I read an article a while ago (I can't remember where it was) about how people are using social networking sites as a way to get attention from their peers. A girl changes her Facebook status to "hates her mother" and then comments start flooding in asking about the reasons and offering sympathy. I'm also guilty of having written a few emo blog posts. It makes me wonder why people like that get so much attention. Graham is always telling me about how people like to hang out with happy people, so why do people like that get so much attention? Not only that, but if most people engage in that type of behaviour, why are emos seen as the lowest form of society and mocked by everyone?
Something that happened in #see (the IRC channel for the gaming club at uni) when I wasn't there, but I'm told that someone was being emo which triggered a response from most of the people in the channel trying to comfort him. The next day, someone joined the channel and asked how the first person was doing (he wasn't in the channel). This started more talk about what went on the night before, for people like me who missed the action. Finally, the people who were there at the start started complaining that #see is a channel for gaming, not emos. A lot of the time, #see ends up being a soap opera with all the self-indulgent drama that goes on in there. I miss the old #see where people actually talked about gaming, but I digress.
I thought at first that the reason for this is that people just wanted someone to talk to about stuff, and that it didn't really matter who, as on IRC you can't really tell who is there and who is lurking. So I started joining the channel #emo, and said that anyone who wants to rant about stuff can do it in there, because the only people that'll be there are the people who want to rant, and the people who are happy to listen. The channel was a failure. It was mostly used for talking to me when I wasn't in #see (I banned myself for linking a sexually explicit picture of an old man and a fake penis) and the most use it got was last night:
[00:41] * Now talking in #emo
[00:41] * Topic is '#emo :: we /wrists'
[00:41] * Set by Autofix on Wed Aug 27 17:05:56
[01:47] * KamikazeKame (jedi_amara@just.say.yes) has joined #emo
[01:47] <KamikazeKame> !wristcut
[01:48] * Mattimeo (mattimeo@stupid.talking.mice) has joined #emo
[01:49] <~Autoupdate> try !wrist
[01:49] <|Lurking> !wrist
[01:49] * ~Autoupdate sees |Lurking /wrists
[01:49] <~Autoupdate> yay
[01:49] <~Autoupdate> kind of
[01:50] <KamikazeKame> !wrist
[01:50] * ~Autoupdate sees KamikazeKame /wrists
[02:02] * Autoupdate is now known as Autofix
[02:02] * Autofix is now known as Emofix
[02:03] * Emofix changes topic to '#emo :: we /wrists :: use !wrists if you feel the need'
[03:39] * Rangers (ranG3l2s@7AB97512.15165CFF.839ADDB2.IP) has joined #emo
[03:39] <Rangers> zomg
[03:39] <Rangers> wtf is dis crap
So nobody is using #emo for emo-ing, yet people are still doing it in #see. So it seems like it's not just about expressing yourself, you have to do it where there are people to see it. I don't know if this applies to the "emo" culture, but it seems to be that if being emo is about expressing yourself, regardless of what the rest of society says, why do they care whether people notice them or not?
To be honest, the entire emo thing confuses me. I don't see how group hugs and body piercings can make you feel better or express yourself better. Maybe if I got my brain pierced, I'd find out what all the fuss is about...
Something that happened in #see (the IRC channel for the gaming club at uni) when I wasn't there, but I'm told that someone was being emo which triggered a response from most of the people in the channel trying to comfort him. The next day, someone joined the channel and asked how the first person was doing (he wasn't in the channel). This started more talk about what went on the night before, for people like me who missed the action. Finally, the people who were there at the start started complaining that #see is a channel for gaming, not emos. A lot of the time, #see ends up being a soap opera with all the self-indulgent drama that goes on in there. I miss the old #see where people actually talked about gaming, but I digress.
I thought at first that the reason for this is that people just wanted someone to talk to about stuff, and that it didn't really matter who, as on IRC you can't really tell who is there and who is lurking. So I started joining the channel #emo, and said that anyone who wants to rant about stuff can do it in there, because the only people that'll be there are the people who want to rant, and the people who are happy to listen. The channel was a failure. It was mostly used for talking to me when I wasn't in #see (I banned myself for linking a sexually explicit picture of an old man and a fake penis) and the most use it got was last night:
[00:41] * Now talking in #emo
[00:41] * Topic is '#emo :: we /wrists'
[00:41] * Set by Autofix on Wed Aug 27 17:05:56
[01:47] * KamikazeKame (jedi_amara@just.say.yes) has joined #emo
[01:47] <KamikazeKame> !wristcut
[01:48] * Mattimeo (mattimeo@stupid.talking.mice) has joined #emo
[01:49] <~Autoupdate> try !wrist
[01:49] <|Lurking> !wrist
[01:49] * ~Autoupdate sees |Lurking /wrists
[01:49] <~Autoupdate> yay
[01:49] <~Autoupdate> kind of
[01:50] <KamikazeKame> !wrist
[01:50] * ~Autoupdate sees KamikazeKame /wrists
[02:02] * Autoupdate is now known as Autofix
[02:02] * Autofix is now known as Emofix
[02:03] * Emofix changes topic to '#emo :: we /wrists :: use !wrists if you feel the need'
[03:39] * Rangers (ranG3l2s@7AB97512.15165CFF.839ADDB2.IP) has joined #emo
[03:39] <Rangers> zomg
[03:39] <Rangers> wtf is dis crap
So nobody is using #emo for emo-ing, yet people are still doing it in #see. So it seems like it's not just about expressing yourself, you have to do it where there are people to see it. I don't know if this applies to the "emo" culture, but it seems to be that if being emo is about expressing yourself, regardless of what the rest of society says, why do they care whether people notice them or not?
To be honest, the entire emo thing confuses me. I don't see how group hugs and body piercings can make you feel better or express yourself better. Maybe if I got my brain pierced, I'd find out what all the fuss is about...
3 comments:
I would like to point out that for the most part, the emoing is done by a select few people, and that everyone else in there just goes along with it.
The big thing about being emo, and why it's seen as being such a low thing to do, is because it's mostly attention seeking for people who are generally too shy and/or introverted to get attention by being outgoing. So instead they rely on the compassion of other people to get attention. Things like the weird hair and piercings also draw a lot of attention, without them being particularly outgoing. The whole not caring about what society thinks thing is crap, and it's just the emos saying something to justify what they do, and to a small extent let them feel like there's some kind of morality to what their doing.
So yeah, the concept is basically screwed up, and that's why so many people make fun of emos.
Btw, #see is just too big now for it to be mostly about gaming discussion, it's now more a place where people who like to play games hang out. It's a shame..I miss the old days where there were like 10 people in the channel max.
You forgot to put this on Windows Live!
Also,
What I did last year was count all the mentions in that year, and see who was mentioned the most, but I really don't have time to do that right now, but I'll do it when I have a bit more time. T_T
WHEN? Do you want to borrow my time machine for a bit?
My net is fail at the moment, and I keep getting disconnected, so it's hard for me to tell if I've posted a blog or not. :(
I'll try to be better about posting onto WLS though!
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