Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[RealAlHazred]

I'm not sure if everyone else is like this, but I've noticed something about myself.

The more hype I hear from my friends and neighbors about something, the more likely I am to try it--but only to a point. Past a certain point, I mentally check out and all the positive mentions in all the world won't bring me back. Even if I'm initially intrigued by it (the Game of Thrones TV series, for example) and it contains numerous elements that I like (dragons, magic, swords, court intrigue, Emilia Clarke), my interest will only handle so many people telling me how great it is. It's not a very high number either--it's like, twelve.

1 mention: I'm curious about it.
2-3 mentions: I'm interested in it.
4-5 mentions: I'm on board. Let's watch it next weekend!
6-7 mentions: Look, I said I was on board already.
8-9 mentions: C'mon, I said I'll watch it as soon as I can.
10-11 mentions: Seriously, you need to shut up about this.
12+ mentions: You lost me, I'll never be interested in it again.

It's been over a decade and I've only ever watched the first two episodes of Game of Thrones. It was...fine. It's not that it didn't measure up to the hype, it's not like it didn't meet my expectations, it's just that I was already saturated with it before I started. It felt like showing up at the gym when I'm already tired: it's not the gym's fault.

Given the success of the show (and other pop culture elements like it), I think this is a "me" problem. Or at least my friends seem to think it's a problem; it disturbs them far more than it does me.

Anyway. Am I the only one?

I am, by nature, suspicious and paranoid. I do not trust anyone who announces anything -- they all have an agenda. The more people hype, the more I'm convinced it's going to be a dog. I have zero expectations for products to start with; that way, I find I can approach it more honestly, and when something is actually good it's a pleasant surprise.

1 mention: I'm curious about it.
2-3 mentions: I start to question my curiosity in it.
4-5 mentions: I'm pretty sure people have been drinking the Kool Aid.
6-7 mentions: The contrarian in me starts to push against giving it a try at all.
8-9 mentions: I start to get tired of the constant hype.
10-11 mentions: Seriously, you need to shut up about this.
12+ mentions: You lost me, I'll never be interested in it again.

I like finding "hidden gems" and I'm amused when anybody says, "<product everyone has heard of, that is widely advertised> is a hidden gem! Highly underrated!" If everyone has heard of it, it's not "hidden." Let the quality speak for itself; I kind of assume that "hype" is the substitute many people use when the product they're pushing lacks quality.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm similar about the hype train but for different reasons. The first 1-6 mentions I'm curious, between 7-9 I begin to doubt if anything could be that good, and after 10+ literally nothing could live up to the hype so I don't bother as it will inevitably be a let down.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Not worth it's own thread.

I recently watched a show that was ... well, it was such a great concept that I have to recommend it.

Interior Chinatown on Hulu. I had some critical notes (there were a few things it could have done better) but overall? The parts of overall brilliance more than made up for the parts they could have improved. Also? While the "meta" part is what sells the show, it's also got a really important, and much more relevant, theme running through it.

Highly recommend.

 

[payn]

Not worth it's own thread.

I recently watched a show that was ... well, it was such a great concept that I have to recommend it.

Interior Chinatown on Hulu. I had some critical notes (there were a few things it could have done better) but overall? The parts of overall brilliance more than made up for the parts they could have improved. Also? While the "meta" part is what sells the show, it's also got a really important, and much more relevant, theme running through it.

Highly recommend.

I was so hoping you were making this up as a joke about all the recent rage on "mentions". You'd have half of EN World convinced something that doesnt exist, does exists, and they will never figure out it doesn't as they will never look into it.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I was so hoping you were making this up as a joke about all the recent rage on "mentions". You'd have half of EN World convinced something that doesnt exist, does exists, and they will never figure out it doesn't as they will never look into it.

What? Me? LIE??? I would never!

85% of what I write is guaranteed to be 63% true.

At least half the time.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I do not trust anyone who announces anything -- they all have an agenda.

I would like to announce that I'm having In-N-Out for lunch today.

My agenda is that Double Doubles are delicious.

 

[RealAlHazred]

What? Me? LIE??? I would never!

85% of what I write is guaranteed to be 63% true.

At least half the time.

I am not an expert on statistics, but I know that million-to-one-shots succeed fifty percent of the time.

 

[RealAlHazred]

I would like to announce that I'm having In-N-Out for lunch today.

My agenda is that Double Doubles are delicious.

I have heard so much In-N-Out hype, I am never to make the commute just to try it. There are none around here, so it's not much of a sacrifice to say I'm not going to have it...

 

[CleverNickName]

I have heard so much In-N-Out hype, I am never to make the commute just to try it. There are none around here, so it's not much of a sacrifice to say I'm not going to have it...

I ate at an In-N-Out years ago, in the 1980s. We were on a family vacation, I was a teenager, and we had ended up somewhere in southern California. Anyway, I had never heard of them before, so I went in with zero expectations. And I remember the food was rather ordinary. It wasn't bad, it was just a typical fast-food burger, with the typical condiments, served with the typical fountain drink and soda. They served the same burger we had eaten a dozen times from a dozen other places.

Fast-forward 20 years, I'm back in California on a construction project and I stop at another In-N-Out for lunch. It tasted exactly the same as I remember (which is to say, exactly like every other fast-food burger I've eaten in the years since.) Which is fine.

For me, Sonic Drive-In is the best fast food burger joint, and all others tie for last place.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

For me, Sonic Drive-In is the best fast food burger joint, and all others tie for last place.

Holy crap. I find their food to be inedible.

Their drinks are amazing, but their food feels like they're actually a front for selling drugs under the counter or something.