Most of us who blog do a fair amount of visiting other blogs, reading and commenting on the blogs of the nice people who follow us.
I can't help but notice, as I travel around, that there are a heck of a lot of different personalities out there. The blogs I visit are mostly people I know and whom I already know what their personality is like. (Their personality in the blogging world, at least.) But you really come across some genuine characters if you read the other people (that you don't really know) who are commenting on those blogs along with you.
Here is the personality profile of the day: The guy who always makes smart comments and tries to stand out from the rest of the herd by being outrageous. (Ok hosers, before you jump to conclusions, I'm not talking about myself.)
Remember the class clown in high school? Every class has one. He is always making smart remarks to things the teacher says. Everything he does screams, "NOTICE ME!" And we all laugh at him and salve his insecurities.
Okay, picture that guy. Then picture him 30 years later making a comment on a blog. His attention-getting outrageousness has worn pretty thin. He isn't quite so funny anymore and not nearly as cutting edge as you once thought he was. In fact, he is very irritating because he often ignores the point of the post and just tries to be outrageous. (I swear to God I am NOT talking about myself. Stop nodding and pointing.)
There's this guy (who does not comment on this blog, but who comments a lot on the blog of a person who DOES comment on this blog, and so I get to read some of his comments) who is always trying to seem "special" by making off the wall comments. I'm sure he thinks they are clever, witty, and outrageous in a hip, non-conformist antisocial way. The word "tedious" always pops into my mind, for some reason, when I read his (ummm, or "her") comments on my reader's blog, but I'm sure that word would never enter his mind when he is making his (often insulting, I think) comments.
I have a mind (honest I do!) that automatically translates bullshit into English. Today, he said something like "That is why I have decided never to reproduce." Only he said it in a much more clever and disdainful way than merely that. And I automatically go (in my mind, I mean), "Right. What you are saying is no woman has ever gone out with you because of your idiot mouth. And now you are in your fifties or whatever and never WILL get a woman to go out with you." He is right that he will never reproduce, he just has the wrong reason.
Everything the blogger says in his/her post will be put down or somehow ridiculed by this person. He prides himself in being a "contrarian" no matter what. If you say the sky is blue he will say it's pink, and he will expect you to laugh at his wit. Whatever the subject of the post or the opinion of the blogger, it will be scorned and belittled. It's not a matter of genuine disagreement, only trying to be contrary.
I don't personally have trouble with this kind of commentator. Occasionally, they come around but I berate them and their parents so mercilessly that they soon leave. I don't believe you should say nice things to hecklers (and, really, that's what they are.) If these people hang around your blog very long, it's your own fault.
One time I read with glee as my good friend Soubriquet upbraided a spammer on his blog. A work of art! That's what I am talking about! Why let them hang around?
There are a lot of personalities out there, and a lot of them are really fun. Meeting the fun people is a big reason why I blog. I only let the very best ones stay. That says a lot about YOU. :)
