There are a few things I hate in this world: unintentional public erections, overcooked pad thai, and internet commentators. Boners and peanut sauce aside, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the third one listed: internet commentators. Now, I’ll admit that I dabble in occasional narcissism ( I mean why else would I have a blog?) but for the most part I consider myself to be a person who only voices his opinions when it’s appropriate. And while it may be an entirely un-American thing to say, I am a firm believer that not all opinions are equal and that people should be a little bit more selective when it comes to their use of the First Amendment.

I’ve always had a problem with people voicing uneducated opinions or speaking their mind without knowing context or doing the research beforehand. In fact, nothing makes my blood boil more than seeing  someone in class who clearly hasn’t done the homework/reading contributing to the class conversation. It’s simply my opinion that this person has no right to participate because they made no effort to come prepared. And while their opinion may accidentally end up being relevant to the conversation, I can’t help but feel it’s egotistical for someone to talk on an issue without knowing anything about it. To me, it’s almost as if this person thinks they’re so intelligent that their opinions transcend any factual data or actual background information. But in reality they’re just a dickhead who came unprepared because they think they’re above it all.

This uninformed opinion spitting behavior has become extremely widespread on the Internet. People, now more than ever, feel compelled to comment on articles and posts and give their two-cents without researching the subject. In fact, some people will even comment on articles without even reading the article! And for what? I’ll never understand why people feel entitled to speak their mind without knowing a flying fuck about the topic at hand.

I get that there are controversial topics that elicit strong emotional responses. I understand that abortion is a hot button topic and that people feel one way or another about it. But for the love of Christ people, acknowledge the difference between opinion and fact. It’s one thing for you to say that you don’t believe in abortion, it’s another thing entirely to make up scientific facts about it or comment illogical things. You can’t “feel” something into a fact; and defending your illogical attitudes by saying “I don’t need to explain myself to you #freedomofspeech” isn’t doing anyone any favors.
My guess is that this type of online behavior stems from some mixture of loneliness and boredom. People comment half-baked ideas with the hopes that it’ll elicit a response from others. This response  turns into a clusterfuck of comments, which can result hours of wasted time fighting with anonymous people. And perhaps that’s an enjoyable thing for these commentators- slinging personal attacks at people they’ve never met and being forced to defend a point that is indefensible is fun. Maybe it’s even more simple than that- maybe they just want attention. They want someone to acknowledge their existence, even if it’s only in a negative way.

I won’t lie and say that I’m not occasionally envious of the people who have thousands of “likes” on their comments and get widespread approval from others. I can admit to wishing that I got a top rated comment on HONY and that random strangers approved of me without knowing who I actually am. But I’ve never felt the need to spew hatred or saying something inflammatory just to get attention. While I may think Kim Kardashian is dumb, I don’t feel compelled to comment that on an article about her. I’m rational enough to know that commenting that will in no way help me and I’m also realistic enough to know that Kim doesn’t give a shit about my existence. So then why would it matter what I think of Kim? She’s a woman with more fame and fortune than I could ever dream of- and no amount of shit talking will change that. So really my opinion is not needed.

In conclusion, SHUT THE FUCK UP EVERYBODY! Comment on the topics you’ve spent time researching, give your opinion on things that are relevant to your own life and don’t sit around being a troll bitch. With all of the technological advances we spend enough time wasting our lives away on our phones, why add any more time by commenting on articles? Just because we have freedom of speech doesn’t mean we need to exercise it 24/7!  Because at the end of the day just because we all have the right to speak doesn’t mean we should (all the time at least).

 

Let’s end this bitch with a quote:

“We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”- Zeno of Citium