Tag: social media

Now trending

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I don’t really want to get too opinionated on the whole current issue of police officers killing unarmed black people, but I do want to point out what I think.

As unfortunate it is that this is all going down, it is still ultimately one gigantic media trend.  I can’t believe that I’m the only one who sees this for how it is, but the truth of the matter is that in light of one high-profile cops killing civilian story, all of them have been thrust into the spotlight for everyone to see when every single occurrence happens.

See, the thing is that if one scours the internet on a daily basis thoroughly enough, I’m willing to bet money that they can find a story of a police officer forced to kill a person in the line of duty, every single day.  Granted, they may not be allegations that the deceased may or may not have been armed, or allegedly yielding when it happened, but the fact is that police probably kill people every day.  Sounds gruesome, but not that it makes it any better, people, regardless of occupation, kill people, every day.  Shit, sparsely a day goes by where looking at local Atlanta news doesn’t yield a death happening in the AM hours.

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The importance of Gawker

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

The out of sight, out of mind brogging tribulations continue, and in spite of my best efforts, I’m finding it difficult to want to write when there’s nowhere to post it.  I’ve honestly probably written more Yelp reviews over the last month than trying to write to a brog that at the time I’m writing this doesn’t technically exist, and it’s admittedly affecting my general desire to write at all.

That being said, another aspect of why my writing habits have dwindled as dramatically as they have is simply the fact that for all intents and purposes, October’s been a pretty eventful month for me, generally speaking.  There have been quite a few trips, out-of-town excursions, and I’d be lying if I also didn’t mention my foray into the ranked fields of League of Legends didn’t have something to do with it either.

However, whenever life can’t provide me with the motivation to write, I usually turn to the internet to see if I’ll come across anything that piques my interest, inspires me to jot some words down, or makes me thing that I might be able to write something funny.  Often times, there’s a story that happens locally in Atlanta that makes me shake my head and think there’s something ironically humorous to write about, and sometimes there’s something on one of the nerdy outlets that I occasionally browse that flips the switch.

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“If I can’t have it, it probably sucks anyway.”

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

That’s the sentiment I feel like I’m deriving based on scuttlebutt chatter as Dragon*Con approaches.  As I alluded to in a prior post, there’s kind of a dour feeling in my small little world as the days tick down towards Nerdi Gras.  And it’s coming from two specific parties: people who are part of the costuming community and/or people who for whatever reason, cannot make it to Dragon*Con this year.

But the point remains is that if people aren’t fighting over opinions on what D*C is or is supposed to be, they’re deciding that it’s best if they let their own small little worlds know that they can’t make it, and that they’re glad.  It’s not being said, but there’s an implied underlying hint of resentment that they’re not going, and almost as if it’s by result, they hope it’s vastly below-par and less than satisfactory than if it were with their presences.

As for the people in the costuming community that can’t seem to get their heads out of their own asses, I’m seeing a different, albeit no less interesting phenomenon going on amongst those whom are textually sparring.  Person A makes snarky remark about a policy.  Person B gives their opinion that differs.  Parties C-G gives opinions that mirror A, while H-N show up to provide snarky, all-caps esoteric sarcasm rebuttals.  I don’t know what usually happens next, because by this point I’m usually hiding the conversation from my wall.

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Wanna hear a joke?  Internet narcissism.

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Over the last week or so, my Facebook friends number has dwindled a little bit.  It’s not necessarily because I’ve pissed people off to where they don’t want to be internet friends with me, it’s because some people believe that Facebook has become such a toxic environment that they don’t want to be a part of it anymore, or it’s because some people think their lives have become so expansively complicated that too high a number of friends on Facebook is apparently detrimental to everything that happens away from the internet, that they feel the need to pare down the ranks to regain some degree of composure in life.

In other words, narcissism.

It may not seem like it, but I have nothing against the unnamed people that I am referring to.  They can choose to make the decisions they want to make.  What I do find laughable though, are their seeming requirements to announce such plays to the rest of the listening internet before they make them, which I can’t help but feel is unnecessarily narcissistic, and in a passive-aggressive way, fishing for feedback.

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Thoughts on my first Yelp Elite event

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Not a lot of people are aware of this, but I’ve been writing reviews of things on Yelp.com for like five years now.  Primarily restaurants and the occasional business, but for the most part, it’s something I’ve done that conveniently acts as something of a chronicling of my dining experiences in my travels or general living, while indulging in my general enjoyment of writing.

Obviously, there’s often discussion about the ethics of review sites like Yelp and how there are always conspiracies of sites holding small businesses hostage with bad reviews, small businesses altering their behavior at the knowledge of known reviewers, etc, etc., but all that stuff doesn’t concern me, nor do I really care about any of it.  For the longest time, I’ve been content to keep my Yelp identity hidden, behind a faceless avatar, that wrote reviews of places completely anonymously, save for the customary first name and last initial.  Something about doing it like that made me self-righteously believe that there was more integrity in doing it that way, as I thought those people who revealed themselves and under the banner of “Elite status” felt subliminal pressure to pander from time to time.

I also thought Yelp was kind of cliquey in some regards, no more apparent than when someone writes a review of a place that’s literally no more than the phrase “omg I really luv this place <3 <3 <3 !!!!”  and it’s nominated as a city-wide “review of the day,” as voted for by local peers.  Doesn’t seem like there’s much integrity in “reviews” like such.

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One thing I really dislike about Facebook

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

You’re reading something that a friend has written in conjunction with a link that they’ve shared, that has appeared on your wall.  The topic of said link is something that could be perceived that of sensitive nature.  A few comments in response are visible, and you see that there is someone who is clearly passionate about the topic of the story within the link, as their comments are verbose, and in spite of the difficulty of conveying tone through text, manage to carry somewhat of an edge, bordering in almost anger, in their written tone.  This is quickly confirmed when you read on, and see that they are questioned, to which their ensuing responses are defensive and hostile.

Unappealing.

As the kids would say it, “they mad.”

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I’m convinced

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Back in the day, there was Xanga.  Xanga was a blogging platform that coincided with the time of like LiveJournals and any other blogging sites.  Anyway, there was a popular perception that Xanga was the blog choice for all Asian people, given the fact that 4 out of every 5 Xanga sites seemed to be run by an Asian blogger.

Perception becomes reality to the eye of the beholder.

I’m convinced that when it comes to costume photography, DeviantArt is pretty much anyone not in the United States.  4 out of every 5 times whenever I see a picture that I think is really striking, and I wish to see more of it, and the rabbit hole eventually leads to me to a DA account, I’ll notice that the user’s profile states that they either live somewhere in South America or Europe.  So much for those opportunities to cyber-stalk fantasize about meeting these people in person to crush on and hope to fancy with my wit and charm.

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