Dave's Fiction Warehouse

In which I bloviate about books, TV, movies, politics and other stuff I know little about..

  • Books
  • Movies
  • TV
  • politics
  • american life
  • Writing
  • Other Stuff

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook

Powered by Genesis

Trapped in the trite? Try these:

October 1, 2009 by Dave Knadler

Facebook and its mildly retarded cousin Twitter have unleashed a huge demand for pithy remarks, single sentences so clever and incisive that they are instantly echoed around the globe. If one’s worth is measured by the number of followers one has, then the exponent of that worth is the number of one’s pithy messages that get re-Tweeted. Alas, the supply of cleverness has not kept pace with the demand.

Maybe this accounts for the proliferation of the phrases “Go figure” and “Just sayin’.” If a tweeted observation seems particularly banal, just add the ironic eye-roll “go figure” and you’ve got the sophisticated air of one who’s seen everything. “Just sayin'” works much the same way: It implies an amused exasperation with this absurd world, a touch of whimsy that is not immediately apparent in the trite thought that preceeds it.

If those don’t work, there are always the “LOL!” “OMG” and “Snort!” These handy interjections — employed in front of the re-Tweeted or linked item, not after — show that your discerning eye has discovered something incredibly amusing. Almost as amusing as if you’d thought of it yourself.

More along these lines:

  • mark zuckerberg facebook timelineFacebook’s Timeline and the lives of others
  • Every call is a wakeup callEvery call is a wakeup call
  • you are not a gadget, by Jaron LanierNot all is wonderful on the Web
  • facebook addictionI can quit Facebook anytime I like …
  • Hello again. And now I must be going.Hello again. And now I must be going.

Filed Under: social media, twitter

Comments

  1. Twanger says

    October 2, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    ROTFL

  2. Jessie K says

    October 3, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    I see you're back to blogging again. Why the hiatus? You were missed! JK

  3. Ryan says

    October 4, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    Well y'know what they say.

  4. Jessie K says

    October 5, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    What about WTF?

Recent posts

  • The cold, hard West
  • The talented Mr. Santos
  • Reich of fools
  • Mad about Harry
  • The Cartwrights
    stand their ground

Recent comments

  • John H. on The cold, hard West
  • Dave Knadler on The talented Mr. Santos
  • John H. on The talented Mr. Santos
  • John H. on Reich of fools
  • Erin on Reich of fools

FInd something

send dave cash

The obligatory PayPal donation button. Go ahead: Make my day.