Participation Trophy
Standards are slipping. It use to be that, for a children's sporting event, winners got trophies. They earned them, they got recognition, and they got the prize. Well, that was too damaging to "self esteem". Feh. So, all the panzy parents rallied up and said, "No, shield my child from the real world. Show them that others aren't better than them just for being better. Teach them that effort and ability don't mean you shouldn't be recognized." These polluted minds grew up on their toxic ideals, and now we're in this crap hole of a situation.
I remember that, back when I first started partaking in on-line communities, the foundation was around a core website, something with material, merit, and substance. The communities were built around something, and the stars of it were those who created, worked on, and brothe life into the hearth. People cared about the site first, the chit-chat second. This extends further than website message boards.
Any known individual who crafts something that we care about tends to garner further interest into their life. This tends to be expressed with little updates and messages. This blips are far inferior to the central product but are still interesting. A problem arises when this goes too far. If there is no basis, product, or craft, there should be no reason to care. Some people act like there is, and that is wrong. For example, celebrities without a real form of expressed media. People shouldn't be cared about for just being. Unfortunately, this seems to be happening.
Back to the websites. Early on, the top cats at the place's community were the founders. They updated, did stuff, and earned the respect. The internet has a fast turnover rate, and the old washes away surprisingly fast as lives change, etc. The second string of folks looked up to tended to be the those there at the beginning. Maybe they contributed in some way over time or held some type of responsibility, but they still earned some type of esteem, slight as it may be. That branch never fared long as their roots were loosely grounded as it was. So, what bottom feeders populated the land once the good stock was out? Those who didn't even know that the message boards, chats, and what-have-you were attached to a central, core site. Seriously. They thought the whole of the site was just a forum. Sadly, this is the trend that seems to affect all aging sites. It continued until the point where a website was founded on being nothing more than that dark end.
When I heard that participation trophies were handed out at peewee leagues, I rolled my eyes. When social networks took off, I gagged. Yes, social networks are participation trophies. They proliferate and celebrate doing nothing. It's a bunch of people circling a drain, going no where, doing nothing. These compost heaps produce nothing. They don't provide any entertainment value. I mean, what joy could possibly be obtained from repeating some dumpster animated GIF to give your greetings every day?
Why are these sites so popular? My take is that everyone thinks their entitled to it. Why should you have to do something to get recognition? Just for breathing air and taking up space, people got awards, so why shouldn't they give fifty shits about your boring life? You've done nothing to deserve it, create nothing, have a flat vocabulary, a dull voice, have robot emotions, and aren't funny, but, hey, some asshole out there is even less deserving and can somehow find your blandness of interest. Oh, cherish the day that lackluster, insufficient talent, if present at all, is relished over some form of doing things.
Oh, look, AssJackerStringOfNumbers updated that he just ate a tuna sandwich. ENTERTAINING! Stupid internet...
