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The Barbelith Stereotype?

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andrewdrilon

03:09 / 25.10.06

This popped into my head while I was telling my friend about Barbelith. What are the commonalities betweeen most members here?

Are you insomniac? Do you read comicbooks? Do you practice magic? Are you a creative (art, music, prose)? Are you sexy and beautiful? Are you homosexual? Are you liberal? Are you a Grant Morrison fan? Are you educated? Etc.

I know this site is a great melting pot of quirky, unique and interesting individuals, but I was wondering...could there be a Barbelith stereotype? Is it possible? If so, what qualities would most Barbelith members have?

charrellz

05:02 / 25.10.06

I don't want to speak for everyone, but I think that most of us are carbon based. I'm almost positive that we're all sentient (with one or two exceptions).

miss wonderstarr

05:17 / 25.10.06

If you're talking about stereotypes I wonder if it isn't best to ask someone outside the community what they think of Barbelith. For instance, I've been on two forums where they regard Barbelith as worthy, wordy, "PC" natch and overall, devoid of humour.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

05:22 / 25.10.06

We probably all have brains, even if some of those brains happen to be floating inside jars. I, personally, keep mine in an icebox.

Baz Auckland

05:44 / 25.10.06

People outside of Barbelith talk about Barbelith? Really? *blush* What else do they say?

miss wonderstarr

05:58 / 25.10.06

Well, there was that significant TMO (The Moon Online... no real reason for the name) crossover whereby someone there discovered here around Feb 04, leading to a batch of people joining ~ then Ganesh and a few others from Barbelith took up brief residence on TMO during Big Brother 2005 I think. I'm afraid I sense that the overriding feeling about Barbelith is lack of funny and uptightness.

astrojax69

07:00 / 25.10.06

i resemble that remark...

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:02 / 25.10.06

I'm rather grateful for it.

miss wonderstarr

07:53 / 25.10.06

I see it as a balance between "irreverence" and the corresponding "freedom" (debatable I suppose) to break taboos and shock, often for humorous effect, on one side (TMO), and "sensitivity" to people of various cultures and identities and the corresponding care with language to avoid insult, which I think does tend to work against that "shock" type of humour, on the other (Barbelith).

Also, the moderation systems are very different and the communities are small and large respectively. But because TMO has an overlap with Barbelith in its approximate age, long-standing community and interest in films, comics, media, metropolis, memes... you know the kind of thing... they are slightly interesting case studies for comparison.

Mistoffelees

08:26 / 25.10.06

There´s still a whole lot of scientologists around. It was explained to them, that Tom´s last name is Coates, not Cruise, but it didn´t faze them.

Happy Dave Has Left

08:43 / 25.10.06

Lack of funny? I spit out whatever beverage happens to be in my mouth on a regular basis while reading Barbelith. Perhaps they mean lack of funny based on being offensive. Or perchance, funny that relies on wit.

Evil Scientist

09:10 / 25.10.06

I myself am a composite of several Barbelith stereotypes cut-and-pasted together for market research purposes.

They won't let me know which stereotypes though, or indeed why they're stereotypes in the first place.

Tis true. Tis conspiracy.

Whisky Priestess

09:24 / 25.10.06

Lack of funny? Perhaps they mean lack of funny based on being offensive. Or perchance, funny that relies on wit.

What I'm getting is that Barbelith is regarded less as lacking in funny than lacking in fun. Barbelith = serious, pompous, humourless, unable to take a joke (against itself, first of all, but also against teh blacks, gays etc.) Which is, really, a fair cop. This place does take itself very seriously, but I'm not sure that's always a bad thing.

Also, my photofit for the average board member goes as follows:

- Male
- White
- UK or US-based
- 20-35
- College education
- Student or employed (white-collar/professional)
- Vast collection of something - comic books, vinyl, medical curiosities, Babylon 5 DVDs, snuffboxes, serial killer memorabilia - anything, really. But something.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:32 / 25.10.06

Define vast...

pointless & uncalled for

09:32 / 25.10.06

Does a college education count if you failed to actually learn anything.

Other than that I just need to obtain a large collection of something and I'll be full on barberoyalty.

Fucking ace.

pointless & uncalled for

09:35 / 25.10.06

Define vast...

To add to that - In today's current digital age, can any collection of porn truly be considered vast?

Ganesh

09:44 / 25.10.06

Tt. Both Xoc and myself need to be put out to pasture. We're past our Barberoyal sell-by.

miss wonderstarr

09:57 / 25.10.06

- Male
- White
- UK or US-based
- 20-35
- College education
- Student or employed (white-collar/professional)
- Vast collection of something - comic books, vinyl, medical curiosities, Babylon 5 DVDs, snuffboxes, serial killer memorabilia - anything, really. But something.

Maybe that could be summed up as "geek".

Evil Scientist

10:02 / 25.10.06

Maybe that could be summed up as "geek".

Hello!

Psi-L is working in hell

10:09 / 25.10.06

Whilst I don't agree with you Ganesh...we could always raise you and Xoc to "Queen Mum" status in the Barbroyalty?

....you know...National treasure, gin soaked and addled, lots of young footmen catering to your every whim?

Sniv

10:13 / 25.10.06

... wrinkled and smelling strongly of urine? That's our X and G!

unheimlich manoeuvre

10:16 / 25.10.06

Deadpan humour - smilies ≠ lack of funny.

miss wonderstarr

10:30 / 25.10.06

Well, it's worth considering (perhaps somewhere else) whether a lot of humour isn't based around saying the unsayable, crossing cultural taboo-lines, being shocking, and whether being careful and culturally sensitive with language doesn't work against that. I would say Barbelith's humour reads as more "gentle", to me...innocently playful ~ I think the puns about marmalade that spread over Barbannoy recently are fairly typical.

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:34 / 25.10.06

Could you post some links to the comic highlights of TMO, Miss Wonderstarr? I'm afraid I don't know what kind of humour you mean.

Char Aina

10:41 / 25.10.06

see, now that wasnt funny at all.

Whisky Priestess

10:44 / 25.10.06

Tt. Both Xoc and myself need to be put out to pasture. We're past our Barberoyal sell-by.

Far from it - you are both simply (as I am sure is true in many other fields) above average.

Char Aina

10:47 / 25.10.06

well above average.

miss wonderstarr

10:48 / 25.10.06

Well, Tannhauser, I'm not sure if a lot of the humour on TMO doesn't depend on some kind of shared community knowledge ~ expectations from and perceptions of individuals, long-term riffs, in-jokes, stuff like that. I'm not part of it now but I am still able to recognise the references that people might be jazzing with. I'll have a look there (I'm sure they'll appreciate it) and try to find an example of typical TMO funny, as I perceive it. Not to hold it up as an example of what anyone else should be doing, but as an instance of a specific type of humour.

One related issue is that I think TMO certainly used to be funny because of timing ~ instances of quick thinking and people working off each other like a good double-act, or triple or quadruple act, again because of that shared knowledge and mindset. Now TMO is very much slower, that aspect is often missing.

All Acting Regiment

10:54 / 25.10.06

And if you read the word Geek and know the magic of Etymology you get:

Hello!

Which was found in a box of McDonalds chicken nuggets, and which I will be happy to remove if people really don't like it.

miss wonderstarr

10:55 / 25.10.06

Yeah, just had a look and you know how it is, you can't find anything funny when someone tells you to go and search for it. Not in five minutes, anyway, and not without having to explain loads of unfunny context about how someone in 2002 said this, and so now someone else is making a play on that running "gag". However, I think there are quite a few people from TMO registered on Barbelith, so they could contribute to this discussion.

All Acting Regiment

10:55 / 25.10.06

Ah. Rather drastic cross post.

All Acting Regiment

10:56 / 25.10.06

In fact this probably counts as carnivalesque or something.

Evil Scientist

11:25 / 25.10.06

Mmm, crunchy.

Chickens are like prawns in some ways, it's always good to suck out the headjuices.

h1ppychick

11:41 / 25.10.06

I'm a TMOer and I like Barbelith for its willingness to sustain a prolongued discussion about a topic without significant drift. Sometimes I prefer TMO's tangential sidelining and offshooting and threadrot and general chate-ing, but I also like to join in with like-minded people when they get passionate about something in which I'm also interested.

I don't think that Barbelith has a lack of funny at all. I do think its brand of funny works as much on in-jokes and shared history as TMO's does, with the result that relative outsiders may not get the immediate custard-pie-in-the-face lols that members with that shared experience are trading.

HCE

15:22 / 25.10.06

What kind of carnival?

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