Thread December 5, 2015 editorial: comments

Online Turn-Offs

I hope you’ll indulge me as I stray a bit off topic today. I want to talk about something we can all relate to — being online. It feels like I'm on the internet, or at least connected, virtually all my waking hours. All day long I stare at my computer, and my iPhone is, for all intents and purposes, attached to my body. I’m sure it’s pretty similar for most of you, too. Although the web offers virtually unlimited information and entertainment, it’s also got its share of annoyances. So here’s a short list of things that bug me.

• Autoplaying videos: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a web page (usually a sports page to check on a score), then opened another browser window or tab, forgetting to close the first one. Then a few minutes later, out of the blue, I’m interrupted (usually in a jarring way) by a noisy video ad autoplaying from that first page. I guess the sites that use this obnoxious tactic have calculated that the revenue they’re getting for the ad will offset the loss of viewers whom they piss off.

• Multipage list articles (aka “listicles” — even the word is aggravating) in which you have to click on a link and go to a new page for each item on the list. This type of “click-bait” article is becoming disturbingly common. They suck you in with a teaser headline like “10 Death-Metal Guitarists Who Are Now Playing Childrens’ Music,” or “12 Cities with Toxic Drinking Water” — something you feel compelled to read. But trying to get the information is excruciatingly slow, because you have to keep reloading new pages.

• Ad-based teasers for those “listicles,” which seem to be at the bottom of the page of otherwise legitimate websites. Even Adblock doesn’t always stop them from appearing.

• The word “Webinar.” ‘Nuff said.

• Facebook posters who must tell you every mundane detail of their lives. I mean, I like to hear about people’s accomplishments and milestones, and even their political opinions, but I really don’t need to know that they just returned from the grocery store or that their kid had Rice Krispies for breakfast.

• Comment-section trolls who use the anonymity of the web to say incredibly unpleasant stuff to other commenters that they’d never have the nerve to say to their faces. Must we be this nasty? Thankfully, I don’t see this in Audiofanzine’s forums, which are very civilized. Thanks to all of you for that!

If you’d like to share your own gripes about the Internet, I’d love to hear them.

The last thing I wanted to mention today is on topic. If you’re into guitar synthesizers, you’ll probably be interested in my review of the Boss SY-300. The unit is a revolutionary product in some ways, but disappointing in others. Check it out.