Joel Stein is my hero

Es ist jetzt schon etwas älter, es gab auch schon bei Metafilter einen Eintrag dazu, und inzwischen ist es auch beim Knüwer angekommen: Have something to say? I don't care

[...] I don't want to talk to you; I want to talk at you. A column is not my attempt to engage in a conversation with you. I have more than enough people to converse with. And I don't listen to them either. [...] I get that you have opinions you want to share. That's great. You're the Person of the Year. I just don't have any interest in them. [...] Part of the problem is that no etiquette has yet been established for the hyper-interactive world. And I, born before MySpace and e-mail, don't feel comfortable getting a letter and not answering it. And then, if I do, suddenly, we're pen pals, with all those pen pal responsibilities. [...] And I don't want a pen pal who already has strong opinions about me. What fun is that? I want a pen pal named Simone who lives in Grenoble and is trying to learn English while I learn French, and teases me with vague promises to come visit over summer break even though she never does.

Ich kann mir nicht helfen, aber: Recht hat der gute Mensch. Klar, es gibt jetzt Menschen, die unglaublich glücklich sind, wenn sie mit tausenden von Leuten, die sie nicht kennen, kommunizieren können und die den Foren-Geist auch in den Blogs leben. Und dann gibt es noch Leute, die lieber Sender sind, anstatt dem Pöbel zuhören zu müssen. Kann ich beides gut verstehen.