1761: Blame - Revision history

172.69.79.130: empty section removed

2024-03-04T13:36:06Z

empty section removed

Lettherebedarklight: feel free to revert if you disagree with me; nothing in this comic explicitly references the 2016 election, and my first impression of it saw nothing to do with politics. also, conciseness.

2022-05-23T14:17:13Z

feel free to revert if you disagree with me; nothing in this comic explicitly references the 2016 election, and my first impression of it saw nothing to do with politics. also, conciseness.

Lettherebedarklight at 09:25, 22 May 2022

2022-05-22T09:25:04Z

Lettherebedarklight: /* Transcript */ adding [desciptions] to each panel

2022-05-22T09:17:20Z

‎Transcript: adding [desciptions] to each panel

Theusaf: Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

2022-05-11T18:46:57Z

Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

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👖🔥 at 17:31, 11 May 2022

2022-05-11T17:31:17Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T21:17:53Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 21:14, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T21:14:46Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T20:56:11Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:46, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T20:46:25Z

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@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 :[Close-up of Cueball's head.]
 :Cueball (thinking): ''My friends on Facebook.''
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ==Explanation==
 Cueball is blaming his "friends on {{w|Facebook}}" for "bad things [that] are happening".
 People often rant on {{w|social media}} sites (like Facebook) about various things which are blamed on certain people (or sometimes <small>usually</small> everyone), but the person doing the ranting never thinks that the problem might be with themselves.
-Less than two weeks before the release of this comic, the recent 2016 {{w|United States presidential election}} had just taken place. An individual's Facebook news feed would have probably been flooded by political posts due to this.
+While there could be possible reasons for bad events (for example if the bad event was nobody wishing him a happy birthday or someone posting compromising pictures), his friends would not be a likely source for bad events extending beyond a personal or local scope. Most people have a few hundred (or thousand) "friends" on Facebook, most of whom do not have enough influence to cause bad events on a national or global level.{{Citation needed}}
-The title text refers to people venting. The (humorous) assumption here is that one will feel better after doing so. While some amount of venting might help to relieve stress caused by bad events, alienating people you know by blaming them for bad events usually causes more stress in the long run.  (See above explanation about how blaming ideological allies can become a vicious circle.) The fact that he recognizes his friends are scared, like him, but still thinks yelling at them is a good idea shows he's more interested in making himself feel better rather than caring about the well being on his friends.  Additionally, "yelling" on social media would likely only increase the influx of:
+The title text refers to people venting. The humorous assumption here is that one will feel better after doing so. While some amount of venting might help to relieve stress caused by bad events, alienating people you know by blaming them for bad events usually causes more stress in the long run.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Cueball]] states that he feels sad and links it with his observation that bad things are happening. Sadness is a normal human reaction to perceived bad events<ref>http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/dlp/depression-information/causes-of-depression/</ref>. (Other emotions that might be felt at such times include anger and guilt.)
+Cueball is blaming his "friends on {{w|Facebook}}" for "bad things [that] are happening".
-After some thinking, he has an idea. Ideas are usually the result of thinking (unless they are a result of {{w|computers}}{{Citation needed}}), although it might not always be conscious thinking like Cueball is doing.
+While there could be possible reasons for bad events (for example if the bad event was nobody wishing him a happy birthday or someone posting compromising pictures), his friends would not be a likely source for bad events extending beyond a personal or local scope. Most people have a few hundred (or thousand) "friends" on Facebook, most of whom do not have enough influence to cause bad events on a national or global level.{{Citation needed}}
-He then blames his "friends on {{w|Facebook}}", a social media website and app, for connecting with and talking to friends and family. While there could be possible reasons for bad events (for example if the bad event was nobody wishing him a happy birthday or someone posting compromising pictures,) his friends would not be a likely source for bad events extending beyond a personal or local scope. Most people have a few hundred (or thousand) "friends" on Facebook, most of whom do not have enough influence to cause bad events on a national or global level.{{Citation needed}}
+People often rant on {{w|social media}} sites (like Facebook) about various things which are blamed on certain people (or sometimes <small>usually</small> everyone), but the person doing the ranting never thinks that the problem might be with themselves.
-This is a reference to people ranting on {{w|social media}} sites (like Facebook) about various things which are blamed on certain people (or sometimes everyone), but the person doing the ranting never thinks that the problem might be with themselves.
+Less than two weeks before the release of this comic, the recent 2016 {{w|United States presidential election}} had just taken place. An individual's Facebook news feed would have probably been flooded by political posts due to this.
 One read on this is that, many people, including [http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/07/24/486941582/the-reason-your-feed-became-an-echo-chamber-and-what-to-do-about-it some news sources], have pointed out that social media forms an "echo chamber", and some sources have claimed that this is responsible both for political polarization (see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc&t=2s this video]) and even for [http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-president-social-media-echo-chamber-hypernormalisation-adam-curtis-protests-blame-a7409481.html the recent victory] of Donald Trump in spite of Randall's endorsement of Hillary. Therefore, blaming social media for the election can be read as blaming his friends echoing his ideas back to him as causing (partially) Clinton's loss; thus they are (partially) at fault for his presumed sadness over her loss in the election.  A second read on this would be that constant reminders of Clinton's loss only serve to make Randall sadder: again the proximal cause being his friends' posts.  A third read would be that friends with whom Cueball/Randall disagrees are posting things that he finds unpleasant to read, either ideas that he finds offensive or inconvenient, or posts "rubbing in" the victory of the candidate Randall opposed.

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 ==Transcript==
 :Cueball (thinking): I feel sad.
-:Bad things are happening.
+:Cueball (thinking): Bad things are happening.
 :Cueball (thinking): They must be someone's fault.
-:But whose?
+:Cueball (thinking): But whose?
-:[Cueball makes several thinking poses before a light bulb appears, indicating he has an idea]
+:[Cueball makes several thinking poses before a light bulb appears over his head.]
 :Cueball (thinking): ''My friends on Facebook.''