. And that trend, for me, reflects a worrisome social development. With the advent of the faceless, pseudo-anonymous internet comes a lack of accountability. There is a general absence of forethought or concern for consequence. The general demeanor of much of our society, particularly that of the "internet generation," is simply: "I can do what I want because I won't get caught."
This is not a healthy trend. It breeds at best, a lack of consideration, and at worst, a callous egocentricity to the exclusion of other human beings' needs. After all, why should anyone bother with rules or consequences, when in fact one can get away with anything?
I move, of course, to the extreme. Not all people reflect this trend and, I hope, the remainder will learn over time that neither life nor the internet is truly anonymous. Consequence does follow on the heels of errant action.
*Re-reads that sentence.* Yes. Okay, not only do I sound like an old fogey, but I sound like an old fogey from the Colonial Era. ...Sigh.
Ah well. I've made my point. Flames are annoyances that are, in fact, not anonymous and not without cost. So here's a thought: why not turn that trend around? I vote we coin a new term: an "anti-flame," a random visit to a website in which one compliments its creator or content. You can chalk it up as good karma, if nothing else.
...Yes, I know no one will do it, but it's a nice thought, isn't it?
In the meantime, teachers, good show. I can tell from the content of flames that you are making your students
think, which of course is generating complaints.
...Well, either that, or some monster is forcing young people to read my works, perhaps at gunpoint, by candlelight, or dangling upside-down, backwards, in Latin or Chinese.
Oh poor, poor victims, forced to stomach my hated prose! Alas! ... I think you'll live. Hopefully everyone else can enjoy it.
Either way, teachers, keep up the good work. You must be making an impact if the students are writing hate mail. A+!
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