Possumblog

"You are probably unaware..."

Oh, where to start.

As you ARE all probably aware, there's been some yammering about the anonymity-fueled incivility of the Innernet, and various calls for bloggers to have some kind of standards and junk like that. My suggestion last week wasn't that we needed a Blogger Code of Ethics but a Blogger Aptitude Test. (Of course, if we required a level of intelligence above that of a flatworm, we'd probably wipe out 90% of Web content.)

Anyway, from what I've seen, the problem with blogs and their commentors isn't anonymity, but just plain ol' ignorance of basic facts, and a profound disinterest in tact.

As demonstrated by the title of this post.

I noticed last night when I was checking my mail that someone had left a comment on an old post from August of last year.

A couple of things right off--please feel free to comment on whatever you want around here, but understand that a lot of the content relies on being kinda topical and timely. When you comment on something that's been on here for nearly a year, it might show that you've not been keeping up, or second (and more likely), that you probably just stumbled through here when you were Googling for something else, and decided to impress everyone with your incredible ginormous brain.

This would be great if you had a ginormous brain.

Next, even though I have a low opinion of the level of smarts exhibited by folks online, I do have enough civility not to wander around the Internet dropping in and making statements to strangers questioning their knowledge of various subjects. So I would like to ask that if you want to comment here, don't assume too much about what you or I know. Which means, don't start off your comment directed at a randomly-found-blog-total-stranger with the words, "You are probably unaware..."

Look, I'm many things, and possibly being unaware is one of them. Probably is not a good bet, though. I make it a point to not post stuff unless I'm pretty clear on the topic. Saves grief down the road.

Next, read the post, and the following comments if there are any. BE CERTAIN of what is being said. Reading comprehension is very important, and if you go off on a tangent based entirely on missing the point of a post, it makes you look like a cretin. Or more like one.

Another thing--if you're going to come to my place and assume I don't know what I'm talking about, you danged sure better have your facts straight, and by facts I mean facts--verifiable information from reliable sources, and not superstitions, Netlore, urban legends, or something you just yanked out of the back of your shorts. Because here's the deal--when you say someone else might not know something, and then you come up with some wildly idiotic outlandish claim, that claim can be checked and shown to be false and in doing so make you look like a bigger mouth-breather than you might actually be. (Although not likely.) Trying to talk big doesn't help your case, either.

Anyway, the very thing that allows you to go wandering around dispensing your pearls of wisdom to perfect strangers also is the magical machine that connects a lot of information together, and even if I might miss something, I know where to find it pretty quickly.

Having said all this, let me say that the reason this comment stuck out was that it was so out of keeping with the usual comments around here. I added comments a pretty long while back, and was quite antsy about it then, hoping that they wouldn't become a distraction or a haven for misbehaving trolls and idjits. I am very happy to say that this hasn't been the case, and I think makes Possumblog a great deal more fun to read. The only thing I wish is that a few of you who lurk would say something.

As long as you're not trying to tell me what a great performance value your header-equipped '75 Chevy Monza was when compared to a Ferrari.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at April 17, 2007 08:49 AM