The Big Picture: Words for Nerds

cdstephens

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Apr 5, 2010
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Uh, is nerd culture even the victim nowadays? At least from my viewpoint, bullying people who are into "nerd culture" simply because of the aforementioned nerd culture has gone down quite a bit, especially if you consider the fact that nerd culture is becoming mainstream. For example, everyone likes the Dark Knight, not just nerds. Everyone plays Modern Warfare, not just nerds. Everyone plays on the Wii, not just nerds. I just got into college, and throughout my education I have never seen any group of people that could be classified as nerds be bullied or marginalized for their nerdy interests. Hell, one of the English classes at my school read Watchmen. Combined with the fact that nerds of the past control the technology and entertainment history (*cough* Bill Gates *cough*) and that being brainy leads to better education, which leads to better jobs, which leads to more money, it's hard to make the case that nerds are still the victim of society.
 

Geo Da Sponge

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May 14, 2008
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Ponies are officially sanctioned by Movie Bob? Huzzah! The fun has been doubled!

Worgen said:
I'm almost surprised he didn't mention furries at the end there considering they seem to one of those groups that everyone likes to dump crap on.
Mantonio said:
Oh joy, ANOTHER whining episode?
Mantonio, stop cheapening Worgen's fucking awesome avatar.

EDIT: Almost forgot... Whining? Movie Bob is not whining, he is complaining! Would you like to hear whining?

Thiiiis is whining! Uhhhh, these movies are so bad, they're going to flop, couldn't you have made them better? Awww, it's awful and they're so nasty! Why didn't you clean up the effects first, they're giving me physical paaain, and my workloads getting heavy, why do I have to do it?!?
 

TheAmazingHobo

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Oct 26, 2010
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Very nice, good points.
Especially the one about not using the nerd-mindset to justify spewing jokes about races or sex or generally using inflamatory, degrading stereotypes.

The point is of course utterly undermined by being posted next to Zero Punctuation and Jimquisition, so I feel I can be forgiven for completly and utterly ignoring the moral lesson at hand.
 

lord.jeff

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Oct 27, 2010
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EverythingIncredible said:
Susan Arendt said:
EverythingIncredible said:
I hate to say it, but you're doing it wrong.

I get that this is kind of your job right now. But you need to stop taking the internet culture so seriously. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Everything here is in good fun. Even if it can appear mean spirited to certain groups of people.
I disagree with the "it's the internet, so it doesn't mean anything" philosophy. It may have been true once upon a time when only a minority of people used the internet for fun or communication, but it's become so ubiquitous that it's simply unreasonable and unfair to expect people to just put up with mean-spirited or otherwise jerkish behavior.

Not everything is "in good fun." Some people enjoy the opportunity to be spiteful, cruel, and angry - and even those who don't actually mean any harm often don't think about how their words might impact the person reading them.
If you take what people say seriously, then you deserve it really. Because it's not hard to figure out the general facetiousness that goes on if you pay attention.
People respond to things differently, to assume everyone you meet on the internet, which is most the world at this point, is in on this everything is for the lolz joke is extremely arrogant, and to not be able to see things from that person side after they were insulted, jokingly or not they were still attacked, is just shallow.
 

Giest4life

The Saucepan Man
Feb 13, 2010
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Bob, how could you not allude to Nietzsche: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you" (BGE, 146). I'll leave it at that.
 

Orks da best

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Oct 12, 2011
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Snake Plissken said:
EverythingIncredible said:
Snake Plissken said:
Shadowstar38 said:
I've heard Bob off-handedly mention ponies like four times now. He needs to go ahead and make an episode about it.
No. No. Definitely no. Those people don't need any more goddamned ammunition, and the threads don't need a new influx of fucking ponies.
Goodness. So much hate.

It's just a show. Leave it alone.
I don't recall revealing my feelings towards the show, so quit projecting.
And, yes, I am petitioning to "leave it alone".

In summation, lolwut?
aye aye aye.... the hate is unbeliveable, it seems ponies is a byword for hate nowdays....

but yes moviebob should make an epoisde about ponies, or the hub at least, please bob, do you want to rumors to grow?
 

sir.rutthed

Stormfather take you!
Nov 10, 2009
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EverythingIncredible said:
I hate to say it, but you're doing it wrong.

I get that this is kind of your job right now. But you need to stop taking the internet culture so seriously. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Everything here is in good fun. Even if it can appear mean spirited to certain groups of people.
I really hate to be "that guy", but it doesn't matter if it's all in good spirit or not after a certain point. Take for example the 'Insanity Wolf' meme. Holy shit there's some crazy psychotic stuff purported by that meme and nobody seems to care one bit because it's supposed to be funny. It's not even really satire because there's no underlying subtext, it's just crazy shit that has no purpose other than a shock laugh and the internet as a whole disregards anyone who disagrees with the consensus. That's just one example but there's lots more. Saying something is all in good fun only works when you say it in reference to a close group of friends who know you're not actually a racist asshole.
 

GeorgW

ALL GLORY TO ME!
Aug 27, 2010
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Mikeyfell said:
GeorgW said:
I agree with your points, except for the long post one. There's a time and a place for them, sure, but there's always a place for them. If you don't want to read a long post, don't, but some people like to go through an argument in great detail and others like to poke through that big detailed mess and come with counter-points. Why is that "doing it wrong"?


I've said it before and I'll say it again. The LCP rule is not about the amount of words you post, it's what you say with them. It's true that it's not always been like that, but I've never moderated a post just because the word count was low. I have however done so for meaningless "this^" posts and the "I'll just leave this here:" posts Bob mentioned. However keep in mind that this is a grey area, for more information feel free to check the Moderation FAQ. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.309173-Moderation-FAQ]
That's not actually true.
If there was a way to view the history of posts I've reported you could tell that that wasn't the case.

I've read posts that were half a page of text where the entire post was "I fount a typo in your post, that means you're wrong."

That's low content, that's fluff, I call it negative content. but they never get moderated.
It is only word count and bad words the mods are looking for.


I'm sure you've seen threads where the OP asks a question with a binary answer. In that case people who answer in one or two words are being the most efficient and yet the first 3 pages of those threads are littered with unjust perma-bans.
Conversely you'll get people who answer the question then type "This is space filler so the mods don't ban me" which has no content, but they're always safe.

Either way the rules are broken and the mods are lazy, it has to stop.
As for your first point, you're right, I can't check your reporting history so can't really say anything there. Regarding the binary threads, there's a difference between simply answering the question and putting reasoning behind it. It entirely depends on the thread itself, some threads can be locked for provoking low content responses. For example, I once saw a thread where someone asked for ides for names or something like that. Posting a name there is providing to the thread and isn't low content. However if a thread would state "Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi?" (A thread that would get locked FYI) and someone would just answer "Coke" that's low content. This is a discussion forum, not a poll. We do have a poll option for threads, and if all your post amounts to is a stat point in that poll then why even bothering commenting if you can be just as well represented by a number in that poll?

Also, that space filler stuff is a sure fire way to get an infraction if I see it. I hate that stuff and shows complete lack of understanding of our Rules of Conduct. Unfortunately most people don't report that, which means it doesn't get mod attention.

It is also worth noting that there are differences between sub-forums. The FG and the RP forums are exempt from low content, and the featured comment threads (like this one) and the R&P forums are harsher regulated.

If you have any more questions or complaints I'd be happy to address them in PMs (don't want to derail the thread) and keep in mind that if anyone feel they've been unjustly infracted we have an appeal system and I encourage you to use it. Everyone makes mistakes, mods too.
 

Agayek

Ravenous Gormandizer
Oct 23, 2008
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krellen said:
No. No it's not.

"In good fun" is the bully excuse. This is exactly what Bob is talking about.
I think you're misinterpreting his post. It's less "it's fun for me so I should do whatever I want" and more "none of it is serious, quit being butthurt". Honestly, he's right there. The vast majority of cases of racism, homophobia, elitism, etc that I've seen on the internet have been lacking any real bite or meaning behind it. Most of my "internet friends" throw around slurs with reckless abandon, yet not a single one is actually racist, sexist or whatever else. None of it is meant to be taken seriously or to be offensive.
 

Dango

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Feb 11, 2010
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I'm really sick of the sarcastic, cynical personality being a part of nerd culture, especially now that nerd culture is becoming mainstream and hipsters are adopting the same mentality, without any of the bullying that caused it.
 

emeraldrafael

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Jul 17, 2010
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EverythingIncredible said:
I hate to say it, but you're doing it wrong.

I get that this is kind of your job right now. But you need to stop taking the internet culture so seriously. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Everything here is in good fun. Even if it can appear mean spirited to certain groups of people.
The last time I heard that phrase being used, someone was picking their teeth off the ground and the person who said it was laughing.

...

More OT: while I agree not every post needs some long huge summary that culd probably pass as a decent school writing assignment, there are cases where you need all this information. Talking about any new tech specs or discoveries could and would definitely warrant a long post. besides, there's nothing wrong with having some meaningful conversation on the internet.

Though I do agree about batman. then again... I never saw why he specifically was so special. he's a rich boy who fights crime, and yet has no super power other than having a great inheritance. He's not superhuman in anyway, he's just average.
 

Agayek

Ravenous Gormandizer
Oct 23, 2008
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GeorgW said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The LCP rule is not about the amount of words you post, it's what you say with them. It's true that it's not always been like that, but I've never moderated a post just because the word count was low. I have however done so for meaningless "this^" posts and the "I'll just leave this here:" posts Bob mentioned. However keep in mind that this is a grey area, for more information feel free to check the Moderation FAQ. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.309173-Moderation-FAQ]
This is flat out untrue. I've had numerous moderations for posting an image that perfectly encapsulates my point and required no further elaboration, and when I challenged it, I was straight told that I'd need to include some (any) text with it.

Maybe you don't do it that way, but the other mods sure as hell do.
 

The Random One

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May 29, 2008
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#5 is not because of victim-caused entitlement complex, thought that certainly has a little weight. #5 is because most memes come from 4chan, and 4chan does not give a shit. They don't think 'It's OK for me to say shit about black people/women/arabs/the colorblind because I've been bullied and I would never do that to another', they think 'It's OK for me to say shit about black people/women/arabs/the colorblind because people don't say it because they give a shit, whereas I do not'.

#3, what the fuck? So if I like making a post I'm supposed to cut it short? For what reason? Should I use that time I saved not doing something I like doing what? If I write shorter comments I'll just read more articles on the internet (since I do that during what is mostly 'internet time') so I can't see how passively reading what someone else wrote is better than writing something myself. The idea that no one will read it doesn't matter because I write a lot of stuff that no one reads because I don't show to anyone and it's a much better hobby than even playing videogames, as it's an active one. What harm possibly comes out of it?

EDIT:

Agayek said:
This is flat out untrue. I've had numerous moderations for posting an image that perfectly encapsulates my point and required no further elaboration, and when I challenged it, I was straight told that I'd need to include some (any) text with it.

Maybe you don't do it that way, but the other mods sure as hell do.
I'm not a mod and I don't want to be one, but my humble opinion is that if your opinion is so simple that an image macro made years before by people thinking something else encapsulates your point requiring no further elaboration, it might be a better idea to keep that opinion to yourself.
 

MarsProbe

Circuitboard Seahorse
Dec 13, 2008
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krellen said:
EverythingIncredible said:
Everything here is in good fun. Even if it can appear mean spirited to certain groups of people.
No. No it's not.

"In good fun" is the bully excuse. This is exactly what Bob is talking about.
Indeed, it's not all fun and games here. Try telling a "brony" why you think their watching of a cartoon about magical ponies is not a good thing, for starters.

If you're that passionate about MLP, stick it down on your CV under interests, if you haven't done so already.
 

kyogen

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Feb 22, 2011
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Nice one, Bob! I second the calls for a pony episode, though. It's a phenomenon that baffles me, but if it's your thing, then it's your thing. Go for it. I would just appreciate a little insight into something that I am clearly not getting.
 

Craazhy

Tic-Tock and Crash
Aug 22, 2009
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Fantastic episode. Especially enjoyed the final bit on bullies. Keep it up!
 

Furrama

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Jul 24, 2008
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Does this video mean that we lady people will be able to come out on the internet without getting trolled?

Probably not for a long time. Immaturity dies hard. Nice to see some older guy in the community calling it out on its crap though. First steps in the right direction.
 
Dec 27, 2010
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canadamus_prime said:
Ah, isn't hypocrisy fun?
I especially love the part where he tells us that "nerds" are becoming too discriminative while still throwing in multiple sly jabs at that demographic he includes anyone he disagrees with in that is the "douchebags".