Useless Websites

I stumble across websites all the time that post short snappy news bites about some new technology or some new environmental gadget or other. Many of them are well written and informative with links to the product or service provider and links to other relevant articles.

However, an alarming number are just total garbage with just enough tantalizing information to attract readers and hope that they click on the ads. Many of these are so badly written that you get the impression that the site has offered 13 year-olds a quarter per post to provide their content. Worse, they seem to attract hordes of juveniles who thrive on writing inane comments, mostly about how stupid the previous comment was.

I’ve recently discovered StumbleUpon, which is where I come across the good stuff too. I must acknowledge that the majority of sites you “Stumble” upon out there are useful; some can be very impressive. I find amusing videos and photos, amazing shots of places I would like to visit, well written and provocative sites that explore eastern religion or health issues or politics, new clever products and blogs that focus on very arcane but interesting subjects. Interspersed among the good stuff however, are an alarming number of random useless waste-of-time sites that are neither interesting nor funny.

That last category is totally perplexing. I know just enough about creating a website to be dangerous and I have to wonder why someone would go to the time and expense to put together a whole site full of lame jokes or one where you can register and have someone nag you about something: http://www.hassleme.co.uk/

To use the vernacular of the day, WTF? Why actively solicit a flood of emails requesting to be hassled by some stranger? Who needs that, and who has such a pathetic life that they can spend time sending out nagging comments to people?

I’ve been threatening to order a few of those WTF self-inking stamps for select friends next holiday season. Useful if you like to return junk mail to the post office, right? An electronic version would be even more useful - a single click and you’ve tagged a website.

Hold it, the thumbs down button in StumbleUpon does that already!

Once again I’m a day late.