One thing I hope dies in 2007

January 1, 2007 By

Hugh Macleod cracks me up. His post about “five things you don’t know about me” was the ultimate way to stop this stupid meme that seems to be continuing to travel through blogs. Although now people are posting what kind of superhero are you. Sigh. So, I’m not optimistic that these kinds of “blog questions” will end in 2007. I wish they would, though.

Here’s his answers — you have to understand British humor, methinks to get why this is funny:

five things you don’t know about me

1. I dislike you intensely.

2. I love it when bad things happen to you.

3. When your name is mentioned I immediately try to change the subject.

4. I wouldn’t read your blog if you paid me.

5. If we were trapped on a desert island together I would kill myself.

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  • http://raincoaster.com/ raincoaster

    Ah, thank you. I got guilted into doing this one, but was obviously not intelligent enough to come up with this, the ultimate response.

  • http://raincoaster.com/ raincoaster

    Ah, thank you. I got guilted into doing this one, but was obviously not intelligent enough to come up with this, the ultimate response.

  • http://www.geise.com/ PXLated

    That is great…way to go Hugh.

  • http://www.geise.com PXLated

    That is great…way to go Hugh.

  • Dawn

    Another thing I hope dies is the world’s and esp. Hugh’s overuse of the word “manifesto.” :-P

  • Dawn

    Another thing I hope dies is the world’s and esp. Hugh’s overuse of the word “manifesto.” :-P

  • http://www.alistercameron.com/ Alister Cameron, Blog Consulta

    I’m delighted to tell you that British humour and Aussie humour must be very similar. Coz that’s bloody funny!

  • http://www.alistercameron.com Alister Cameron, Blog Consultant

    I’m delighted to tell you that British humour and Aussie humour must be very similar. Coz that’s bloody funny!

  • http://www.benshouse.net/ BenN

    “I’m not optimistic that these kinds of “blog questions” will end in 2007″

    They’re ridiculously popular amongst non-techy bloggers, as a quick trail around LiveJournal would show. There’s no chance of them dying in 2007, but complaining they exist is silly. It’s just as silly as complaining about what’s on a particular TV channel – just change the channel / stop reading those posts.

  • http://www.benshouse.net BenN

    “I’m not optimistic that these kinds of “blog questions” will end in 2007″

    They’re ridiculously popular amongst non-techy bloggers, as a quick trail around LiveJournal would show. There’s no chance of them dying in 2007, but complaining they exist is silly. It’s just as silly as complaining about what’s on a particular TV channel – just change the channel / stop reading those posts.

  • http://syawal.vox.com/ syawal

    I dislike you too.

  • http://syawal.vox.com syawal

    I dislike you too.

  • http://www.contentblog.net/ Amrit Hallan

    And I had almost begun to get depressed because nobody tagged me (although I have nothing much to tell that can even fill the 5 bulleted points) :-) . I thought it must be a game for the who’s who of the blogsphere.

  • http://www.contentblog.net Amrit Hallan

    And I had almost begun to get depressed because nobody tagged me (although I have nothing much to tell that can even fill the 5 bulleted points) :-) . I thought it must be a game for the who’s who of the blogsphere.

  • http://googlefortw.blogspot.com/ Mad Tech Writer

    ha ha ha ha ha ha….now that really cracks me up too. Happy New Year Scoble.

  • http://googlefortw.blogspot.com Mad Tech Writer

    ha ha ha ha ha ha….now that really cracks me up too. Happy New Year Scoble.

  • http://datamining.typepad.com/data_mining Matthew Hurst

    Robert – Being a Brit, I’m not sure what this has to do with British humour…

  • http://datamining.typepad.com/data_mining Matthew Hurst

    Robert – Being a Brit, I’m not sure what this has to do with British humour…

  • http://usabilityworks.org/ Matthew Oliphant

    I’ll leave essentially the same comment I did on a similar post almost 1 year ago:

    The meme spreads because people want to be involved in it. If they don’t, they don’t.

    I guess I don’t understand the angst directed at people who are writing what they want to write about on their own sites.

    But, it just depends on your point-of-view. Some memes can be helpful. Who wouldn’t want site after site talking about the [five] things they love to do with [the site/product/service you support].

  • http://usabilityworks.org Matthew Oliphant

    I’ll leave essentially the same comment I did on a similar post almost 1 year ago:

    The meme spreads because people want to be involved in it. If they don’t, they don’t.

    I guess I don’t understand the angst directed at people who are writing what they want to write about on their own sites.

    But, it just depends on your point-of-view. Some memes can be helpful. Who wouldn’t want site after site talking about the [five] things they love to do with [the site/product/service you support].

  • E.S

    In Britain here but it isn’t funny, it’s no more a waste of space then the hero stuff going around

  • E.S

    In Britain here but it isn’t funny, it’s no more a waste of space then the hero stuff going around

  • http://searchenginetigers.com/ Simon Heseltine

    The superhero & supervillain ones went around over a year ago, but I have seen them raise their head again lately…

    Oh, and there’s no such thing as British humor, it’s British humour ;)

  • http://searchenginetigers.com Simon Heseltine

    The superhero & supervillain ones went around over a year ago, but I have seen them raise their head again lately…

    Oh, and there’s no such thing as British humor, it’s British humour ;)

  • http://just.shelleypowers.com/ Shelley

    What a elitist attitude. What a great way to make people who indulge in a little harmless meme exchange feel stupid and “dumb hack” compared to you sophisticated A listers, who have nothing better to do than start your own continuous round of memes all favoring attention on yourselves.

    You’ve taken a little harmless end of year round of exchanges and you’ve turned it into something tawdry and silly, all because you want to prove how sophisticated you all are.

    You are both sad men who can’t stand the thought that a discussion can be about someone other than yourselves.

    Here’s a New Years eve challenge to you both: think about someone other than yourselves. Wait a sec, we’re supposed to reserve our resolutions for something that we can hope to meet, and I just gave you too difficult a task.

    Shame on the both of you for making yourselves seem big by making others seem small.

    All you had to do, was ignore it.

  • http://just.shelleypowers.com Shelley

    What a elitist attitude. What a great way to make people who indulge in a little harmless meme exchange feel stupid and “dumb hack” compared to you sophisticated A listers, who have nothing better to do than start your own continuous round of memes all favoring attention on yourselves.

    You’ve taken a little harmless end of year round of exchanges and you’ve turned it into something tawdry and silly, all because you want to prove how sophisticated you all are.

    You are both sad men who can’t stand the thought that a discussion can be about someone other than yourselves.

    Here’s a New Years eve challenge to you both: think about someone other than yourselves. Wait a sec, we’re supposed to reserve our resolutions for something that we can hope to meet, and I just gave you too difficult a task.

    Shame on the both of you for making yourselves seem big by making others seem small.

    All you had to do, was ignore it.

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  • http://headrush.typepad.com/ Kathy Sierra

    While I’ve never answered these ‘tagging memes’ myself, I have learned more about OTHER people from reading their answers to this than by anything else. I basically tagged *everyone* reading my blog–by asking them to answer questions–so that I could get to know them. Some of their answers made me laugh, and some made me a little teary-eyed, actually.

    Robert and Hugh, we all *know* a lot about you guys, but it’s very unbalanced — I’m guessing most of your readers know way more about YOU than you know about THEM.

    I don’t like the idea of the “tagging” thing, though… it’s pretty lame to have to wait for someone else to *choose* you. And yes, I get a little tired of hearing bloggers talk endlessly about themselves, but learning more about my readers? Gold.

  • http://headrush.typepad.com Kathy Sierra

    While I’ve never answered these ‘tagging memes’ myself, I have learned more about OTHER people from reading their answers to this than by anything else. I basically tagged *everyone* reading my blog–by asking them to answer questions–so that I could get to know them. Some of their answers made me laugh, and some made me a little teary-eyed, actually.

    Robert and Hugh, we all *know* a lot about you guys, but it’s very unbalanced — I’m guessing most of your readers know way more about YOU than you know about THEM.

    I don’t like the idea of the “tagging” thing, though… it’s pretty lame to have to wait for someone else to *choose* you. And yes, I get a little tired of hearing bloggers talk endlessly about themselves, but learning more about my readers? Gold.

  • LayZ

    Remember, people…Scoble wrote the book on blogging. Everyone MUST blog according to how he dictates. So, it’s no surprise this frustrates him as people are not following his guidelines. Blogo-facism rises again!

  • LayZ

    Remember, people…Scoble wrote the book on blogging. Everyone MUST blog according to how he dictates. So, it’s no surprise this frustrates him as people are not following his guidelines. Blogo-facism rises again!

  • http://www.enterthelaughter.com/ Marti

    Is that a meme in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
    *snicker*

    Happy New Year to you (and to Hugh, who doesn’t give a damn – lol)

  • http://www.enterthelaughter.com Marti

    Is that a meme in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
    *snicker*

    Happy New Year to you (and to Hugh, who doesn’t give a damn – lol)

  • http://commonsensepr.com/ Eric Eggertson

    While I find a lot of the other memes less interesting (I don’t do a lot of quizes in Cosmo, either), the five things meme is actually a good icebreaker that gets people out of their zone of comfort for a few minutes.

    I’m thinking of starting “Five reasons to unsubscribe from my blog”, but I doubt it will take off in a big way…

  • http://commonsensepr.com Eric Eggertson

    While I find a lot of the other memes less interesting (I don’t do a lot of quizes in Cosmo, either), the five things meme is actually a good icebreaker that gets people out of their zone of comfort for a few minutes.

    I’m thinking of starting “Five reasons to unsubscribe from my blog”, but I doubt it will take off in a big way…

  • http://ericrice.com/ Eric Rice

    It’s kinda funny how old some of those memes were, just outside of the tech blogosphere. These thing are HUGE in ordinary parts of the Interweb.

    It’s okay, the unwashed masses will rinse off with a little water. ;)

  • http://ericrice.com Eric Rice

    It’s kinda funny how old some of those memes were, just outside of the tech blogosphere. These thing are HUGE in ordinary parts of the Interweb.

    It’s okay, the unwashed masses will rinse off with a little water. ;)

  • http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

    Oh, I forgot the first rule of blogging: you must check with LayZ and Shelley first to see if something you’re about to write is idiotic or elitist. Sorry for forgetting this rule.

    I forgot to put the disclaimer on it: that this was funny, not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings, or anything like that. You might remember I participated in the “five things meme” too a few weeks back. So, if anything I was poking fun at myself.

    Oh, and I’m a Green Lantern, just in case anyone was wondering. ;-)

  • http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

    Oh, I forgot the first rule of blogging: you must check with LayZ and Shelley first to see if something you’re about to write is idiotic or elitist. Sorry for forgetting this rule.

    I forgot to put the disclaimer on it: that this was funny, not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings, or anything like that. You might remember I participated in the “five things meme” too a few weeks back. So, if anything I was poking fun at myself.

    Oh, and I’m a Green Lantern, just in case anyone was wondering. ;-)

  • http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble
  • http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble
  • http://www.divamarketingblog.com/ Toby

    Hey Robert et al .. lighten-up. Memes are simply online games. Play or don’t play it’s up to you. But they do tend to give a bit of insight about the person. And if anyone was surprised by hugh’s response guess they don’t read him much. It was so very hugh. Happy 2007 by the way!

  • http://www.divamarketingblog.com Toby

    Hey Robert et al .. lighten-up. Memes are simply online games. Play or don’t play it’s up to you. But they do tend to give a bit of insight about the person. And if anyone was surprised by hugh’s response guess they don’t read him much. It was so very hugh. Happy 2007 by the way!

  • http://semcertification.wordpress.com/ semcertification

    “five things you don’t know about me”. Robert shouldn’t this read; “Loren, five things you don’t know about me”.

  • http://semcertification.wordpress.com/ semcertification

    “five things you don’t know about me”. Robert shouldn’t this read; “Loren, five things you don’t know about me”.

  • Anonymous

    Whoa that’s kinda trippy seeing both Kathy and Shelley chime in.

    Personally, I thought the meme was just a way for A-listers to pump their pagerank. Basically, a sort legitimate spamming. if you will.

    No matter though, in a world of wikiality it ain’t spam if the readers don’t think so :)

  • Anonymous

    Whoa that’s kinda trippy seeing both Kathy and Shelley chime in.

    Personally, I thought the meme was just a way for A-listers to pump their pagerank. Basically, a sort legitimate spamming. if you will.

    No matter though, in a world of wikiality it ain’t spam if the readers don’t think so :)

  • http://brilliantdays.com/ Oyvind Solstad

    I’m not sure if your writing comes through as “poking fun at myself”. Maybe that’s why people call it elitist? Good to see that we are two Green Lantern! I would never have guessed…

  • http://brilliantdays.com/ Oyvind Solstad

    I’m not sure if your writing comes through as “poking fun at myself”. Maybe that’s why people call it elitist? Good to see that we are two Green Lantern! I would never have guessed…

  • http://raincoaster.com/ raincoaster

    This meme game never smelled A-list to me; for one thing, I got tagged early and often, and I’m Z-list. For another, well, a chain letter is a chain letter, even if it’s about you.

    If people want to learn about me they can straight-out ask me questions. I vastly prefer that to some “here, play this by invitation only chain letter game”.

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