Almost everyone that I know has either a facebook, myspace, twitter, or some other form social networking account. I have an account on all three, but I really only use one, and that is facebook. Facebook is something that somewhat controls my social life, and I always hate it when I get trolls on my wall. Trolls, for the technically retarded, are people that post mean things about you just for the hell of it. I came into contact with a troll that hasn't been bugging me recently, by the name of Nathan Paulson. If you ever go to his Facebook page, (it's in my friends list), then just post something mean on his wall, I don't care. Anyway, I posted a status, supposed to be comedic, about how I dislike people constantly posting quotes and song lyrics as their statuses for no apparent reason. Sure enough, Nathan comments two things right away. "Fag" and, "Who would take advise form you?" The child can't spell for his own life. Me, not worrying too much about it, just posted a comment in return that probably flew over his reading level of Grade 4. I mean, he got held back in the 8th grade, the boy isn't exactly what we'd call intelligent.
Was ensued was a 112 comment post, with a lot of my other friends popping in, defending me, and trying to explain to Nathan how stupid he is. Then, inevitably, in his desperation, he turned to physical threats, which, by his physical state of short, white, and weak, he could never fulfill. Not at all phased by his threats or stupidity, I replied calmly (most of the time), and just tried to get him to go away, but he persisted.
The post itself became somewhat of a Facebook sensation for about 24 hours, with people I didn't even know too well messaging me telling me that my comebacks were genius, and other things like that. I must admit that it did feel pretty good to have a little bit of an upper hand, even if it was only on the internet.
But this brings me to today's topic, which is, yes, Cyberbullying. As most of us heard, a gay teenager by the name of Tyler Clementi committed suicide because two fellow-classmates posted a video of him having sex with another male student. Thankfully that's never happened to anyone that I know, but it could happen any time. I'm not as sensitive as some of the facebook users, and I can handle criticism from people, especially when said people are stupid, but not everyone is like that. People need to understand that words hurt, and what's put on the internet, in the words of Mark Zuckerberg himself, or something close to what he says, "What's said on the internet isn't in pencil, it's in pen." No truer words have been spoken. Once it's out there, it's extremely hard to take back. Everyone who uses the internet needs to know that people's feelings get hurt very easily, and we should all be careful of what we say.
With that being said, as far as my debacle with Nathan Paulson goes, a lot of people jumped in to put in there 2 cents, and I hope, for Nathan's sake, that he stops bothering people as often as he does. I try my hardest never to insult anyone personally on the internet, but his insults were more annoying than hurtful, and I think he needs to be taught a lesson on common courtesy and respect, because anyone who reads that post, will know it's obvious that he has none.
In the words of Mark Twain, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
On a lighter note, I just recently finished reading a book called Sh*t My Dad Says. Written by Justin Halpern, it's a memoir of times that he spent with his father, and the wise, but ultimately crude words of wisdom that he passed on to his son. This book, is seriously, one of the funniest books I've ever read, and I found myself laughing out loud almost constantly. Definitely needs to be read by anyone who has, or has had a father (wink, wink).
In school, we also finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Many of the kids in my class, as far as I know, didn't enjoy the book at all, but I really liked it a lot, and thought it was hilarious. Twain has an ear for dialogue that no other writer could ever match.
Finally, I read the graphic novel, Kick-Ass by Mark Millar. Yes, this is the same Kick-Ass that was made into the movie. Surprisingly enough, I didn't really like the comic as much as I enjoyed the film for some reason. I mean, I did like it, but I didn't think it was fantastic, like the film.
That's all I have for now you savages.
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