On Thu, 3 Dec 1998, Robert McTaggart wrote:
> 
> Hola,
> 
> Keith, I second that emotion.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't
> strangely compelled to follow its progress, but isn't the list crush
> thing spiralling ever more out of control?  Oh sure, it's a good
> laugh, but it's also a sure-fire way of inflating inflatable egos,
> inspiring desperate "notice me" posts, and giving the more insecure an
> inferiority complex.  And I seriously doubt that anyone's got a shag
> out of it.  So what's the point, other than a popularity competition?

The whole point of the list crush site was that it should be a good laugh.
People seem to enjoy it, so that makes it worthwhile in my book. It is
certainly not intended to be a popularity contest. And I hope people's
egos will be kept in check when they realise that they're behind Rod 
Begbie...

Besides, all the best people are on no votes, right?

Sure, it's possible to cheat if you really want to put the effort in, but
what's the point? It's not as if you're going to get more people to like
you just because you've got a lot of votes, and you'd appear to be taking
it all far too seriously. It's kind of like cheating in the Mum and Dads'
race at school sports day.

As for people sending 'notice me' posts, firstly I think that having the
site there permanently rather than having an email vote every now and then
should reduce the number of those; and secondly if someone says something
entertaining just to be noticed, then that's still a good thing, as we've
all been entertained. I reckon if people only posted things which they
thought would get them crush votes the list would probably get more
entertaining than it has been recently.

>From the votes I've seen people getting, here is my guide to getting crush
votes:
1. Be funny.
2. Be smutty.
3. Tell us about your life, not just which bands you listen to which noone
else has heard of.
4. Follow the instructions in the Sinister FAQ.
5. Know Keith.

I'd say that if everyone follows those we'll all be back to being happy
bunnies again...

Big Stu

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