User blog:ChromastoneandTabby/The Trashpostist Manifesto

I kept the title "Trashpost" instead of "Shitpost" because reasons. Sue me.

What the hell happened to shitposting?

I remember when it used to be something fun. Just a new form of hanging out and telling jokes, you know? Nothing malicious, disruptive, or even really that important.

Then it became a god damn cult for some reason.

You think I'm kidding? The current "Shitposting Movement" matches several standard cult behaviours. Check it:

Info graciously provided by the International Cultic Studies Association
 * Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. (You think our shitposting is getting out of hand? What a loser!)
 * Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group. (Getting caught up in shitposting "feeding frenzies")
 * The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself and its members. (We're the only thing keeping BTFF alive!)
 * The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society. (You want us to tone it down a bit? You must want to destroy us and our shitposting altogether!)
 * The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group. (Making fun of someone's dead dog? Hell yeah!)
 * Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities. (Shitposting all day and all night boyee!)
 * The most loyal members (the "true believers") feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. (Chatting without shitposting? Unthinkable!)

Now obviously these aren't direct quotes, but you gotta admit that A: They're pretty reflective of the current situation, and B: This is getting ridiculous.

So, what's the solution? Well, I have a couple ideas:


 * 1) Treat Shitposting as a secondary topic: Shitposting when nothing else is going on is fine, but interrupting a legitimate conversation to make a pointless joke is just annoying for everyone else involved.
 * 2) Cut back on being assholes: Calling people "retards" and what not, even in jest, is frankly just bad behaviour, and trying to use shitposting or "IT'S JUST A JOKE/PRANK/SOCIAL EXPERIMENT BRO" as an excuse doesn't cut it.

Note that I'm not calling for the end of shitposting altogether; that would be stupid and hypocritical. However, several users that may come forward if they want to expose themselves have confided that the excessive amounts of shitposting lately has made more unwilling to join chat, generally steering clear of it so they don't have to deal with it. Suppressing legitimate conversations with "lol so randum XD meigh-meighs" is very much beginning to grate on people.