I haven't mentioned my mention…
As Seen on The Atheist Experience Blog!
While I'd do anything to get more attention for my brilliant, hilarious, blasphemous, and sometimes scholarly (if only just a little) ABV Bible (table of contents), The Atheist Experience's Martin Wagner wrote a nice article about me for what I seem to do best: be a smart-ass.
It's true. I sometimes grow tired of debating crazy people, and "Riding the Stream" is, for me, kind of a (p-trap) venting thing. It's a way to see the silly, not react emotionally, and not truly engage.
What is riding the stream? Martin describes it pretty well:
So there are these Christian Facebook pages (ChristiaNet is a big one, with a million and a half likes; Jesus Daily has over 14 million) that post silly little graphics like the one below, and their thousands of followers comment in exactly the way they are told.
So that’s fine. They can do that if it makes them happy. Still, the call-and-response comments pour in at such a pace that Andy figured out it would be very amusing to insert random off-color remarks, and screenshot the results before his comments could be deleted. In some cases, Andy admits to having enough of a sense of civility to delete them himself after taking the shot (“like catching a fish, taking a picture and throwing it back”), because, after all, it’s just for a giggle. Because sometimes, a giggle is a great way to let off a little steam…and even if you won’t admit it, your inner Dennis the Menace needs that every now and then.
Anyway, riding the stream has kind of caught on, and other people are doing it. Here's an example. Jesus Daily posts this…
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| "How many here want JESUS to return soon???" |
As the thousands of "I do! I do!" comments flood in, you just insert your own, wait a few seconds, take a screen shot, and bug out.
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| Think Donald has already been kicked in the head? |
More and more, I remove my comments after the screenshot, but I'm not sure it matters. The traffic is so high that these people must rarely see them.
Anyway, I know it's not "all that," but I got my fifteen minutes of mini-fame. Check out my Facebook album for more. Others have joined in and I try to include their screenshots too, but they're not all there - I can't keep up any more!
(I know, it's silly. But it is what it is.)
Here are other Facebookers who I know ride the stream, or at least have "experimented," in more or less chronological order…
- Michael Choppa
- Tommy Ryan
- Nikki OptimistPrime Houser
- Luke Patterson
- My brother (who I'll bet prefers to not be named here)
- Kristina Tine
- Maya Papaya
- Dan Cormier
- Nathan Knibbs
And I also appreciate Angie Jackson for sharing so many "rides" and also keeping me up on who else is riding the stream. I don't get it, but I appreciate it.
Yes, it's all silly, so if you're rolling your eyes right now, that's the correct response.
