It probably happens to you every single day. Random online people add you left and right, wanting to show off to the rest of the world that they know you. You probably also add such online people, wanting to show the world that you have a lot of online contacts. While having a lot of online contacts feels very good, you sometimes pay a very strange price to be able to feel that good: the price of knowing Stupid Online People, SONP. Such a price usually offsets the good feeling, and can also overshadow it. Today, my thoughts are revolving around the concept of knowing Stupid Online People, and how such knowledge of the existence of such contactship affect our lives.

Among many other reasons, there are good, weird and bad reasons to meet people online. Today, I would like to think and focus on the idea of running into stupid people online and how running into the stupidly bad type of people, can be analyzed or thought about. In this article, I am focusing mainly on the stupid bad and ewwy people, and not the good, weird, or other types of online people.

Stupid Online People and Stupid Offline People

While Stupid Online People may seem to have no influence on you once you go offline, in reality, SONPs have a lot of power on you in your daily life. You go online to check your e-mail, your BrightKite, your Twitter, and your Facebook. And then all of a sudden, without any warning, you get a message from a Stupid Online Person.

That is where the trauma begins. Stupid Online people want you to listen to them. Stupid Online People are different than Stupid Offline People, SOFP, in one main area: the level of the portrayal of stupidity varies when it is exhibited aggressively. Online, it can be hard to realize whether one is smart or stupid or something else because people are known to type things that they really do not mean. Online, many people are also not that good at realizing what is going on. Offline, people can try to act smart and you can think to yourself “Oh my lord! What a damningly stupid biatch this person is!”

Why Stupid Online People Thrive Through Online Stupidity

For many people, the online world of stupidity offers an escape route that can be easily clogged in the offline world. It is easy to tell everyone online that you are so beautiful, that people get close to you just to have sex. Words alone can do wonders for many people, and people will offer you comfort in the form of “Aww I understand, many people are just into your body and not your mind! awww aw aww!” Other stupid online people will simply tell you how they are always there for others, and how no one is there for them. This results in the “Aww you need to focus on yourself more! It’s ok to be selfish, really! You’re such a wonderful person!”

Still, other stupid online people will tell you about all of their previous relationships and friends within a few minutes of meeting you online. They also tell you all the secrets of all other people, and they also proclaim that you are the best and most honest person they have ever met. And all of this happens while typing, while meeting you for the first time, and within 5 minutes of you adding that person to your contacts list.

Stupid Online People: Your Worst And Most Boring Online Nightmare?

Stupid Online People show a very immature and ugly side, combined, when you start being cautious around them instead of doing everything they want you to do. They get mad if you do not reply to them within 10 seconds. They get upset if you stop saying hi to them first thing in the morning. They get mad if you move them from #4 to #5 on your MySpace top 10 list. They start showing a very weird and ugly side of jealousy when they notice you are talking to someone else on Facebook chat. The typical “Ohh you’re a very busy person, ok I’ll ttyl!” comes into play when they ask you about your inability to respond within 10 seconds, and after you tell them that you were replying to someone on MySpace. Yes, Stupid Online People want you, all of you, and nothing else. And they want one of the top 4 spots on your MySpace friends list.

What do you think of the idea of being part of or knowing Stupid Online People?

What do you think? Do you know any stupid online people? Could you be on your way to becoming a stupid online person yourself? What is your view on the existence of stupid online people in your contacts list? Would you rather know Stupid Online People or Stupid Offline People? How do you deal with stupid people in general, online and offline?¹

Thank you for reading. I have to go now and swim through the friends-request list on Facebook, MySpace and BrightKite, among other places. I am also thinking of finding and adding a few new friends on those networks myself. And then I have to go meet some offline people who want me to go visit them and drive them about a minute from their house to the nearby coffee shop so they can get coffee for themselves because they are too tired to walk.²

1. And, what do you think of the title of this article? [↩]
2. And yes, I am wondering if I am the SONP and SOFP in both cases because of keeping in touch with such people. One may sometimes have to wonder that, or else one may become stupid very fast. [↩]