mutterings about the internets

[threeplusfire]

So, LJ Idol. Part writing, part popularity contest, all made of interwebs. I decided to enter and write because I find deadlines to be motivational. I don't imagine I'll come anywhere close to the end or win, but I figure I can at least get a good six to eight weeks of deadlines to force me to write.

It also gives me the motivation to read LJ entries of people I might not ever see. This is both good and irksome. I've read some fascinating stuff from people such as alycewilson and mandolinorange. Some of my friends, like rm and abbismom, are also writing in LJ Idol. They write enlightening, interesting entries.

Then, there is the flip side. I can't help but look at an entry like this one and wonder how the hell a list of songs qualifies. Sure, making a mix tape on a topic is creative. But seriously? Ostensibly this is a writing exercise and there's absolutely zero writing there. I have conflicted feelings here.

Let's not even get started on how being brave on the internet is about as transgressive as egging someone's house. Being an asshat, and not an especially well written one does not constitute bravery in any way. This situation makes me even more conflicted. I'm not voting for that writer because I think the entry doesn't express apathy so much as it does ignorance and I don't find it in any way creative or well done. I find myself wondering if that entry will always cast a pall over anything else I see from that writer.

Comments

[tigrkittn.livejournal.com]

(delted and reposted because I can't edit and I realized too late I didn't say what I meant!)

I think the "mix tape" is supposed to be poetry if you read the titles down. I'm surprised at how quickly it went up, and it's original, but it's not "good writing".

The sentiments expressed by gratefuladdict may mke my head spin, but trying to change her mind reminds me of a saying a friend of mine is fond of - that's it's like trying to teach a pig to sing: it just wastes your time and annoys the pig. If it were well-written I might have voted for it anyway, because that's what gets my vote. Not being my friend, not saying something I agree with. Unfortunately it didn't even have that going for it, in my opinion and clearly a lot of others.

*shrug* I'm apathetic about other people thinking it was well done- they're entitled to their opinion ;) (wandered over here from [info]abbismom, by the way!)

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Oh poetry, I always fail to understand you! I don't know why but it is true. I might have to return my liberal arts diploma for that.

I understand your point - there's only so much one can do on the internet before it becomes beating your fingers on the keyboard. It wasn't well written - hell, Jesse Helms wrote that essay years ago and with better punctuation.