Antisocial Networks

We’ve been discussing social media here all week, so perhaps it makes sense to also talk about social media backlash. Specifically social media backlash sites.

Yes, of course there are social media backlash sites. I’d even go so far as to say that there are variety fo genres of backlash sites. Let’s take a look:

Get a First Life




















This one page parody of the web site Second Life is packed with clever and cleverish aphorisms, my favorite being “Fornicate using actual genitals.” Its motto, however, is the rather cynical “Work. Reproduce. Perish.” Perhaps that’s all there is to existence, but I’m not willing to go there. At one page, it’s not a place you’re going to go often, but it’s good for a 60-second chuckle.

HateBook

A giant collection bucket of hatred and bile, Hate Book lets users sound off about what ticks them off. Posts are categorzed by topic, so if for example you want to share in others’ political hate, it’s available in just one curmudgeonly click.

Being someone who definitely wasn’t one of the most popular kids in high school, my initial glance at the site was a bit agita inducing. A global platform for teasing? But upon closer examination, I found that the site has “hate-readers” who screen posts before they appear, ensuring they avoid (list taken directly from the site)

...being non-descriptive: I hate apples. why?
...more than one topic: Just post a couple different ones
...naming people: or use first name only. Celebrities are ok. No contact info.
...responding to others: Disagree with what others hate, but don't attack their posts.
...hating this site: Site feedback can be sent to ihateyou@hatebook.com
...using obnoxious formatting: all CAPS, too much profanity, etc.

Apparently hatred has rules in the digital world.

Michael Arrington's piece on TechCrunch introduced me to two “antisocial networks”.

Isolatr is another one page parody site, offering the mission statement “Helping you find where other people aren’t.”

By contrast, Snubster is an actual community (or is that uncommunity) that offers a great deal of collaborative lists, telling us who is the most hated, etc.

BTW, the top nine most hated at the time of this post are:

George Walker Bush (Bush the Father)
Scientology
Emo Kids
MySpace
Paris Hilton
MTV
Tom Cruise
Republicans
George W Bush

Yes, our President appears twice in the top 9. Under different spellings.

But I bet you’re interested in what BRANDS make the top 50 and why, eeh? Here goes:

Starbuck’s – Pricing andkilling off independent coffee houses.
Wal*Mart – For allegedly bad working conditions, low salaries, poor merchandise, and exploitation of women and children.
McDonalds – For poor nutrition, product changes, and marketing to kids
Sony – For PS3, DRM, proprietary formats, bad customer support

What’s interestng as one reads the posts about a company is how ideas seem to build into consensuses of negativity . A few people make a complaint and that seems to beget bitching at a breakneck pace. Proving that we humans are basically followers. And that uncommunities end up connecting people, albeit with the common denominator of fury. This site seems to operate like a microcosm of the web in this regard.

All these sites sort of remind me of two things:

The old web site F*cked Company from the dot bomb era, that offered a minute by minute chronicle of job losses nationwide

The forums on the techie site SlashDot where people bitch about Apple and how it’s very easy to modify a toaster and get exactly the same functionality as an iPod, “for a lot less money and without DRM.”

Me I like my iPod. And my toast.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.