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Why Do You Think They Call It Programming, part 3

Started by The Good Reverend Roger, January 25, 2011, 06:55:23 PM

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The Good Reverend Roger

January 25, 2011, 06:55:23 PM
"Trending".

That's what it says at the top of my yahoo screen, when I go there to bulk erase my hate mail. 

"Trending".

And underneath that innocuous word, there are a number of pictures, usually of hip hop stars or TV actors.  I am told they are trending, and Yahoo is kind enough to give me links to find out this most important information...Why they are trending, or even just what's "cool" about them.

Apparently, it is now socially necessary to know this drivel.  Without it, I am hopelessly stunted, and I will be left standing by the corner at parties.  Without it, I am not in the know, and will be shunned like the village leper.

This offends me.  Not the corner bit, I typically haunt the corners of parties I attend, because I usually hate everyone there, and I glower at anyone who shows any interest in talking to me.  I don't like people in my town, and I want them to hate me. 

No, I am offended by the insistence that my life is valueless unless I know precisely who's beating "Rhianna" up these days, and I must have intimate knowledge of some East coast midget who is famous for, of all things, being a midget.  A drunken midget.  Alphonse Carr, thou art redeemed.

It's all Pink chow.  It's all a means to ensure that you're paying attention to what you're supposed to be paying attention to, instead of what the hell is REALLY going on around you, each and every day.  While Sally Rottencrotch is busy obsessing about what Beyonce is up to, they're cutting her future out from underneath her, at the education department upstate.  While Suzie Homemaker is learning who's with it, her health care is being cut. 

It's all garbage, a stinking pile of reinforced mediocrity, jammed down our throats so we'll forget how strange the world really is...And it's working, because they wouldn't leave the links up if there was no traffic...Advertisers don't pay if nobody's clicking.  Ergo, people really pay attention to that, and this is just ONE MORE REASON that if this was a JUST UNIVERSE, then a BIG FUCKING SPACE ROCK WOULD HIT THE PLANET AND PUT YOU ALL OUT OF MY MISERY.  YOU FUCKERS KILLED JOHNNY CASH WITH THIS BULLSHIT!

Lord, how I hate you all.

Or Kill Me.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Adios

#1
January 25, 2011, 07:00:00 PM
The Village Leper is the only person in town worth talking to. He has the ability to think. You can talk to him for hours and not once hear about stars and who is doing who.

Whatever

#2
January 25, 2011, 07:08:06 PM
:mittens:

Damn Roger.  Get the damn lazors out of mah head!!!!

Seriously, it's diversionary tactics.  If we are brainwashed into thinking what they want us to think and do what they want us to do then they can do pretty much whatever they want in the background and we'll never see it happen.

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 25, 2011, 06:55:23 PM
YOU FUCKERS KILLED JOHNNY CASH WITH THIS BULLSHIT!

And he took The Truth with him when he died.  :cry:

Cramulus

#3
January 25, 2011, 07:24:17 PM
trending topics are just a peek at what people are making the most noise about today. It's not all celeb gossip, a few weeks ago it was wikileaks and crap like that. Trending lists do show us that most people search for absolutely banal trash. But it can be useful now and then. For example I was just peeking at today's search trends to see if it's all garbage, and one of them is "egypt protests"... reading further... apparently Egypt has its own anti-government protests like the ones in Tunisia, and in an effort to stave off the drama, the government has blocked twitter.

I don't think that there's anything wrong with knowing what people are talking about unless you're following it slavishly.

It's interesting to contrast trending with old journalism format though.. journalists do their best to pick the right story for their audience. A newspaper editor selects front page stories about what he hopes are the "trending topics", the things people really want to know about. Now we have a more organic tool to see what they're interested in.

The Good Reverend Roger

#4
January 25, 2011, 09:10:14 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 25, 2011, 07:24:17 PM
Now we have a more organic tool to see what they're interested in.

What a dreadful notion.

Also, that means you get famous for being famous, which I'm pretty sure is in the book of Revelation somewhere.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cramulus

#5
January 25, 2011, 09:15:56 PM
If I'm trying to find out what people are talking about this week, (occasionally I get curious)
I'd rather look at a list of popular searches
than a list of topics that some editor thinks are popular.

The Good Reverend Roger

#6
January 25, 2011, 09:18:22 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 25, 2011, 09:15:56 PM
If I'm trying to find out what people are talking about this week, (occasionally I get curious)
I'd rather look at a list of popular searches
than a list of topics that some editor thinks are popular.

To each his own, I guess.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Don Coyote

#7
January 25, 2011, 09:21:29 PM
Is that what that shit means? Go gods. SO glad I never was all...hey look celebrities doing stupid shit...I HAVE TO FIND OUT NAO!!!!!

:| I hate people.
Quote from: Cramulus on January 25, 2011, 09:15:56 PM
If I'm trying to find out what people are talking about this week, (occasionally I get curious)
I'd rather look at a list of popular searches
than a list of topics that some editor thinks are popular.

Or you are looking at a list of searches that have been weighted to guide you towards what They want you think about under the guise of search engine generated links.

The Good Reverend Roger

#8
January 25, 2011, 09:22:07 PM
Quote from: Canis latrans eques on January 25, 2011, 09:21:29 PM
Is that what that shit means? Go gods. SO glad I never was all...hey look celebrities doing stupid shit...I HAVE TO FIND OUT NAO!!!!!

:| I hate people.
Quote from: Cramulus on January 25, 2011, 09:15:56 PM
If I'm trying to find out what people are talking about this week, (occasionally I get curious)
I'd rather look at a list of popular searches
than a list of topics that some editor thinks are popular.

Or you are looking at a list of searches that have been weighted to guide you towards what They want you think about under the guise of search engine generated links.

Pretty sure it's manufactured.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Captain Utopia

#9
January 25, 2011, 09:22:59 PM
Striving to see a positive - if you want to shove a stick between the spokes, trends show the bicycle model most people currently ride upon.  

E.g. according to Google Zeitgeist 2010 a troll involving justin beiber, chatroulette and an ipad would get a lot of attention.  Last year.  

The Good Reverend Roger

#10
January 25, 2011, 09:24:02 PM
Quote from: Captain Utopia on January 25, 2011, 09:22:59 PM
Striving to see a positive - if you want to shove a stick between the spokes, trends show the bicycle model most people currently ride upon.  

E.g. according to Google Zeitgeist 2010 a troll involving justin beiber, chatroulette and an ipad would get a lot of attention.  Last year.  

That's an interesting notion, CU.

Hmm.

Off to the drawing board.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Adios

#11
January 25, 2011, 09:24:47 PM
Quote from: Captain Utopia on January 25, 2011, 09:22:59 PM
Striving to see a positive - if you want to shove a stick between the spokes, trends show the bicycle model most people currently ride upon.  

E.g. according to Google Zeitgeist 2010 a troll involving justin beiber, chatroulette and an ipad would get a lot of attention.  Last year.  

I would rather eat a live frog.

The Good Reverend Roger

#12
January 25, 2011, 09:45:07 PM
Fuck, I've been fooling myself, and there's no fool like an old fool.  What I brought to Discordia is played out.  It's fucking over, and has been for a long time.

Time to stop wasting everyone's time and bandwidth with this crapola.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Adios

#13
January 25, 2011, 09:46:30 PM Last Edit: January 25, 2011, 09:51:44 PM by Charley Brown
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 25, 2011, 09:45:07 PM
Fuck, I've been fooling myself, and there's no fool like an old fool.  What I brought to Discordia is played out.  It's fucking over, and has been for a long time.

Time to stop wasting everyone's time and bandwidth with this crapola.

Not for all.

never mind.

Cramulus

#14
January 25, 2011, 09:46:44 PM
just curious, do you guys have any links or something which support that trending topics are manipulated as a form of social control?

other than the fact that some people engage in google bombing, etc

I guess I just don't see why search engines would be pushing people to look for Justin Bieber, the Oscars, crap like that. Especially since subversive topics often become trending topics too.
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