Saturday, June 2, 2018

#UnpopularSherlockianOpinion

The weather patterns of social media are going to have to one day have nightly reports from social media meteorologists, just so we can see what storm fronts are coming, where there's a chance of rain on your parade, and which direction the wind is blowing.

I mean, some hashtag like #UnpopularOpinion starts trending, we have to co-opt it for our purposes to #UnpopularSherlockianOpinion, and suddenly it feels like we're being encouraged to troll-bait or generally sow discord by posting things we already know people disagree with us on. And anyone that's going to be "brazen" enough to tweet their unpopular opinion with so little prompting has probably made that clear every opportunity they had to do it before.

I do, as is probably a shocking surprise to no one, have some lovely little unpopular opinions about things like the weird membership rituals of the B.S.I., but are they best conveyed with a one-liner and a hashtag. And do I need to take every potential pot shot at social change that is, most definitely, something those closest to it will never consider without generational changes over decades?
The mix of statements of social import and clever quips in my Twitter feed really confuses the issue even more. Is #UnpopularSherlockianOpinion meant just for entertainment value, or a Festivus-like airing of grievances? A time to take our pet peeves for a walk and let them poop in the neighbors' yards, or a recurring bit in a text-based stand-up routine?

"You know you've got an #UnpopularSherlockianOpinion when you're blocked by every single Sherlock Holmes impersonator on Twitter."

"You know you've got an #UnpopularSherlockianOpinion when 221B Con suddenly tells just you, and only you, that the con is by invitation only."

"You know you've got an #UnpopularSherlockianOpinion when the ghost of Conan Doyle actually appears over your bed and that Ghost of Sherlock Past is just the start of your night."

"You know you've got an #UnpopularSherlockianOpinion when it's 1974 and your name is Samuel Rosenberg." #DeepCutSherlockiana

Okay, maybe there's a reason Jeff Foxworthy went with "You know you're a redneck when . . ." instead of that one.

Of course, hashtags are just opportunities, and what we make of them says a little bit about who we are. Sometimes they make us think about something new, sometimes they just bring back the old and tired, but in the end, we make the choice as to what we put out there as a result.

So much to think about any more . . . .

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