The internet has done it again. Parodying serious events, even as the events are still occurring. Case in point: Hurricane Sandy. Serious and dangerous but somehow extremely entertaining online.
Some genius created the Hurricane Sandy Twitter account not to inform the nation of updates on the disaster, but rather to say ridiculous quips that celebrities are even finding humor in.
With tweets such as “RT [Retweet] IF U WANT ME TO DESTROY YO SCHOOL. I GOT YOU” and “YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO DESTROY CITIES AND TWEET AT DA SAME TIME? YOU AIN’T BOUT DIS LYFE,” most of us can’t resist laughing out loud.
Not to worry; this account does acknowledge the real damage that’s occurring. Information is being spread by this account on how to help through Red Cross, and it’s nice to see that these joke accounts can still do good.
But in order to relate this entire topic to the theme of Arts and Entertainment, I’m going to reference the multiple “photos” this Twitter account has shared with the web.
The “LATEST SHOT OF NEW YORK” is a picture of The Statue of Liberty being taken over by water monsters, aliens and a dinosaur. There’s a picture of a lawn chair on its side with the caption “STAY INDOORS EVERYONE, HURRICANE SANDY IS NO JOKE.”
These photos are referencing the “earthquakes” of the East Coast, where people were freaking out over lawn chairs falling down. That first photo, though? I’m going to just speak on that for a second.
UC Davis class of 2016 has a Facebook group, as we all did when we submitted our Intent to Register. This class, however, decided to be ridiculous and post pictures of “Swaggies,” hashtagging “YOLO” and Photoshopping cats and Lieutenant John Pike into psychedelic colored backgrounds. This is what the internet people call “trolling,” in case you are behind on literally everything that was cool months ago.
Most people who have no sense of humor or any presence online have no idea why these Twitter accounts exist or why so many people think these crazy Photoshopped pictures are so hilarious. That’s what makes being an internet person so friggen fun.
And no, we’re not giving you permission to reference anything that’s on Tumblr in real life — not only are you revealing yourself as an internet geek but also making the rest of us hate you. If you’re a jokester online and can appreciate .gifs as much as the next blogger, you should know that you have to stay that way. Online.
I’m just glad that these ridiculous accounts exist, and that they aren’t too offensive for me to retweet or reference in real life. Personally, I respect those with an offensive sense of humor, but for the sake of my reputation, I’ll keep silently snorting as I scroll through Tumblr, at home.
Send offensive jokes to ELIZABETH ORPINA at arts@theaggie.org.
