The flotsam and jetsam of the blogosphere

Warning: Some readers, especially those who post or Tweet inspirational quotes, may be offended  by the following blog. Reader discretion is advised.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it with the countless inspirational quotes that clog up my Twitter and Facebook feeds. Here’s just a random sampling from the last hour:

-    ‘The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success.’
-    ‘The only validation a young company needs is customers.’ 
-    ‘Lead if you can! Follow if you must. But, don’t stand still.’

What, exactly, am I supposed to do with these inspirational quotes? They’re not actionable items. They don’t change the way I think or my day-to-day existence. More to the point, they only clutter an already cluttered blogosphere. If I want inspiration, I simply turn on the tube and find an ironman triathlon to watch.
The inspirational quote’s evil cousin is the daily horoscope. Here’s a few from this morning:
-    ‘Today is a good day for an Aries to invest wisely.’
-    ‘A Taurus should beware of making new acquaintances today.’
-    ‘Cancers take warning. All signs indicate to a possible loss of a close friend.’

Again, why should I care about someone else’s daily horoscope prediction when I don’t give a rat’s posterior for my own? Horoscope readings, like inspirational quotes, are the flotsam and jetsam of the blogosphere. They’re useless bits of debris floating by you on the vast ocean of life.

More to the point, people who continually post inspirational quotes as well as their daily horoscopes tell me something about themselves: namely, that they don’t have an original point of view so they co-opt someone else’s. A journalist would call that plagiarism. I call it spam. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to check my horoscope to see if it’s safe for me to go for a run.

Comments

[Chris Atkins]

Always keep a litter bag in your Taurus. When it gets full you can just throw it out the window.

[RepMan]

Would that I could, Chris. But, I’m in a long-term relationship with my BMW M3

[BookAndBlogGeek]

You know Rep, I like some of these people EXCEPT for this so what I do is I don't let them get to my newsfeed - you can block them without removing them from your list and if I want to know what they are up to, I click on their name. This way, I don't hurt their feelings and my newsfeed doesn't get clogged with religious crap. Just my two cents.

[RepMan]

I plan on doing just that with Facebook. I assume though that, with Twitter, I'll just have to disconnect entirely?

[BookAndBlogGeek]

That's correct as it relates to Twitter - do you really need those twits?

[Art Aiello]

Agree with you wholeheartedly, Rep. Another piece of flotsam and/or jetsam: the game-player badge. To whit: "Tom just earned the 'Top Kneecap Breaker' badge in Mafia Wars." Who the hell cares?

[RepMan]

Amen, Art. Ditto for all that Farmville crap. Who cares if Jane Doe is mayor of Ticonderoga?