Lianko.com

As some of you know, I got a new hair cut. Aside the obvious “you look very different”¹ type of comments, everyone kept telling me I looked like some celebrity. The more they told me that, the more I found it was true. Until…

Dad came home and gave me his .02c: You look like Monica Lewinksy Apparently, now I only need to find myself a president… and for those curious I don’t like our current one (he’s balding and too old) Though I admit, that at the time he was president, I used to think Bill Clinton didn’t look half bad (I was around 11 :razz: )

My displeasure at being compared with miss Lewinsky was met with “puzzlement” by my family. After all she is famous. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be known as someone who had an affair with a married man… whoever said man might be.

______________________________________

¹ For comparison, see picture in the self description.

… or if you prefer: generators of e-drama. They give the innocent webmaster an unrequested review and the whole world turns against the victim. The latter, wishing to fight back, starts to complain to everything and everyone, causing even MORE bullying. Since this seems to be “all the rage” these days, I couldn’t possibly deprive the world of my take on said topic.

Wonder why it all degenerated into petty “cat fights”? See below.

First of all: you asked for it.
There is no such thing as an unrequested opinion. You might not have specifically asked for a certain person’s opinion, but you published your work for all to see. Everyone has a right to form an opinion on it… and yes, voice it. No one is obliged to like and/or agree with you. It’s called freedom of thought respectively freedom of speech.

Second: you’re actually privileged to have visitors.
You’re not God’s gift to Net surfers. On the contrary, you’re lucky enough to have that many visitors take an interest in your website. Keep in mind that your site would be NOTHING if it weren’t visited by anyone. It would defeat the purpose of having it.

Third: they’re generally right in some aspects.
If they dedicated an entire blog entry to your site, it means that it made a big impression on them. If people just feel the need to flame you for no reason(i.e. jealousy) spamming your tagboard/comments is much easier. There may also be exceptions, hence the use of generally instead of always.

Fourth: he/she IS entitled to do it.
Regardless of parentage, ethnicity, age, artistic and/or coding skills the person IS actually allowed to think negatively of you. Just because I can’t compose music or write lyrics doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to think badly of Eminem, for example. I’m not saying that the instigator’s reasoning is always correct, but that is in no way related to his/her
right to express an opinion. Like I said before: freedom of speech.

Fifth: no one likes whiners.
It is not good to be pitied, so don’t start telling people how sorry you feel for yourself because the whole world is targeting you. Not only aren’t you important enough to be targeted by the whole world, but there’s a high chance that lots of other people are going through a similar experience. Also, by whining you just give others more fodder for
ridicule.

Sixth: heed the majority.
If one person tells you that “you suck” he/she may very well just be jealous. If 10 (or more) different people tell you the same thing, they must be on to something. Bigger font sizes and larger layouts won’t compromise your personality.

Seventh: commenting systems, tagboards and guestbooks mean you CARE.
DON’T try to tell us that you have no interest in others’ opinion. You are practically BEGGING them to give you their opinion, providing the necessary means for this.

Eight: never EVER be rude.
Name calling is petty, immature and denotes a striking lack of education. If you’re convinced the other is mistaken, then you are also able to argue your point. An action which can ALWAYS be done in a civilized manner.

In conclusion: before you go on a rampage, sit down and consider the ‘accusations’. Try them out if unsure. Sometimes you need a proverbial “slap in the face” to see things as they truly are. It’s not pleasant, but you’ll know better next time.
Also, there will always be more rudely worded reviews than polite and thoughtful ones. Let’s face it: it’s much easier to just say things as they occur to you. Then again, these are the risks of having a site for all to see.

Obviously you’re all dying of curiosity to know my dirty little secrets, so thank Trisha; and Skye I never pass up an opportunity to talk about my charming self, so don’t feel bad next time . Also, this solves my dilemma on what to write

1. I always break my own rules
   For all I try to conform to each and every existing rule (be it web design or life in general), I end up breaking them sooner or later… generally sooner. An eloquent example would be this post
2. I’m extremely jealous
   Now we’re all envious and jealous to some extent (well maybe not Jem, though I might be wrong), still I’m one of those vile types. I plot and mumble and hope for bad things. This generally affects people with similar (or lesser) aptitudes to mine, who get more praise. Of course I hide this reasonably well so they might never know.
3. I despise negative reviews
   For all that advertise freedom of speech/opinion, if I get a bad review my first impulse is that of strangling (er… well maybe not exactly literally) the ‘culprit’. If he/she happens to have a worse site (or no site) than mine… oooh… I’m liable to take up voo-doo. On that note, I generally wait a couple of days before giving feedback. My voo-doo charm must take effect, after all
4. My attention span is extremely small
   Unless I am quite fired up with my current discussion, my mind tends to fly off to different (generally completely unrelated) subjects. Still, since I CAN hear the person, I DO nod at the appropriate times. Downside is I tend to miss 80% of the explanations in school
5. 90% of the time my feet smell
   Unless it’s winter, or I’m not wearing any shoes, my feet end up sweating and smelling rather unpleasantly. Unfortunately washing them is not always an option (at work or school), so I keep hoping people’s noses get less plugged…or something.
6. I’m “pants” at anything hardware related
   And by that I mean things like what most of my computer’s characteristics say. I know my CPU is Pentium III, but that’s it. The rest not only don’t I remember, but generally have no idea what it means.

Now that you’re completely horrified (though I’d suppose you couldn’t care less), I tag Amanda, Becky, Tracy and Nan. Please keep clicking on the links so I can properly blackmail them.

Thanks and have a nice day (I actually mean it this time).