The Internet’s Principal Exports are Bullshit and Outrage
I came across a pretty interesting passage in “Host,” an essay by David Foster Wallace that perfectly sums up why negative news travels so fast on the Internet. The essay happens to be about AM talk radio, but the words still apply:
It is, of course, much less difficult to arouse genuine anger, indignation, and outrage in people than it is real joy, satisfaction, fellow feeling, etc. The latter are fragile and complex, and what excites them varies a great deal from person to person, whereas anger et al. are more primal, universal, and easy to stimulate (as implied by phrases like ‘He really pushes my buttons’).
In other words, the principal exports of the blogosphere are bullshit and outrage. Why? Because as a species, we are flawed creatures that gobble it up.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I just read “Host” (as in last weekend). The passage is still pretty fresh and definitely appropriate when talking about the ‘net. Nevertheless, I’m still going to write “nice” little stories about nothing at all and seek the same from others.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:03 am
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png
August 9th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
You can see it in your stat-counter. Doom and gloom brings a lot of people out of the woodwork.
August 21st, 2008 at 6:32 am
I think you’re right to a certain extent, but it’s more complicated than that.
Yes, the link you’re most likely to write a comment for, or forward to your friends, usually falls in the ‘Bullshit or outrage’ category, but that’s just one of the ways to define ‘export’.
A thoughtful article, post or project may not inspire the BoingBoinging hordes, but it’s worth acknowledging as worthwhile.
Not to mention more common than click- and comment-counts would indicate. I read a ton of sites, for example, that I don’t mention to my friends all that much, or forward around. They’re good in a non-outrageous kind of way, and don’t work as ‘hey, check this out!’ conversation pieces.
That said, though, the firestorm over your espresso post was excessive and retarded in a way that only the internet can be.