G. Keenan wrote:This story was covered on All Thing's Considered today and not in some intelligent way either, just another "hey look at these a-holes" treatment.
What's the intelligent way to cover such a story?
Maybe a discussion of how the internet snark/hater machine will gear up and mindlessly grind away on just about anyone unlucky enough to be caught unawares in an embarrassing moment. It starts as background footage on a baseball broadcast. The announcer chimes in with his opinion and frames the situation. The camera crew takes more shots to reinforce that opinion. Then it ends up on a popular blog where the anonymity of the internet lets morans take pot shots and proudly proclaim their moral and ethical superiority, the what I would have done in that situation. It gets re-blogged and posted in forums. Goes viral. Next thing your happy moment with your date at a game is plastered under the headline WORST PEOPLE EVER and the "story" gets reported on national radio between segments about the presidential campaign and the war crimes conviction of Charles Taylor.
The internet takes our inherent flaws of rushing to judgement, love of gossip, and petty sense of superiority and magnifies it by a gazillion.
wow, seriously? Maybe you should take a break from the internet, or consider for a moment that people take something they see and have a little fun with it. I really don't give two [expletive] about the situation - I was just having some fun. I certainly wasn't espousing some "moral and ethical superiority".
I do appreciate you calling me a moron though. Maybe Leroy has the right idea about this place.
G. Keenan wrote:This story was covered on All Thing's Considered today and not in some intelligent way either, just another "hey look at these a-holes" treatment.
What's the intelligent way to cover such a story?
Maybe a discussion of how the internet snark/hater machine will gear up and mindlessly grind away on just about anyone unlucky enough to be caught unawares in an embarrassing moment. It starts as background footage on a baseball broadcast. The announcer chimes in with his opinion and frames the situation. The camera crew takes more shots to reinforce that opinion. Then it ends up on a popular blog where the anonymity of the internet lets morans take pot shots and proudly proclaim their moral and ethical superiority, the what I would have done in that situation. It gets re-blogged and posted in forums. Goes viral. Next thing your happy moment with your date at a game is plastered under the headline WORST PEOPLE EVER and the "story" gets reported on national radio between segments about the presidential campaign and the war crimes conviction of Charles Taylor.
The internet takes our inherent flaws of rushing to judgement, love of gossip, and petty sense of superiority and magnifies it by a gazillion.
Agreed ... sort of like assuming a kid is some kind of spoiled little brat is that who cries because he didn't get the ball instead of maybe just being tired because it's late and he has sat in the same place for 3 hours? wink wink...
Seriously you have a good point but they should have given it to the kid. Not doing it was kind of douche baggy. Not worlds worst person show everyone on the internet douche baggy, but just douche baggy enough to hit the radar.
My backlash against the kid is really just a backlash against the sermonizing of the Yankees broadcaster and the cult of childhood in general. The kid is probably a good kid. The parents looked to handle it all very well. The only people who seemed to notice the whole thing were the broadcast team. The parties involved seemed to all be carrying on their merry way before the internet decided they must be selfish douchebags for not giving a ball to a kid they didn't even notice. Kid won't even remember the whole thing 6 months from now but people are saying he's been deprived of some beautiful, foundational memory that he will treasure until his dying moment. Maybe it was that couple's anniversary or first date or some other special occasion and they wanted a momento of it. I really don't care one way or the other. The whole thing is pointless. People at work need a diversion though and this couple was unlucky enough to be the internet punch line du jour.
I understand ... and I think you have a fair point. But I just can't get over some adult getting that flipping excited over a ball that was tossed to you by a coach. That's just weird. I would be so embarrassed to have caught it I would have immediately looked to give it away.
G. Keenan wrote:This story was covered on All Thing's Considered today and not in some intelligent way either, just another "hey look at these a-holes" treatment.
What's the intelligent way to cover such a story?
Maybe a discussion of how the internet snark/hater machine will gear up and mindlessly grind away on just about anyone unlucky enough to be caught unawares in an embarrassing moment. It starts as background footage on a baseball broadcast. The announcer chimes in with his opinion and frames the situation. The camera crew takes more shots to reinforce that opinion. Then it ends up on a popular blog where the anonymity of the internet lets morans take pot shots and proudly proclaim their moral and ethical superiority, the what I would have done in that situation. It gets re-blogged and posted in forums. Goes viral. Next thing your happy moment with your date at a game is plastered under the headline WORST PEOPLE EVER and the "story" gets reported on national radio between segments about the presidential campaign and the war crimes conviction of Charles Taylor.
The internet takes our inherent flaws of rushing to judgement, love of gossip, and petty sense of superiority and magnifies it by a gazillion.
wow, seriously? Maybe you should take a break from the internet, or consider for a moment that people take something they see and have a little fun with it. I really don't give two [expletive] about the situation - I was just having some fun. I certainly wasn't espousing some "moral and ethical superiority".
I do appreciate you calling me a moron though. Maybe Leroy has the right idea about this place.
I'm very detached from this whole thing and just making up abstract arguments as I go along. I really don't care one way or the other about the particulars of this situation, though I find a general trend about the internet off-putting.
I also don't for a minute think you're a moron, or anyone else here at GRB. I consider the discussion here to be among friends and when I throw labels around like that, in this thread and others, I'm referring to the rest of the internet, other people, not people here. I know nobody here is a moron, occasional hyperbole aside.
