TTB commenters
Let's face it -- anyone who blogs or who posts comments on someone else's blog is looking for attention. All of us are. Not all of us are looking for huge numbers in our audience, but all of us who blog or comment do want an audience, even if it is only a few people. So all who comment on ttb are looking for attention, no doubt about that.
Many, probably most, of the commenters try to keep their posts on topic, either mentioning something SK's entry made them remember or think about, or sometimes just giving him a pat on the back (after all he's looking for attention too). Then there are the overly enthusiastic commenters -- those are generally sweet, but they get old really fast. I also have the sneaky suspicion that these commenters could very quickly turn into next group -- the "wah!-you-aren't-the-person-I-thought-you-were-and-I-hate-you-I-hate-you-I-hate-you!" commenters. These people have put Steve up on such a high pedestal that he's bound to fall off. They have made him in their minds into the perfect person -- often the father, best friend, lover -- they always wanted, and when he fails to live up to that (as he is bound to) they turn into the sniveling little attackers we see every so often.
The people who are currently involved in an obsession with SK generally leave weird (and not good weird) comments. For instance I usually skip the "me" guy's comments, because they just kind of creep me out. I made the mistake once of reading some of his blog. Oh my. No a pleasant experience. And the chicks who play at this "you're my long lost lover/soul mate" deal. I remember reading a comment from one a few months ago (which had the same structure and feel of one of the recent ones...hmmm)-- the one that supposedly had SK breaking off the whatever the hell it was supposed to be because he has a wife and five children. I'm pretty sure I'd chatted with that chick in Antenna just a couple of days before that and she said she'd never met any of them, nor even seen them in concert. But our conversation got weird at the end when she checked out the SK art site and "LOVED!!!" the Ziggy in the Sea Pool painting. She had to have it, but when I told her the price it deflated that. But then she decided she would contact him (through Myspace I believe) and have him give it to her based on the "relationship" they had. I still have the painting, so I guess that didn't quite work out the way she planned. Still, it was creepy that she really seemed to think she had the leverage to get that painting. Speaking of that painting -- I will be soooo happy when it sells. I've had several people interested in it, but they have all backed out. The people who want this one are, even by Steve fan standards, strange. I don't mean a little flaky either. It just seems that most of the people who want that painting have this sense of entitlement. Several have implied (some, like the chick above, have outright said it) that because the feel a "connection" to the painting they should get it cheaply. My feeling is if they have such a connection they would make sure to come up with the funds required to buy it.
Back to the comments and the people who make them....
Then there are the people who call Steve a hypocrite who wants to censor and control what people post on the comments. Funny thing is I've traced some of them back to the person's own blog (even though few sign in or even leave a name when they post that type of post. It's easy to sign out and post a comment anonymously, but it's not so easy to change your style of writing... ;-) ) and found not only do most of the who people bitch about what Steve says about posting comments not allow anonymous comments, some also moderate all the comments too. You know none of them are getting anything near the volume of comments SK gets, so it's all about control. And they tell people who disagree with them to fuck off too! Hmm...talk about hypocritical. I love that they want him to do something on his blog they are unwilling to do on their own blogs. I once read quite a bit of one guy's blog. He kept referring to SK as self centered and pretentious. As I read his blog I couldn't help but think "you're calling Steve self centered and pretentious??" Christ, at least Steve writes well and has a wicked sense of humour.
Then there are the silly/stupid little comments and the nasty barbed comments by various personas and anons. I'm pretty sure most of these are done just a few people. To me the comments are akin to hecklers. The people who do it like to stir up shit and get noticed, even if it's negative notice. These people also tend to be the ones who attack other commenters -- especially ones who post complimentary things. The don't give a shit about anyone else. It's all about them and their "fun". Luckily they are easier to ignore than hecklers are concerts, but I think they do know that their targets (Steve or other commenters) feel the sting, and I think they get off on that. Everyone knows one nasty comment directed at you feels worse than ten complimentary comments feels good.
And then there are the comments that are just chat back and forth between a couple or a few people. Those remind me of the people who come to a show and then won't shut the fuck up during the concert. Luckily people who do that aren't as annoying on the blog as they are in a concert, but I still wish they would "take it outside." It always has a "look at me, look at me!" feel to it. Luckily the people who have been engaging in it the most lately seem to have decided to go elsewhere for most of their convos, so this should lessen, at least for a while.
I'm sure I forgot some "types" but I'm tired and quitting for now. :-)
Many, probably most, of the commenters try to keep their posts on topic, either mentioning something SK's entry made them remember or think about, or sometimes just giving him a pat on the back (after all he's looking for attention too). Then there are the overly enthusiastic commenters -- those are generally sweet, but they get old really fast. I also have the sneaky suspicion that these commenters could very quickly turn into next group -- the "wah!-you-aren't-the-person-I-thought-you-were-and-I-hate-you-I-hate-you-I-hate-you!" commenters. These people have put Steve up on such a high pedestal that he's bound to fall off. They have made him in their minds into the perfect person -- often the father, best friend, lover -- they always wanted, and when he fails to live up to that (as he is bound to) they turn into the sniveling little attackers we see every so often.
The people who are currently involved in an obsession with SK generally leave weird (and not good weird) comments. For instance I usually skip the "me" guy's comments, because they just kind of creep me out. I made the mistake once of reading some of his blog. Oh my. No a pleasant experience. And the chicks who play at this "you're my long lost lover/soul mate" deal. I remember reading a comment from one a few months ago (which had the same structure and feel of one of the recent ones...hmmm)-- the one that supposedly had SK breaking off the whatever the hell it was supposed to be because he has a wife and five children. I'm pretty sure I'd chatted with that chick in Antenna just a couple of days before that and she said she'd never met any of them, nor even seen them in concert. But our conversation got weird at the end when she checked out the SK art site and "LOVED!!!" the Ziggy in the Sea Pool painting. She had to have it, but when I told her the price it deflated that. But then she decided she would contact him (through Myspace I believe) and have him give it to her based on the "relationship" they had. I still have the painting, so I guess that didn't quite work out the way she planned. Still, it was creepy that she really seemed to think she had the leverage to get that painting. Speaking of that painting -- I will be soooo happy when it sells. I've had several people interested in it, but they have all backed out. The people who want this one are, even by Steve fan standards, strange. I don't mean a little flaky either. It just seems that most of the people who want that painting have this sense of entitlement. Several have implied (some, like the chick above, have outright said it) that because the feel a "connection" to the painting they should get it cheaply. My feeling is if they have such a connection they would make sure to come up with the funds required to buy it.
Back to the comments and the people who make them....
Then there are the people who call Steve a hypocrite who wants to censor and control what people post on the comments. Funny thing is I've traced some of them back to the person's own blog (even though few sign in or even leave a name when they post that type of post. It's easy to sign out and post a comment anonymously, but it's not so easy to change your style of writing... ;-) ) and found not only do most of the who people bitch about what Steve says about posting comments not allow anonymous comments, some also moderate all the comments too. You know none of them are getting anything near the volume of comments SK gets, so it's all about control. And they tell people who disagree with them to fuck off too! Hmm...talk about hypocritical. I love that they want him to do something on his blog they are unwilling to do on their own blogs. I once read quite a bit of one guy's blog. He kept referring to SK as self centered and pretentious. As I read his blog I couldn't help but think "you're calling Steve self centered and pretentious??" Christ, at least Steve writes well and has a wicked sense of humour.
Then there are the silly/stupid little comments and the nasty barbed comments by various personas and anons. I'm pretty sure most of these are done just a few people. To me the comments are akin to hecklers. The people who do it like to stir up shit and get noticed, even if it's negative notice. These people also tend to be the ones who attack other commenters -- especially ones who post complimentary things. The don't give a shit about anyone else. It's all about them and their "fun". Luckily they are easier to ignore than hecklers are concerts, but I think they do know that their targets (Steve or other commenters) feel the sting, and I think they get off on that. Everyone knows one nasty comment directed at you feels worse than ten complimentary comments feels good.
And then there are the comments that are just chat back and forth between a couple or a few people. Those remind me of the people who come to a show and then won't shut the fuck up during the concert. Luckily people who do that aren't as annoying on the blog as they are in a concert, but I still wish they would "take it outside." It always has a "look at me, look at me!" feel to it. Luckily the people who have been engaging in it the most lately seem to have decided to go elsewhere for most of their convos, so this should lessen, at least for a while.
I'm sure I forgot some "types" but I'm tired and quitting for now. :-)
posted by eek at 12:09 AM
3 Comments:
Then there's the type who thinks about commenting but figures that SK doesn't care what she (commenter-wannabe) thinks... and the commenter-wannabe doesn't care what the other commenters think about her comment. And so on.
Ah! You mean the well adjusted person. We don't see many of those commenting on TTB -- probably because they are well-adjusted and don't need to. ;-) **snark** lol
(sadly I count myself amongst the loons)
** disclaimer -- much of this comment is a JOKE, ok?
well, i finally got caught up on TTB.....*shaking my head* and as usual, the trolls have been quite bizzy. it makes me sad for steve when he has to beg repeatedly for these idiots to behave themselves. and we've discussed this one before, eek.
tsk tsk.
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