1.Pop Ups
Duh. They were annoying back during the internet’s infancy when they were simple boxes that exploded onto screens around the world. Now, thanks to more powerful computers and faster broadband speeds, pop ups often include sound and video, making them impossible to ignore. Pretty soon pop ups may be called pop outs!
2.Farmville
Holy cow! Who would have ever thought internet farming would become such a hit?! Every time you log into Facebook one of your friends just adopted another lost cow or built another damn silo or something. Here’s a thought- all the time normally spent playing Farmville should now be dedicated to writing letters to all the friends you Farmvillers have been ignoring since the damn game hit the web.
3.Social Networking
Here’s a short list of sites you can join: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friend Finder, Flickr, Live Journal, Blogger, Yammer, Bebo, Deviant Art… So what? What do they all have in common? An addiction factor that rivals that of cocaine wrapped in chocolate, rolled in crack rocks and taken interveanusly as beer is pumped straight into your stomach and Angelina Jolie dances naked on your coffee table. We just can’t get enough anymore. Now, the thing to do is join a site for a particular niche. We’re thinking of starting a website for web-addicts? Are you game?
4.Web MD
Web MD has created an entire generation of anxiety suffering hypochondriacs. Just check out ‘the symptom checker’. It’s almost always a one way street to stroke, heart attack or anxiety disorders. Not only can you check your symptoms but you can suffer from symptoms that you don’t even have thanks to Web MD! Once I had a cold but I was convinced I also had rheumatoid arthritis, the clap, polio and West Nile virus.
5.Rick Rolled
This has happened to everybody. You’re surfing YouTube and you come across a video that is exactly what you’ve been looking for. It’s too good to be true! Well, there’s always a catch buddy. All of a sudden Rick Astley is singing his one hit wonder ‘Never Going to Give you Up’ causing you to bleed from the ears and slam your fists through your desktop. It’s all your fault though. You should’ve known Meagan Fox has never posed naked in a YouTube video!
6.Google
Google used to be great when it was just an innocent search engine. But now it’s getting ridiculous. Google owns the world and everything in it. The company is dead set on competing with every corner of the market from cell phones to social networking and high speed internet access. Google, we think you’re just going a bit too far now. Please stop for the sake of humanity. Do Skynet and John Connor come to mind?
7.Conspiracy Theories
Also include internet rumors, chain letters, forwards and any kind of pseudo science that goes on in forums and message boards across the internet. Nothing causes more misinformed panic as quickly and efficiently as a well placed rumor circulating through email chains. These emails may very well be the urban legends of the 21st century.
8.Anything ‘Viral’
Do you want 15 minutes of fame? Just come up with something catchy, embarrassing, funny or shockingly stupid and post it on the internet. Nothing makes us smile more than ‘David at the Dentist’ or ‘Charlie Bit Me’ but why the hell do these little, brain frying videos become so damn popular? Who knows? The stir that they cause, however, is reason enough to be worried about the future of the human mind.
9.Censorship
This problem isn’t too relevant in America (for the time being). But, China and Australia openly censor the web. Australia is in the process of banning pornography, violent content and sites that outline procedures for criminal activity. China, however, bans anything that may cause a ruckus including websites critical of the government and news organizations like BBC and Yahoo. I’m sorry, but I love having my porn easily available.
10.Lists
Ironic isn’t it? Every blogger is obsessed with making mundane lists. Maybe it has to do with our need for competition or the need to quantify just about everything. Lists are also a good for stirring up some controversy. Lists are great. Simple. Easy to Read. But, lists lack substance.
