By Danny Deza
I can’t stand slow drivers or that annoying guy in my political science class who can’t seem to get enough of his own voice. I hate bad dates and Wal-Mart is the pits.
I could continue, but I’ll tell you right now: I like to complain, and venting tends to be my only solution. From bad quiz grades to a runny nose, my friends and family are the first to get an earful of my sorrows.
With the Internet’s prominent role in everyday life, it’s becoming an outlet for the Negative Nancy who resides in all of us. Complaining has morphed into a new form and has created an online boom that gives individuals the empowerment they need to vent about other people’s bad behaviors.
E-tattling has swept through the Internet and is ready to devote its services to an array of problems people face on a regular basis. If you want to give the virtual finger to bad drivers on PlateWire.com, for example, the freedom is yours. E-tattling is becoming a new social trend because it is easily available at the comfort of your own keyboard.
Ask user “Sugabum” on DontDateHimGirl.com. The website is “a powerful online resource for women and men seeking counsel and community about love, sex, dating, relationships and marriage,” according to its About Us section. But really, it seems like a place for people to vent.
Sugabum’s dilemma is her “momma’s boy” fianc’eacute; who doesn’t seem to leave his mother’s side. Her fianc’eacute; asked her to begin planning a wedding, but put on the brakes when he couldn’t keep up with his mother’s bills. Now Sugabum worries about their financial future together.
“Please help me,” she writes. “His mother doesn’t have a job that pays much and I wonder if it will continue when it’s time for her to retire. How will she have retirement money if she never had it??? Humppph.”
While some people are annoyed, others are just plain angry. Complainers have become society’s watchdogs and are fighting back via the Internet. The Vancouver Sun reported about fed up people using blogs or photosharing websites to vent concerns about a South Carolina Wal-Mart. Some used the picture hosting website Flickr to expose the corporation’s nasty conditions, which are now being investigated.
Even kids are joining the e-tattle craze. AnComm Communications has created a new software program called “Talk About It” that will allow kids to tattle on their classmates through the Internet. Students will be able to send complaints to teachers and administrators through the system.
This new program has been implemented in more than 120 elementary, middle and high school across the country. “Talk About It” hopes to lower the risk of adolescent suicide, gangs, bullying and threats of violence.
But what happens when the power is in the wrong hands? Complaining anonymously can lead to abuse that has no limits and lacks any consequences, quickly turning people with legitimate concerns into a bunch of Bitter Betty’s.
Privacy is at risk with e-tattling; with postings being so anonymous it creates a forum for malice, only leading to a baseless tirade that could cause legal problems. After the Patriots lost the Superbowl, an anti-fan in Hawaii made headlines when he publicly bashed them to bits. One loyal Pats fan took his retaliation too far, posting the Hawaiian’s full name, address and phone number on a well-known Boston website. Site administrators had to act fast to take down the posting, or be held liable for the dangerous information.
Ranting and raving has been on everyone’s list of favorite past times. With the rise of blogger Perez Hilton and countless websites catering to the disgruntled needs of the common citizen, the definition of complaining is still unclear.
You might call it bitching or being overcritical, but complaining is a useful tool to let off some steam. Whether originating at the gym or on the washroom wall, it is evolving, and the Internet is the next step in the process.
– Danny Deza can be reached at
