Risky Clicks and Woolly Words.

I clicked a ‘dislike’ on a YouTube track tonight. That’s a risky thing to do, since it’s rumoured that the backroom boys at Google are keeping a list of all who dare express a negative opinion. And they’ve raised an army from the ranks of the infamous YouTube orcs, to be held in readiness in case any such detractor also makes a public statement about Google which might be deemed to be pejorative. If you get yourself on both lists, the orcs will track you down and eat your legs.

And I see that we now have a new verb gracing the English language, courtesy of YouTube and social networking sites: to unlike. No doubt the schools curriculum will soon include instruction on the difference between ‘unlike’ and ‘dislike,’ just as it currently does on the difference between ‘uninterested’ and ‘disinterested.’ The effort will probably meet with a similar level of success, especially among journalists.

I’m not in the mood for communicating at the moment, as you might have surmised from the unpolished nature of this missive. It’s just that I’m on thirteen posts this month and I’m superstitious.