Turn Loose the iPerts
Living in the “i” World as we are, I have decided we need to add a vocabulary word: “iPert.”
The definition should be essentially self-discovered: “Those people who declare themselves experts on subject matter due to the use of Internet search engines to support their self-proclamation of the truth of their statements; written, spoken, or electronic in form.”
The horrible news of the Virginia Tech shootings will bring the iPerts out in many forms. I’m not saying that everyone with an opinion should be labeled one of these creatures, but some should be and their conclusions or forthright statements be taken with a grain of iSalt. In some cases, it makes sense to correct their perceived understanding with real expertise.
I predict the iPerts will come in large numbers, calling to paper over this situation with more legal dictates, which, as the standing “gun free zone” ordinance, will mostly be ignored by those wishing harm on society. That statement provides a springboard for discussion on the excessive creation of paper pulp to allow law makers to justify their paychecks, now and in the future. I’ll leave that for another day, most likely for a posting at The Wide Awakes.
iPerts are not a new phenomena, but the concept of them just came to me, helping to me grasp how the massive amounts of information on the Internet is there, yet many times, such as in the case of conspiracy theory supporters like the “9/11 Truthers,” there is so much information on a subject that just scanning a few web pages on what ever came back from the query, cannot adequately prepare you to be an “expert” in any one area.
Anyhow, feel free to propagate the use of “iPert,” and the plural form “iPerts” as it may fit your discussions. Consider, when you are the on station iPert, to identify yourself as such, proudly proclaiming your knowledge of the subject matter is merely based on scanning the first few pages you found via a web search engine.
In the meantime, pray for those who will personally suffer from the events of yesterday.
Categories: Public Service