Internet Snobbery
I’ve been part of the world internet community for a number of years now… six or seven at least. I’ve been a part of various groups and sects. From arbitrary fandoms to deep technical and philosophical groups I’ve been a participant a contributor and a creator, it comes with many years integrating yourself into a global culture. Something I have always been painfully aware of though is Internet Snobbery. That is, everyone on the internet looking down their nose at everyone else on the internet. And I’ve done it too.
I mean, let’s look at a few of the billion examples. Microsoft users and Apple users are really looked down upon by Linux users (not that Microsoft and Apple users really care, they are too busy looking down at each other). Lately I’ve been thinking of making my system a dual-boot, Ubuntu or Fedora and Microsoft Windows Vista (don’t get me going on the XP snobs, many of whom don’t even really know why they hate Vista) and almost all of the guides speak in such a pretentious way often adding in notes about how one should just ‘trash Microshit all together’
I’m sorry, I thought I googled ‘tutorial’ not ‘your incredibly immature and biassed opinion on why you hate Microsoft because they are successful’.
But that’s just one example, us webdesigners are the absolute worst for drawing lines in the sand and daring others to cross them, it’s like we’re trying to create some sort of artistic objective rather than the ideal where art is subjective, coding makes it really easy to quantify art, coupled with the fact that you can be totally unknown online makes people seem bolder and more able to say things that they would never dream of saying to someone’s face.
Like, I was swimming the internet and stumbled upon a group of tutorial comments meant for people who had any questions on the material, and someone asked a pretty standard (albiet a little dumb) question about the tutorial and the tutorial writer swooped down in a fit of rage and railed on the newbie for asking such a stupid question and several others rallied with the tutorial owner, until the website’s moderator stepped in… the best part of this story… the moderator was accused of ‘trying to start a flame war’ I mean… really. Maybe they were just done with people making someone new feel uncomfortable.
And I remember that feeling well from when I started webdesign. People with domains were on a high plateau of existance than those of who did not, and those who were hosted on someone else’s domain were at least higher than us Geocities kids. And how much HTML you knew versus page builder, and your graphics skills, your hit counter, your affiliates. And it was all but impossible to convince old websiters to affiliate with newbies and help given was often condescending and sarcastic. Everyone wants you to get better but no one would even dream of helping you.
It seems like everywhere you go online nothing is really good enough for everyone else.
I love review sites that do ‘unrequested reviews’ too. You know what I call that? Flaming. Plain and simple, you write a whole page detailing why someone else has a crappy page that no one asked for you are a flamer. And these are the people who whine when anyone sends them a one liner that says ‘your site sucks’.
Or maybe I’m just really tired and there is no spoon.
I got approved for the Magical Mystery Tour Fanlisting
And to Amber, you just need to take a leap of faith. If you fail go home, but no one will ever criticize you for trying. Or if they do I’ll chase them down with a beating stick, you are incredibly smart and creative, you did better than I ever did in school. Plus, just for shits and giggles I looked up how much a freelance webdesigner makes in New York and have decided you will be a millionaire. <333
July 16th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
This post is epic and fabulous and I love it to bits and pieces. I’ve only ever known one Linux user and she constantly bashed my use of Windows, and if I dare say different I was uneducated rather than justified. I don’t care what platform you use as long as it gets the job done. It’s software that YOU DIDN’T MAKE, and when you say something is better or worse, it is opinion, not fact. So stuff you! (Yes, I stole your phrase. :P)
I remember our newbdom. It was exactly as you described - if you had a domain you were the grand poobah and if you had a subdomain, well, at least you were better than people with ads! Meanwhile, looking back on it, EVERYBODY sucked with their pathetic excuse for coding, their tiny pixel fonts, their ripped anime images and their inability to show the slightest respect for one another. I haven’t come across this at all in the past year and half I returned to web design, but then I’m not a part of that community any more either. I think you just grow out of caring after awhile. Not everyone can shell out $10 for a domain and more for hosting, especially the young kids. When it’s more accessible to you, it’s almost as if you become more accessible.
I actually enjoy unrequested reviews when they’re by someone who knows what they’re talking about and isn’t being hypocritical when pointing something negative out about someone’s website. It’s not necessarily flaming when you have those qualities because it could easily go under the “pointing bad things out so people know where to draw the line” tag. But I figure you must have a pretty bad site (or even just a few awful features) to warrant one from someone you don’t even know.
Congratulations on the fanlisting, you must be dead by now! And, who said I wanted to design in New York?
I’d have to go to the city for the big bucks, and city life is just not me. I’d act so much older - “HEY! GET OFF MY LAWN!” and constantly tell everybody to be quiet because I hate noise. Go figure, 70 year old in a 18 year old’s body. Any way, thank you for the support, and we’ll see what happens. You always manage to make me feel silly for thinking negatively. ♥
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I love this post, mostly because I remember all the things you’re talking about. I kind of miss splash pages, with their elaborate images that hinted at the beautiful design on the main page. Everything was in frame (…uphill, in the snow! Both ways!)
The thing I love about the Internet is that it has no rules. If you’re making a personal website, it doesn’t have to fit the standards of anyone but you.
I don’t think that putting good designers on a pedestal is always a bad thing. I don’t aspire to be one of the Internet’s “cool kids,” but I’ve learned a lot from them.
That being said, there’s a difference between having high standards and just being a jerk. Even if you do post unrequested reviews, it is possible to do it politely and with constructive criticism.