Week Eleven: Internet Heaven? Or Hell?

There's no assigned topic for this week so I'm gonna write to you about what types of things I like and dislike about any given webpage. Figured since we've been talking about the web in class and what features make it *THE* web, I'd talk about what works for personally and what doesn't. (ETA: So I actually ended up ranting quite a bit, but I do sort of briefly mention things I like!)

Like: Social networking profiles.
Dislike: Aspects of or applications added to user-profiles for no apparent purpose.
Hey I'm a slave to social networking just as much as the next person who grew up in the 90s, but that doesn't mean I want to see all these fake internet gifts somebody gave you or have my retinas burned out upon visiting your flashy neon profile of DOOM. If a site is going to give people the option to modify the layout/colours/design etc, why is it always the most design-deficient people who decide to utilize this opportunity far beyond the grasp of human decency? I like being able to go on a social networking site, find someone I haven't talked to in a while and see what they're doing now, what school they're at, where they're working, who they're dating, maybe connect with other friends through that. Do I really need to know your favourite colour is hot pink and you looooove unicorns by plastering them all over your site? No. I didn't.

Like: Comments.
Dislike: That most sites do not have a filtering system on them.
One of the main reason I visit some sites is to read the comments in reply to a post and hear what different people have to say about any given topic. My one problem is people who spam, troll or just post inane pointless replies like "I agree" or "thats dumb". I don't want to advocate censorship, but what's the harm in having a moderator screen comments on a post that might generate more pointless or rude replies? There are tons of people on the internet at any given time so I know there can't be a shortage of moderators out there. Besides, how many people would love to watch a youtube video and actually discuss the content of it in the comment? Because I know that you'd be hard-pressed to find anything on-topic in a youtube comment these days.

Like: Being able to do things online that I would normally have to actually leave the house or call someone for (ex. banking, pay my phone bill, submit an assignment).
Dislike: When sites try this avenue and it JUST. DOESN'T. WORK.
I'm looking at you Rogers! Every time I visit this site to pay my bill or change my five unlimited numbers it's like playing the slots to see if I can even get to the right page! They advertise the site as more convenient for customers but I'd almost rather sit through the banality that is the Rogers Customer Service phone line than put up with this nonsense. This is in conjunction with sites not being accesible on every browser, or at LEAST the more popular ones. For the most part I think the entire world knows that Internet Explorer is on it's way out, or just that less and less people appreciate being asked permission before you can even load a site. (Can you imagine?) But time and time again I'll find myself on a site that isn't Firefox compatible or my friends with Macs won't be able to submit an assignment because they're using Safari. Even I, a lowly undergraduate student know that these three browsers are the most commonly used. So what is it? Does Bill Gates have a stranglehold on the web as we know it? Why is IE god on the net? I don't mind Windows as an operating system, but for the internet... just admit defeat!

Like: Sites that will give you something for free that you would normally have to pay for. (I'm a pirate, I know)
Dislike: WHEN THIS IS A LIE!
I cannot tell you how many times I've clicked on something while researching on Google Scholar , excited that I'm going to get a really good article to cite for my assignment only to find... an abstract and a link saying "To see the rest of this article, pay $xx.xx"... wut? Some sites will blatantly advertise "free soandso software!" then when you get to the site you are met with the fateful words "Please enter your credit card information". I know you want to draw in people, but is there not some kind of internet law of decency (since I know it's against the law to actually give it to us for free) that states you shouldn't advertise stuff for free if it's not? If I want to download WinZip and you say it's free, why do you then go and say AFTER I downloaded it that it's only a 30-day free TRIAL? Is there some fine-print clause I'm not aware of? I cannot tell you how many times I've been disappointed by this. I'm a poor student, I like free stuff! Give me free stuff!

Like: When sites will offer you a preview, recap, special feature or full feature of their product (think TV network sites like NBC offering full episodes online).
Dislike: That the fact that I don't live in the states means I'm not allowed to have access to any of this.
I like webisodes from my favourite TV shows like The Office, they add a little extra something to my experience of the show. It's too bad when I miss an episode I can't catch up because I don't live in the states and my IP address is giving NBC.com a hate-on for me. Then the webisodes aren't so fun anymore because I have no frame of reference cause I missed an episode. It's not like these are heavil guarded government secrets guys, it's just a TV show! If you can broadcast it in Canada, why can't you offer me the same privileges of watching it online? I really don't understand what difference it makes. I'm sure there's some kind of magical law behind this one, but it truly baffles me to be honest.

Like: Tags.
Dislike: People abusing them.
A tag is a very useful tool, it's like when you're researching, putting a little sticky-note on each page related to your thesis (I've been writing a lot of essays, sue me!) only it's on the internet and it's for wasting time purposes rather than actual work. Problem is, some people don't know what to put in their tags, or don't really grasp the purpose of them. Say if I was tagging entries in this blog and I put "school" as one. Well that would be pretty pointless right? Because every entry is related to school in some way. So that wouldn't help the filtering process for my readers anyway. It's like highlighting all the text in a book - the point, you missed it. Again, gotta go back to YouTube being one of the worst offenders. Some people will put "cool" or "awesome" as tags. Why? I'm almost positive we will not entirely agree on what we think is cool or awesome, and therefore no one will search through tags based on those perameters. I could put up a video of my boyfriend clipping his toenails and write "COOL" as a tag because hey, that nail clipper is effing huge, but would anybody really think that's cool? No. They wouldn't. It's gross.

I think that's a good little ramble for a no-topic week, don't you? Out of curiosity, what would you tag this entry with?