(This post was last modified: 04-11-2017, 03:36 AM by BadDad.)
(04-11-2017, 03:13 AM)Tbone Wrote: (04-10-2017, 03:45 PM)BadDad Wrote: So...standing in front of a mirror shaving and having a one-sided conversation now equates to setting oneself up as a video god?
I think he simply meant that if someone claims to be an authority on something on the Internet, some others will throw rocks at them. It is the Internet F-Wad Theory at work. It states that Audience + Anonymity turns otherwise nice, happy people into F-Wads. Googling the term will find a cartoon image that describes it better than words alone. I am not saying that kind of behavior is right or in any way justifiable, because it is not. That is the way things are in many places online, however.
Wetshaving forums and YouTube seem to be particularly nasty examples of this phenomenon. Abuse, bullying, mean-spiritedness, crap attitudes, chest thumping, ding-a-ling waving and more are prevalent on YouTube and certain forums. Add commercially motivated greed, conflicts of interest, and censorship, and things just become that much worse. There are some good places, such as here, but not every venue is as well run as this one.
I know what he meant, and I generally agree with you.
The problem is when someone accuses all participants of being guilty of the same actions as some participants, and thusly judges the entirety of "it" with disdain and disgust.
To clarify:
Not everyone posting SOTD pictures is just trying to brag. Some of us are genuinely looking for a connection with like-minded individuals upon which we might be able to build actual, tangible friendships. In my experience, those that post just to brag are in the minority by a long shot, but that could easily be as much my perception and choice of forums upon which to participate, as a legitimate representation of the hobby.
Not everyone on YouTube is even remotely presenting themselves as any kind of expert on anything. By and large, the vast majority of people sharing videos on YouTube are doing so out of enthusiasm for a hobby. This very often inherently means offering tips, tricks, and advice that you pick up along the hard route, and try to offer in a genuine effort to help someone else avoid the same pitfalls. Take any popular hobby from motorcycling to RC cars, shaving to drawing, photography to ballet. Any hobby you can think of has a wad of people on YouTube trying to share their enjoyment of their hobby without pretense or a God complex. Sure those "video god" people exist. They did long before the internet. You would typically find them hanging around areas where their chosen hobby was performed in groups, NOT participating, but criticizing everyone that did. They were jerks then, and they are jerks now. And so are the armchair warriors setting out to destroy everyone with their sharp-tongued comments and a quick wit that is so fast and subtle that they are the only ones that actually get the joke...or at least that's what they believe, anyhow...
I can't believe that it is all in my perception. I know an ass when I read one, and I'm certainly not naive enough to think everyone on the internet has good intentions. I've seen my share of jerks on the internet, and I've even fallen into the category myself by allowing my personal opinions and passions to cloud my judgement and perception of others.
It still makes the idea of "setting oneself up as a video God" pretty laughable in my opinion...inaccurate and laughable...
Tbone and
Freddy like this post