• Archive

  • Categories

  • Tags

Why all the hate?

Why do people hate a particular person when they’ve never met?
Why is all this hate clearly evident on the Internet?

I’m constantly looking through the trending topics on Twitter and seeing mostly hate in them. Mainly, as you can imagine, for a particular young Canadian star. The reasoning behind the hate? Feeble excuses like “He’s so annoying!” or “I just really don’t like him”. Pathetic reasons that aren’t justified.
You know the real reason you hate him? It’s his popularity and his fan base that you don’t like.

Turn the tables.
You have a love for music.
You decide to throw a few videos on YouTube.
They’re noticed and, all of a sudden, you have a few number one singles and a ton of fans. Amazing, right? But then, because of your popularity and the fact you’ve done very well for yourself at a young age, some have this extreme dislike for you and feel they have to show it through comments on the Internet – wait a minute, don’t we call that cyberbullying? Surely it can’t be the same thing?

Mr B is only one example, of course, because its the most extreme I’ve seen.
Other popular celebs suffer the same and, unless they HAVE done something that warrants a dislike, it’s due to popularity and maybe jealousy of their non-fans – hold on, are we back in the playground again with one of the causes of bullying? Jealousy of popularity?

So, next time you’re thinking of writing some kind of hate statement, get these into your head first:

  • Who is it I actually don’t like? The celeb or the fans?
  • If its the celeb, why do I dislike them? Is there a reason at all? A legitimate one?
  • Despite the previous questions, do I actually have to post my feelings about them online making me, in effect, a cyberbully?

Just a thought…

by withoutmotive on 22/04/2012  •  Permalink
Posted in General
Tagged , ,

Posted by withoutmotive on 22/04/2012

http://withoutmotive.co.uk/2012/04/22/why-all-the-hate/

Don’t Push It

I’ve been wondering the past few days whether I was too harsh on a door-to-door charity donation “hunter”. The more I think about it, the more I’m telling myself I’m not a bad person and it as quite deserved.

The charity worker in question (I can’t even remember which charity it was now) knocked on our door in the early evening. I opened the door to what can only be described as a person who had the voice of a yappy chihuahua – she had a strong Liverpool accent and spoke very fast.
Straight away she asked me how I was and, like every door-to-door person, insisted she wasn’t trying to sell me anything. She tried to explain what the charity was all about but I didn’t quite get the jist of it. I’d seen the logo before and had a vague idea. Then, again like other door-to-door people, she told me that she’d been to all my neighbours who had kindly given to the charity… in the area where I live?? I don’t think so. This was obviously her way of trying to make me feel guilty so I would give. Then came the killer line which told me to get rid of her as soon as possible, the line that told me that she was being WAY too pushy, “I can’t ask for money directly so all I’ll need is for you to fill in this donation form and it will all be done by direct debit. Have you got anywhere I can lean?“

Excuse me?
You’re assuming I’m going to donate and now you have the cheek to ask me where you can lean? You haven’t let me get a word in. I don’t know what your charity is about.
I decide what charity I donate to, I decide how much to donate and I decide when I donate to them.
I’m all for giving to charity. I regularly donate to The Alzheimer’s Society. I do my bit for Comic Relief and Children In Need but I refuse to be forced into donating especially when someone has that assumption that I will and starts filling in a form on my behalf.

Of course, I didn’t relay all this to her.
Instead, I answered her question and, in doing so, visually indicated I’m not interested:

“Yes, you can lean on the wall there by the gate” *shuts front door when her back is turned*

Too harsh? I don’t think so.
Some people would say she was only doing her job. Some people will agree with me.
My view remains: Don’t push your charity onto me. I can decide who, when and how much.

by withoutmotive on 19/04/2012  •  Permalink
Posted in General
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by withoutmotive on 19/04/2012

http://withoutmotive.co.uk/2012/04/19/dont-push-it/

Writing

I write. Sometimes.
I mean properly write. Like prose or, for want of a better description, poetry. I’m very descriptive in my writing and so, when it comes to writing a blog post, it can sometimes come across as quite creative. I don’t see this. I just write.

Maybe I should take it more seriously? Develop the skill? Do something with it? But then, I’d be thinking about it. I don’t think about writing at all. It just happens.
I don’t necessarily take inspiration from anything or plan to write. That’s why it can be forever before I post again.

I won’t make a decision.
If I do, it will mean dedication which will mean thinking about it. You can’t think too much about these things otherwise they won’t read well.
I’ll just be spontaneous.

by withoutmotive on 14/04/2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Personal
Tagged ,

Posted by withoutmotive on 14/04/2012

http://withoutmotive.co.uk/2012/04/14/writing/

Powerless

Yesterday, the power was switched off at work to allow a distribution board to be upgraded (I think). I had to turn everything off – servers, switches, everything. I didn’t plan this very well. After switching it off and telling the electricians they can do what they needed to do, I settled down to do what I had planned, only to realise where everything was that I needed – on the servers or the Internet. No problem, I thought, I’ll use my iPad – no wireless.

Yesterday was unproductive.
I tidied, and tidied some more, and tidied some more before giving up and going home early.
How ridiculous is life without the use of technology? No power, no Internet and it’s like we’ve lost several limbs. Our life is turned upside-down.
This relates to my previous post in that, in some way, our tech DOES own us. Without it, we’re doomed.
I did more work yesterday at home with access to the Internet than I did at work.

Today is much the same.
No power yet until probably this afternoon when I’ll start switching everything back on. This will at least give me something to do today and tomorrow. Until then, I’ll tidy.

by withoutmotive on 11/04/2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Work
Tagged , , ,

Posted by withoutmotive on 11/04/2012

http://withoutmotive.co.uk/2012/04/11/powerless/

Your Tech: Do you own it or does it own you?

“Ping, ping”
Another notification.
Despite its ability to stay there until you’re ready to see it, the urge to address it immediately is too much. This, times however many times a day, times however many apps that do it, allow our devices to control our day.
Recently… last night, in fact,… I decided to disable all my notifications (aside from SMS and other “direct contact” apps) and only allow them to display their badge as a way of seeing how much of my real life I get back without letting go of my online presence. My thinking being that this way my phone/iPad doesn’t tell me someone has said something and demand my attention immediately, it takes away this urge and subtly lets me know that something demands my attention but only when I next look at my device.

Technology is certainly the way forward for communication and networking.
However, a lot of people allow this technology to take over and the line is blurred between real life and online life.
I saw this in a recent film I watched – “Chatroom“.
Although the subject matter was more serious – the way some people are manipulated online to do things they shouldn’t or don’t want to – the confusion between what was “real” and what was not came across in the way it was filmed. This was what gave me the idea to turn off these notifications.

It can be the first and last thing people do.
We wake up, pick up the phone/iPad, check Facebook, Twitter, etc. before we’ve even said good morning.
At night, before we turn over to sleep, we check the same things, despite looking at said things minutes earlier before going to bed.

This constant attention to our online life can have an effect on courtesy and etiquette in our real lives, edging on rudeness. Checking Twitter while in the company of others for no reason other than to see what’s going on. Checking Facebook to see who’s online and, possibly worse, starting or continuing a conversation with someone while “really” socialising. Aside from being rude, it can make the real people you’re with feel less important or like they’re boring you.

So, lets see if I become more aware of my real world and benefit more from it while still keeping tabs on things that are happening online. I’ve had a clean up of various apps that do nothing apart from let people know what I’m watching or where I’m going (no more Miso or Foursquare). It’s just time wasted. The Facebook app has gone – I’ve replaced it with email notifications if people want to get in touch. Twitter, I’ve kept because its actually useful and I use it in my working life.

Hello, real world!

How Can I Stop Using My Phone All The Time And Actually Connect With People In The Real World

Smartphone Etiquette

by withoutmotive on 07/04/2012  •  Permalink
Posted in General
Tagged ,

Posted by withoutmotive on 07/04/2012

http://withoutmotive.co.uk/2012/04/07/your-tech-do-you-own-it-or-does-it-own-you-2/

« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 535 other followers