I’ve been a regular denizen of the World Wide Web since approximately 1998...before that, I had sporatic access at school, but I didn’t get my own connection until I was 16. A month or so after I got hooked up, I started my site...originally a video game review site, which expanded to include a section for my “original poetry”, until I gave my works their own site. I’ve since pretty much abandoned the game site to concentrate on my writing site--ie, the site you’re on right now (duh).
During my period of access, I’ve become slowly educated in the ways of the Web. I’ve been amazed to learn that, for an alledgedly “democratic” format as the internet, there is an awful lot of unwarranted prejudice. Not based on race, or religion, or sexual orientation (which are the prejudices that anonymity quickly stamps out), or even on intelligence (although the more intelligent DO tend to make their way towards the top of the fish tank, something I personally laud), but on the stupidest thing imaginable: your internet access platform. What system you use, what codes you know, even what your e-mail address is. This is completely nonsensical, mainly because although I am obviously an intelligent, literate person with the ability to communicate effectively, I am automatically labelled a backwards mundane hick because I use AOL.
I’ve heard all the crap about how all AOL users are illiterate inbred 14-year olds with the inability to put their pants on straight, let alone type coherent sentences. Let me shatter the stereotype: I like AOL. I’m not the most computer-literate person-- it’s a miracle I learned HTML--and I enjoy the straightforward format that AOL provides. I don’t actively seek out other AOLers via instant messager, and I like to think that I’m the exception to the rule when it comes to literacy on the internet. I express myself in a coherent, thoughtful manner, which is very rare with AOL users.
I’m not kidding myself--I know there are absolute dregs of society among the AOL crowd, and I’m frequently IMd by perfect strangers since I’m one of the few to write halfway interesting things in a profile. Ninety-nine percent of the time I give them my standard reply: “If you don’t mind, I’m currently occupied.” I believe this is an appropriate reply--brief, polite, yet allowing for little arguement--yet occasionally I get things like, “so when wil u be done” (spelling and punctuation approximate), people who don’t seem to get that they’re being ignored (“yes i mind,. talk 2 me girl :-)”), and the rare belligerent jerk who wants to argue with me about brushing them off so abruptly (“why u dont wanna talk w/ me ? ur rude bye bitch”). It’s hard being the lone voice of sanity on AOL...damn my magnetic personality.
I recently was engaged in a conversation with a friend who is a self-proclaimed hacker. At one point he started typing in completely nonsensical code--sort of like emoticons meets the Punctuation From Hell. I asked him to write in proper English, and he claimed that--as Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up--“hacker” was his native language, and by refusing to give it valid status I was the equivalent of someone who goes into a foreign country and demands that the natives speak his language. I can’t even begin to describe the level of stupidity in that statement. I’ll give you that computer codes like BASIC and PASCAL are a form of language...however, when you go into a chat room or engage in conversation with a non-computer oriented friend, you don’t slide into GeekSpeak, because you know that your fellows will have no idea what the hell you’re saying. I could make all SORTS of incomprehensible obscure references that this friend would not understand, but I don’t, out of basic politeness. Not to mention...“hacker” as a native language? Like it comes easier to him than the English his parents have taught him since birth? Please. It’s a way of making oneself feel “special” and “cooler” than everyone else...a little kid telling everybody, “I have a secret language that only I know!”, and then not understanding why no one wants to play with him anymore.
As I’ve trawled the internet over the years, I’ve become more “alternative” in my dress, demeanor and viewpoints. This is mainly due to the influence of White Wolf role-playing games, although my natural geek tendencies can’t be overlooked either. I was bound to become a strange little semi-goth geek at some point or another, and I’m satisfied with the person I’ve turned into...I’ve developed an interest in a wider array of subjects, and I certainly think I’ve acquired a better sense of style (to give you an idea, I wore turtlenecks and plaid shirts all through junior high. Yes. It was that bad. Ahh, Michigan, the home of lumberjack couture).
As a result of my newfound fashion sense, I’ve acquired a list of favorite shops to visit: Delia*s (rather preppy, but they do have a wide selection of basics in black, and all sorts of chunky shoes), LimitedToo (kid’s clothes are great! They’re just as stylish as junior’s clothing nowadays, and often you can get the latest fashions for a fraction of the price), PetsMart (great $5 dog collars, cheaper than buying ones specially designed for people!), and the ubiquitous Hot Topic. I’ve since learned of the controversy surrounding the latter.
I’ve encountered frequent lashings of Hot Topic, often by pretentious “cool” alternative people, who look down on it as a tame, sub-standard boutique frequented by teenybopper wanna-be mallrat goths sporting dime-store black lipstick and spiked rubber bracelets. I personally adore Hot Topic. The clothes are cute and reasonably priced...the vast majority of my apparel is procured there. It’s hard to find stuff that’s nice and semi-frightening, yet cheap. You can’t beat an $8 vampire tee-shirt from Hot Topic! I don’t care if I’m being a generic semi-goth geek...I don’t give a shit about the image. I’m not going to spend hours combing through less readily-available outlets to locate hard-to-find oddities, or buy more expensive stuff because it’s “cool”. At this point in my life, $8 tee-shirts are about all I can afford. If anything, to look down on the cookie-cutter mall goths is, in a way, to be a kind of conformist. So I say unto you, be a rebel, and don’t disdain something just because it’s not “cool”. After all, alternative folk pride themselves on their tolerance of others and their refusal to adhere to labels.