Okay. So one of the first things you discover w…

Okay.

So one of the first things you discover when you first set up a blogger journal is that, well… you aren’t the first kid on the block to have one. Everyone else is already there ahead of you and you instantly become part of a little niche community on the web dedicated to baring your heart, soul or dirty laundry where the world can see it.

Each of these little subcultures has their own little quirks and amusements. Take for example the myriad of mini-polls and quizzes that are created specifically for and by people who use bloggers.

Show all of your friends!: “Which Great Roman Emperor are you?”; “Which Serial Killer are you most like?”; “Which member of the Partridge Family is your long, lost twin?”; Etc., etc., yadda yadda yadda, ad infinitum.

Now this isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. I mean c’mon, some of them are pretty humourous, especially if you pick ones that interest you. I’ve found out that I’m most like:

Lucas from the movie Empire Records

I Am Lucas. Damn The Man!
Take the Which Empire Records Character are You? Quiz.

The disease Rabies

I am Rabies. Grrrrrrrr!
Take the Affliction Test Today!

A Gauntlet Adventurer

What Video Game Character Are You? I am a Gauntlet Adventurer.
Which Pre’85 Video Game Character Are You?

As I said, useless, diversionary fun for one and all despite being highly inaccurate at times. But hey it’s better than surfing p0rn all night long. What gets me though, is when bloody marketing companies clue into the fact that “Hey, there’s a demographic/niche marketplace that we haven’t exploited yet.” and summarily proceed to annoy the piss out of people like me by creating an alluring little quiz much in the vein of those posted above but with one small catch… To find out the answer to the quiz you have to submit your e-mail address so as they can mail it to you (and also put your address on yet another listbot spam server).

Here’s a tame example of such a quiz (trust me there are worse out there, though I couldn’t be bothered to find one at the writing of this). Overall, it is a decent and fun quiz but it dissapoints in the end.

Which Lord Of The Rings Character are you?
Which Lord Of The Rings Character are you?

I’m all for fun and games but I’ll gladly set it aside if there is a way to avoid coming in contact with more spam. I mean how many people actually believe in the “Make $1,000,000 in the comfort of your own home!” email? I certainly don’t, but apparently some friggin’ spam-daemon mail bot says I do.

But enough. I’ll let you go play with the quizzes and I’ll just carry on ranting in the corner.

And if anyone cares…

I was Gandalf.