David Dworin Online

Surprise: Your Forum Post Changed Nothing

April 11, 2007 10:14 pm

Another bit of down to earth wisdom for the masses from Tycho at Penny Arcade:

People seem to think that by posting in threads and agreeing with other people they are changing the world. They are not. They are posting in threads online. The universe will not be altered by forum threads, even those which are very wry. Being outraged online is a form of entertainment, and refreshing a thread to receive a hit of consensus packs the thrill of genuine activism without requiring any sweat. I’m afraid this test may require more from the community than a sardonic jpeg.

One day, hopefully before I go back, I’ll get to a write up about my impressions from their PAX convention. The short version: there are real people behind lots of the stuff you see written online, and most of them are exactly like you’d expect, and don’t behave that differently offline.

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