Politics

Wikipedia SOPA/PIPA Blackout Tweets Reveal Humanity is Doomed

Watching the chaos unfold as an unwitting public awoke to many popular websites going on strike in protest of SOPA and PROTECT IP just made my day. Searching for tweets containing both the words “fuck” and “Wikipedia” was hilarious at first. I opened @whatthefuckwiki to curate the most hilarious results. But as the hours and hours of self-entitled teenage venting went on, my usually oh-so-optimistic faith in humanity started to wear thin.

What follows is an overview of the kind of reactions that sped through Twitter all day.

The initial shock was catastrophic:


http://twitter.com/JayohOWA/status/159521374317182977


http://twitter.com/cmykcolours/status/159521380067590144
http://twitter.com/CraayZee/status/159702854666424321
http://twitter.com/MEEJIIAA/status/159829797562884097
Some got specific with their calls for redress.
http://twitter.com/IceBrosKillZs/status/159516162667978754


http://twitter.com/GangstaBitchhh/status/159520252735143937


http://twitter.com/SaveRussianJews/status/159786084153303041
High School students with tests and homework weren’t the only ones to complain, though. Professional journalists and other office-dwellers resigned themselves to their Wiki-free fates:


http://twitter.com/reesieboi/status/159800405910487041
http://twitter.com/nadinevoncohen/status/159810237577179136
Blame went all around.

Some didn’t care about the issues and just needed their Wikipedia fix:


Some became aware of the issue thanks to Wikipedia, and voiced their new opposition to SOPA & PIPA:


http://twitter.com/502alcorn/status/159801286240374784


http://twitter.com/Hayden_Bouren/status/159604908826443776
http://twitter.com/ManiStaySmileyy/status/159740895921586176
Many thought the government actually blocked Wikipedia, or came up with other ideas out of thin air:


http://twitter.com/JordanHURose/status/159763670790963200
http://twitter.com/DREW_S95/status/159774160053207040
http://twitter.com/Ze0nite/status/159827571633172481


http://twitter.com/FlyQtheAnchor/status/159861843844800512
But, more than anything, this blackout shows just how lazy and unafraid of blatant plagiarism (or even cheating) many students are.


http://twitter.com/SratGirlStories/status/159534312851636224
http://twitter.com/DemiGangsta/status/159769951006240768

I need a drink.

2 comments Wikipedia SOPA/PIPA Blackout Tweets Reveal Humanity is Doomed

Emerson says:

This is just sad.

Were we really expecting something else?

In fairness, while helping to rally interest in the SF street protests I spoke to dozens of people who were not aware of SOPA, didn’t understand what was happening, and were very supportive of the strike and the protests. Even some publishers!

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