Confessions of an e-Comment junkie
I was sitting listening to a discussion by some friends who work in the digital media space; they were discussing statistics of persons who visited a particular website. One argued that an additional 10% should be included in the stats as he knew many people who prowled sites and took no action required of them on the site.
The other argued that participating in an action on the site was a good way to judge site. I knew who’s side I was on, but had no interest in participating in their argument. I have made great strides in learning that I needn’t have a view on everything, I wasn’t about to undo that learning now. I mused as they chatted, at how the later description was most suited to me. To put It quite simply, it was a habit I had come to major in…pouring over sites and taking no action, laughing out loudly whilst reading comments made in response following a post. I’m convinced this habit is an online ailment.
One I have no interest in curing. It’s part of people watching and understanding I justify. It’s interesting how much a comment can tell about the commentator or reviewer. (Commentator for purposes of this piece)
Easy to pick up from these sites across the world, is people’s cultures, then what they’re going through. It frequently comes through to me the reality that there isn’t one right response to a question. On these sites, I often pick up intellectual discuss, divergent views to discussions I’d consider well put together, idleness, silliness and just pure humour.
When I started, I use to be mortified by the repeated fights on my favorite Nigerian websites, and then the reality of how very tribal we are. Being well mixed by parentage and marriage- this was a real eye opener for me. I didn’t quite give my mixed tribe too much thought.
On these sites, the most trivial or most serious discussions often result in tribal divide. Case in hand, in reading a simple press release that reports ‘cashless policy commences in Lagos’.
Commentator one, replies to say ‘that’s a very important step in moving the economy forward’,
Second concurs, third person asks the obvious question of ‘why are we starting with Lagos’?
That’s when all hell breaks loose. Given the third person who asked this bears a TIV name.
The replies go thus;
‘That’s a really dull question coming from a TIV man who has no exposure of what happens in Lagos’.
Before we can digest that is another retort ‘You yorubas just think everything is about you’…and then the fight goes on-now the comments become more and more unrelated to the topic and progresses to Biafra war and what Ojukwu didn’t do or did and then an expressed grudge against Awo, etc.
I used to be shocked at how this, but not anymore, these days when I start reading comments, I know exactly where it’d end up.
Prowling one of my favourite American websites, showed me how people are similar it just depends what the subject. I witnessed how irritable Americans can be about two years ago when I was reading through the stories pertaining to the wedding of the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Not even the first comments spared us the lovely couple. ‘Can the Brits get a life please?’
‘‘Why burden sincere workers with images of wasters’.
Another said ‘Wasting task payers money’. They went on and on and on not sparing the one couple the whole world were smiling at.
The one site for which I am convinced the commentators completely crack me up, almost to appoint of tearing is a blog owned by a female Nigerian blogger. The commentators are simply senile in my view.
They struggle to be the first to comment (I have no idea if she awards prizes for this), then fighting is their signature behavior, the one that really cracks me up is making comments that do not at all pertain to the subject being discussed.
As an example, there’s a story regarding a fire outbreak in an industry somewhere in port-Harcourt, and then the comments start pouring in ‘first to comment’, but say nothing.
Next is ‘Dear blogger, I thought I’d take a moment to tell you how pretty you are and that I’d like to marry you’.
Whilst I’m still wondering why no one is interested in the fire, in comes another comments addressed to the one who proposed marriage- ‘‘John John, John, (called thrice in that very Nigerian way) I had earlier proposed to the blogger, why can’t you be respect my proposal to her and not invade my space’’?
No one can convince me they are a serious bunch, the ones that comment on this site, but they provide a huge form of unpaid for entertainment. There’s never a dull moment in this space.
I’d recommend you indulge with me, this is no sales pitch, but a trial will lighten your day.
Nkiru Olumide-Ojo