My REAL problems with Web 2.0
I have a big problem with people who have no idea what they’re talking about, especially with those who act like they do and ESPECIALLY with those who post that online and make their stupidity public. I have just spent nearly one hour trying to figure out why an example PHP/HTML form I took from the web wasn’t working, only to eventually realize that the guy who wrote the tutorial for it was a complete noob (idiot is an ugly word) that probably knew less about this than I did when I started learning it.
Another problem is timestamping, especially for technical stuff. If you’re trying to do something today from a tutorial that was written three years ago, chances are all hell will break loose. But unlike books who have a specific publishing date, most webpages rarely do. Bad, very bad.
Finally, don’t even get me started on forums. I’m an active member on two forums (a photography and a bodybuilding one) and I often read stuff from other forums also. People just come in, make an account and start shooting out advices. More often than not, they have no idea what they’re talking about and give bad or even harmful advice. Fortunately the bodybuilding forum I am on does a good job with keeping stupidity at bay (and for that people call us mean and unfriendly), but not all places do. What if somebody that is not so good at critical thinking gets bad advice from a bodybuilding forum and gets injured in the gym? He can’t even find the guy, has no right to sue him and well, he can’t even really blame the guy. Why did he listen to him in the first place? He’s not sure… but now he has an injured back/knee/liver etc.
I am not FOR regulating the Internet. Hell no, we’re free and we stay free. BUT.. maybe we should work more towards setting standards (W3C is doing a good job with this, I admit), so people have an idea of what they should do (aka timestamp your pages) and what they shouldn’t. Maybe we should educate people about what’s good and what’s bad on the Internet. I mean…I find it amazing that people believe everything they read on the web. They wouldn’t do a squat with 200 pounds just because I told them even if they know me well, but if I post it on a forum they are bound to do it. Why is this? Interesting social psychology theme… write this down for later study.
Meanwhile, I’ll get back to my new PHP form.. which I also got from the web from someone else who this time knows what they’re talking about.. (AHA! See what I mean? How do I know that? Exactly, I don’t!) Oh well… Que sera, sera.
PS: Alright, I should also metion that, when it comes to Web 2.0, I also don’t like people posting videos of them dancing (or trying to) on O-Zone, singing random stuff badly and other random crap which nobody really cares about. Jeese, have some dignity, will ya? Ok, it’s funny at times, but still… Get a grip.