Things are getting tense on plurk. Self-expression is starting to get in the way. We are at each other’s throats like vampires, feeding off of everything the other says. Sometimes we are nourished by the blood we suck out of these expressions. Sometimes we are left with a bitter taste in our mouths. This plurk was not what we expected.
Ultimately, everyone likes to be in control. Most everyone likes to be in control of themselves and some like to have control of others. This can be subtle, by performing an act that incites others to react, or it can be more direct, as calling someone out by name. And all the time I keep coming back to Rickels, “no vampirism without the desire to be vampirized”. Truer words were never spoken.
Given that social networking is about ego (whether your own ego, part of your ego, or an alter ego), people prefer to post what will get a reaction. Even if the post is somewhat secretive in nature, and the plurker doesn’t want to reveal the ulterior motive for the plurk, s/he still wants the plurk world to react to her/his joyangerfrustrationsadnesselationsuccessfailurebeautypower. It’s a necessity to see your own emotions reflected back at you. It’s necessary to see that others react and sympathize with your situation. Otherwise, why would you post it in a public forum? Wouldn’t you just have a private journal?
Of course lucemart is not absolved of this sin either. She’s been known to post things in order to get a reaction. In fact, this blog post desperately seeks a reaction. We are all guilty of it, and as we know from Rickels the sinners are doomed to return as vampires. Plurk in the middle of the night is a different world. PVP. Plurker v. plurker. But vampires don’t dare walk in the daylight. The comforting silence of the plurklulls bolsters our confidence. Privacy becomes public.
It’s a plurker v. plurker world out there, people. Tread carefully. One plurker’s amusement is another plurker’s aggravation, and since we aren’t all on Skype, intonation is not a factor. An innocent plurk can become an attack without this context. Beware the bleh. It leaves you especially susceptible to misinterpretation. I suggest following my lead and hanging garlic around you as you plurk at night. Might want to keep a wooden stake handy, too.
Lucemart, you have so accurately portrayed the plurk-by-night dynamics. Last night, did you notice that I changed my profile pic to a vampire and was trying to get some kind of reaction, dropping hints, etc? I couldn't tell if no one noticed, or if they did, they were just playing along in their cryptic sort of way. It was sort of funny social experiment, testing to see if plurkers could "tell" if a vampire really was among them. Maybe it was completely obvious, or no one cared, or if they did they didn't find it interesting or funny. For the record, I'm not really a vampire. I tend to plurk by night because there is no sunlight to take advantage of and I have time to fuck around on the internet.
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