Some people get mad at their computers when the computers act up.
Web Watch knows many people who have thrown their computers across the room or down the cubicle row at the office because they didn’t like how the computer was working.
Now, take that same philosophy (having an emotional outburst caused by an inanimate tech object), and you have the basis for these FIVE EMOTIONS INVENTED BY THE INTERNET, by Leigh Alexander.
- A vague and gnawing pang of anxiety centered around an IM window that has lulled. This actually has a basis in reality — it’s just like the occasional conversation lull that happens at cocktail parties when everyone in the group has run out of things to talk about. You know, about every 3 minutes.
- A sudden and irrational rage in response to reading an ‘@-reply’ on Twitter. To be honest, this one we don’t really agree with – even after reading Leigh’s explanation of what she meant in her piece.
- The car collision of appetite and discomfort one feels simultaneously when using the internet to seek and consume images or information that may be considered unseemly or inappropriate. Web Watch feels like this almost continually. It’s something we’ve gotten used to.
- The sense of fatigue and disconnect one experiences after emitting a massive stream of content only to hit some kind of ‘wall’ and forget and/or abandon the entire thing. Web Watch does this quite often — we write out our Web Watch columns, read them over a few dozen times, then end up deleting them and starting over with a different topic. Trust us — there are sites out there that you just don’t want to know about… at least, not without wanting to scrub your eyes out with a screwdriver point afterwards. (and we think we all know which sites we’re talking about.
Want to see the fifth emotion? Click through on the site above and see…