Ah, the Opinionated Internet

Posted by Manda(rific) on February 7, 2011 in Assorted Ramblings, Ramble | 1 comment

This weekend was awesome. A mini vacation, Medieval Times, Packers winning the Super Bowl. All in all it was probably the best birthday weekend ever. But more on that later.

Following the Super Bowl on the internet is like the greatest example of this weird cultural movement that is online society – basically, this bizarre sense of entitlement everyone feels about their own opinions. Their opinions become no longer opinions, but fact. Phrases like “I think” and “In my opinion” or “I believe” are now completely absent from the English language. Frankly, it’s getting a little bit scary.

See, maybe I’m just too mellow. Despite being an avid internet-goer and queen of all things snark, I genuinely don’t have a lot of “hate” for things that aren’t, like, a giant cultural crisis. I hate what’s been going on in Zimbabwe and I hate that the people in Egypt felt they needed to destroy all those historical relics to make a point. What I don’t hate is stuff. I don’t hate Twilight or WWF. Okay, so wrestling isn’t for me, but I don’t hate it. That seems a bit extreme, yeah?

So the Super Bowl, I don’t know if you’re a Twitter-er or Facebook-er, so I’ll share with you a bit of what it was like. Every Facebook status that wasn’t directed towards a certain team being in the Super Bowl was something along the lines of:

“The Super Bowl is so STUPID. Why do we have to have a whole day directed towards this dumb sport?? The TV should show HOCKEY ALL DAY!”

“Ugh, not caring about the Super Bowl. I’d rather shoot myself than watch.”

“Everyone knows the Dallas Cowboys are the REAL Super Bowl champs!”

And then you know, there’s the Twitter Stream…

“Looks like I have to turn twitter off today. Ugh. Too much Super Bowl talk.”

“That performance was so bad, I’d rather get a root canal.”

“Who gives a shit about Football? You all are dumb.”

I know what you’re thinking. This is the “usual stuff” we see from people’s opinions on the internet – but I couldn’t help but feel guilty that I a, was watching the Super Bowl to begin with, and b, kind of didn’t think the Black Eyed Peas performance was all that terrible aside from the sound mixing. The fact is, Sunday wasn’t a day for Hockey Fans or Canadians or people who prefer reading to sports – it was a day about football. Many people in the country were tuned in to the Super Bowl, many people were having parties and enjoying the company of others – it’s not something you can change. We get our one day a year, just smile and nod and let it be  - it’s only one day, right?

Mostly I just want to know when people decided that “live and let live” or “to each his own” were stupid ideas and should be trashed. I totally get the whole “this is the internet! say what you want!” thing – but is there really a need to voice so much…negativeness? Why is it always what you don’t like? Yesterday I tweeted a couple times about how excited I was to be watching the Packers and how the game was. When your sport of choice is doing great or you’re really enjoying your favorite TV show, I invite – nah, encourage you to do the same. Try being positive and enjoying it instead of hating on everyone else’s opinions for once.

I see the same thing in small fandom circles and the like – you’ve all seen it. “I hate Twilight!” someone proclaims. “It’s so dumb! It’s stupid! Edward is Gay!” People seem to forget that without a “I think” before that statement, it comes off as kind of rude to the Twilight fans. Someone out there really, really likes Twilight. Maybe it was the first book they ever really read and enjoyed. Maybe it got them into role playing or reading or researching actual vampire lore and they learned more about Dracula because of it, or maybe it got them into writing. It may not be your favorite book, but it’s someones. How would you feel if someone was saying terrible things – not opinions, but things like calling it stupid – about your favorite book? Maybe a little bit miffed?

Recently at the Vault I asked the “Coke or Pepsi?” question in our chatbox just for laughs. The internet responded with a resounding “Neither!” or “Dr. Pepper is best!” Disregarding the fact that there were only two options entirely, they filled in the blanks. Are these same kids taking tests and writing in “Maybe” where the only possible answers are “Yes” and “No?”

Everyone is entitled to their opinion – but, this may come as a newsflash, your opinion isn’t any more valuable than mine, or your grandmother’s, or that guy’s down the street. You can “hate” Glee all you want. You’re entitled to that. But you’re not entitled to hate on me for being a huge fan of the show. Just as you’re entitled to hate, I’m entitled to love. We all get our opinions – it isn’t the hateful, rude ones that are king of all other opinions. That’s not how that works.

As for me, I don’t have an opinion on Twilight because I’ve never read the books. Glee is one of my favorite shows. I thought Space Chimps was a terrible movie. I was really proud to be watching the Super Bowl yesterday, and even moreso when the Packers won. I didn’t think the Black Eyed Peas performance sucked that bad. I think Wendy’s chicken nuggets aren’t all that great.

But hey, to each his own.