there's no such thing as a social issue without a hashtag

This is probably an ok time to get into stuff like this... None of the past few months of posts on this page have received more than 10 views, and I don't feel comfortable posting my opinions in a forum where everyone I've ever met will see it. If a handful of people I know see this, then fine. I just wish more of my friends would opt to post their opinions on unpopular blogs, because it sometimes makes so much more sense than displaying it so openly. I'll never understand how so many people, including many of my best friends, can constantly crave that type of exposure. Sometimes for their jobs, and I suppose that makes sense. Usually it's for simple validation. Often times it's out of perceived loneliness. "If my social media post about the opinion that I'm currently perceiving to be unpopular garners at least 3 or 4 people clicking 'like' then it means that I was right all along and I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight."

I haven't purposely been avoiding social media posts for the past two weeks, but I just don't have any words for what's been happening that would be any more profound than what everyone else has already been saying. I suppose the hurt, disappointment and frustration have been echoed throughout my specific online community, and there's comfort in knowing that you have acquaintances smart enough to match everything you're feeling. To some extent, the shitty news has strengthened our fight.

The "trending" box on Facebook has been particularly annoying as of the past 6 months or however long it's been there. They want every user to grow an addiction to clickbait so they can follow our trends. It's so transparent, and 9 out of 10 of those stories are so fucking stupid that it probably makes others - not just myself - wish that the box could just go away. But it's always there, at the top of our newsfeeds, staring at us, telling us which news stories are the most important ones based on algorhythms or whatever. If you click "x" to make it go away, it asks why you want it go to away, and I usually respond "offensive." And then it's infinitely replaced by other stories that are equally stupid.

The Jon Stewart story from today only stood out to me because I just happened to see The Daily Show for the first time in over a year last night, not because I was interested in their perspective but because I missed South Park due to the Nets game going into overtime. So I just got some work done while keeping on Comedy Central for the rest of the night waiting until the rerun at 12:30. And today the top headline on my "trending" box was regarding Jon Stewart's "serious" tone last night. I mean, I saw it last night on TV. It wasn't any more serious than any other time I've seen The Daily Show. He looked up at the sky and screamed the word "Fuck." And it was awesome, because that's basically exactly how I feel about everything that's been happening. He's basically just echoing our frustration and hurt. And they did play a really good video of two cats massaging each other to break up the awkwardness of discussing such a bummer on a comedy show.

But Facebook wants people to click, so they leave everything open-ended. "You'll never believe what happens next." Jesus, just shut the fuck up already. Whoever invented that sentence should seriously get dragged into a shark tank and left for dead.

It's not like these lynchings are a new thing. Hundreds (probably even thousands) of them since Rodney King have taken place but never gone to trial just the same as the big news stories from the past few weeks. Because the system isn't working. It breeds bullying, racism and other disgusting patterns. Even I get that, and I'm an idiot.

Hell Yes to the "Sorta Cliffhanger But Not Really" Motif
South Park did not get into serious subject matter last night. Lorde (a.k.a. Randy Marsh) played a "Women of Rock" concert along with Miley, Iggy and. Nicki. The only one out of those three who Trey and Matt spared from trashing was Nicki Minaj, who almost seemed as if she was about to befriend Lorde in one brief moment just before Lorde look the stage. It appears as though next week episode might be a large culmination of all 9 previous plotlines from this past season.

See, this is a case where it MAKES SENSE to leave shit open ended. I'm actually excited to find out what happens next week, whereas using these tactics for quick-click ad revenue kinda just leaves everyone feeling used.

I was thinking of going deeper into this but there's too much going on right now.

The Year Is Not Over Yet
Speaking of open-endedness, we're pretty psyched for the next month of releases from J.Cole, Charli XCX, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and the possibility of releases from Kanye and Kendrick. Among all of these forthcoming albs, we find it somewhat inconceivable that there won't be a few jams hot enough to immediately enter Hot Mix's Top 20. In fact, we're counting on it.

Although thinking back to 10 years ago, late 2004 was strong enough of an era where a similar trend took place. The era of "1 Thing" and "Since U Been Gone" wasn't quite immediate enough to make its impact prior to January 2005. So it's not like it's the end of the world to see a few post-EOY-results releases missing out. But if we're truly speaking about "the best of 2014," why wouldn't more people just want to wait it out?

The obvious answer is "firstness," but hey look what happened to our albums of the year? It wasn't posted until August. We cornered the market on last-ness and it actually ended up helping.