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Sunday (12/9/07)
What annoys you most about the internet? 8:17 pm
To create a great solution, one must first find a problem. Consider this an open brainstorming session.
For me:
- Too much time-wasting crap that has no real purpose. I’m looking at you, MySpace/Facebook/Fill-in-the-blank.
- Innovation often only occurs when new technology comes out. We let technology drive our ideas, rather than getting ideas then finding technology to assist them.
- Every new thing is the greatest thing since the last greatest thing… Even though we don’t know what it’s good for and will ditch it within a few months for the next greatest thing.
- Everybody thinks they have something important to say, and it’s almost impossible to sort through them all to actually find the important ones.
Hit me.
I eat food. I listen to music. I sleep. Sometimes. I drink lots of coffee. I make pretty pictures. I talk to people. I believe in things. I write stuff. I take photographs. I have a laughing addiction. I am human. 
Blank blog posts. *wink*
Errrrrr! Glad it is not just me that can’t see anything here! Look forward to seeing what ever it was that you wanted to write.
Toni
People having a web identity and/or personality.
@Andrés: Interesting. Care to elaborate?
@Joe & Toni: Should be something there now.
I completely agree with you. I also figured since you asked I would throw a few more at you:
- Too much writing/reading and not doing. I’ll spend an hour reading awesome articles about stuff I want to be doing and not actually end up getting to the “doing” part. I do learn a lot of general information but not too much is indepth, which is arguably more useful.
- Too much flaming. I always try to maximize the amount of work that I can get done. When I am reading I always read the comments because they really do add sustenance to the article. I’m completely dumbfounded how people can waste their own time and my own by writing useless blabber in comments. Whats the best way to stop this? I for one monitor my own blog’s comments (albeit there are very few) and only allow the meaningful ones… but can this be improved?
What frustrates me about the internet?
#1: Evil people blanket marketing pr0n through blog posts and paid advertising. Since they are dirty, they can use any dirty tactic to get in front of people’s faces.
#2: Information gathering used for bad and identity theft.
#3: Ebay scammers.
#4: Viruses - come on, using, “I love you” to spread a virus? That is just evil.
#5: The common perception that all geeks are atheist. I am a geek and I am not atheist.
Actually to comment on your first listing FACEBOOK. I actually had a potential employer ask me just yesterday why I don’t have a Facebook account (I’d deleted mine back in October). My answer was simple, I wanted an increase in Productivity.
I don’t like the snotty and holier-than-though folks who think they know everything about everything Amen. You don’t like Facebook, twitter, whatever? easy enough not to use these sites, right. Also don’t like the porn spammers and multi-level marketing spammers.
@Trula: I didn’t think I was being holier-than-thou at all–if you can be productive on it, more power to you (and I love Twitter, and I do use facebook now and then…but not for anything really worthwhile). However, need we forget, this is a “what annoys you about the internet” discussion, so pretty sure facebook comments are fair game.
I have problems with the myspace/facebook/whatever thing, but it’s not that they exist, it’s the fact that people keep inviting me to be their friends. I mean, let’s get real… who in the real world goes around asking “will you be my friend?” And, 90% of the time, there’s nothing there, anyway.
Another problem I have is that the internet allows for too much equality. You don’t have to be rich, or famous, or even talented to have a blog these days, and this gets people to start believing that their opinion actually means something. There’s no more elitism, and that takes all the fun out of being elite. Consequently, we have people like 9rules trying to invent some elitist thing, but who are they to decide?
And another thing, the internet is a big time-sucking monster. Like, right now I should be working, or ordering Christmas gifts online, but what am I doing? I’m commenting on some 9rulish blog…
Alden I think you hit the nail on the head. Online shopping is the savior or the death of our society and I don’t think we’re sure which it is. I realized today that I’ve got more “spending money” in my paypal account than my wallet.
Why do I know that? Oh, the time sucking monster decided to usurp my time for studying for an exam and make me price out Christmas gifts. Oh and what I can afford has become a function of “will you be paying via Paypal debit or cash?”
The Internet, or the powers that be have not yet created a supplementary product for the Internet that works as Ritalin for those with poor multitasking abilities. I’ll say that’s one of my largest annoyances… Heck! I went to check my email and now i’m commenting on Elliot’s blog!
Blog… email… studying… oh yes, back to studying now.
@Elliot: About my past comment, and your reply:
Alden says it best.
We sometimes seek for satisfaction in things like:
how much comments my post had, my technorati authority, how much stars are there on my ebay, how happy I appear to be in my facebook photos, or how much comments my photos receive.
All these things, as Alden says, aren’t bad in their essence, but they can offuscate our reality if we care to much about those. We can get to the pont where we seek on-line the essential things that we lack in reality.
The internet is a powerful tool. Self expression online can be powerful and even change our lives. But our spiritual emptiness can sometimes lead us the wrong way around the internet to seek false joy in things of immediate, yet false, utility.
Our human hear wishes for true happiness and joy, butwe recognize it costs effort; and we don’t want to pay for it. So we take a wrong road.
What most annoys me about the Internet is we actually falling in this hole.
What about you?
When a real artist shares his or her world view and passion on-line, learns from others, and even has fun on-line, I think it’s fine and admirable. But not for someone trying to have more readers than friends.
What a nice app, you invented -> Postable.
I think it will come in handy for writing some comments when I need to put in some code, and I’m afraid of screwing up the comment.
Oh yeah, nicely designed WordPress blog you have.
As for Facebook, I’m still trying to “figure” it out
So first thing’s first: MySpace (eeeekkkk). I don’t understand why it is so compelling to visit your page and hope to see new comments from your so-called “friends”. Are these not the same people you probably spend 5000 minutes of cell time a month talking to?
And please don’t get me started on the design of MySpace. Dear Lord, that is absolutely dreadful in it’s own right and the fact that people clutter their pages with so much useless crap. Whatever happened to simplicity?
Now to my annoyance: Mindless web design. Everyone can design their own websites now thanks to places like Yahoo and their little “Geocities” infection. If you CAN design and make it look good, then by all means please build away. However if you think that picture-tiled backgrounds are cute or “awesome”, then I beg you please don’t move that mouse. Instead head to your local book store and pick up a copy of “How to build websites that don’t give people strokes”.
I think MySpace is a good thing. Just as were interested in all things multimedia, there are others who are interested in friends and meeting new people. Why shouldn’t they take their hobbies to the internet too? …What I will say, is I can’t stand the people who use MySpace to advertise porn or pointless sites which MySpace users have no interest in. Or sites that let people design/ruin their own MySpace’s. It’s just crap DIY, but on the internet where everyone can see it.
The one thing I cant stand about the Internet is how its 99% crap, people will upload anything if it works for them and it immediately gets mixed with all the good stuff, blocking it out in most cases. It’s down to selfish people with no respect for this wonderful resource we are gifted with.
I think it’s totally underestimated and undervalued. People have no respect for things that don’t belong to them and the internet doesn’t belong to anyone.
And since when has everyone been a web designer? Something has gone wrong somewhere along the line… If your car won’t start you call a mechanic. If your wall falls down you get a builder. If you want a website designed you type free web-design into Google? …Nooooo. See a web designer!
I agree about MySpace. I would rate MySpace higher than Facebook and Vois, although to be honest, I hardly spend anytime at these online social sites.
The Web is a good thing overall, but its up to all the people using it to define how they want it to be.
When it comes to design vs content, I would rate content higher. I always come across websites with poor design, but good or interesting stuff. Similarly, good designed websites but mediocre stuff.
That said, Craigslist needs a better web designer…
What annoys you most about the internet?
The fact that you’re on it.
lack of citywide wifi where I live