Anonymity + audience = ? February 3, 2010 7:33 PM   Subscribe

Looking for an oft-linked cartoon. Maybe?

I'm looking for a web cartoon panel I want to send to a friend. She's the web editor of a local alt weekly and as such she has to deal with dozens of shitty comments from anonymous readers every day, and it's starting to wear her down.

But I only remember the cartoon vaguely. (I think it's a cartoon.) It is some kind of equation along the lines of anonymity+audience=asshole. It's been linked a lot in the blue. Halp?
posted by Brittanie to MetaFilter-Related at 7:33 PM (22 comments total)

this
posted by exogenous at 7:36 PM on February 3, 2010 [2 favorites]


The Greater Internet Dickwad Theory?
posted by Adam_S at 7:36 PM on February 3, 2010


Fine, exogenous, be a shitcock about it.
posted by Adam_S at 7:37 PM on February 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


I think this is the droid you're looking for.
posted by slogger at 7:38 PM on February 3, 2010


And it's fuckwad. FUCKWAD.
posted by hangashore at 7:38 PM on February 3, 2010


Excellent, thanks. This will really make her day.
posted by Brittanie at 7:38 PM on February 3, 2010


Listed, hangashore, don't you be a shitcock too.

Ha, I knew I'd seen dickwad somewhere
posted by Adam_S at 7:40 PM on February 3, 2010


Yeah, but I'd be more worried about the gaywads and dorkwads.
posted by hangashore at 7:42 PM on February 3, 2010


On an unrelated note, are you as astounded as I am to discover that this is the first-ever use of the assholes tag in MeTa?
posted by hangashore at 7:47 PM on February 3, 2010 [3 favorites]


Asshole (singular) has only been used twice. There's a joke there somewhere.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:52 PM on February 3, 2010


Metafilter: first-ever use of assholes
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:12 PM on February 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


Given they both refer to the same concept, which came first: the Dickwad or the Fuckwad?
posted by Nabubrush at 8:20 PM on February 3, 2010


Here's your gaywad.
posted by marxchivist at 8:30 PM on February 3, 2010


Given they both refer to the same concept, which came first: the Dickwad or the Fuckwad?

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/

http://tcritic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/greaterdickwad.jpg
posted by zamboni at 9:02 PM on February 3, 2010


Did someone say shitcock ?
posted by Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory at 9:03 PM on February 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


Given they both refer to the same concept, which came first: the Dickwad or the Fuckwad?

OED cites dickwad to 1989, fuckwad to 1974. That's not conclusive, but it is certainly pretty fucking delightful.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:07 PM on February 3, 2010 [7 favorites]


zamboni, cortex - your assistance is much appreciated.
posted by Nabubrush at 9:09 PM on February 3, 2010


I'm going to go ahead and close this up.
posted by Effigy2000 at 9:35 PM on February 3, 2010


If anyone, for some unknown reason, wants to cite this idea in a polite academic fashion, you can call it the Online Disinhibition Effect (Wikipedia).
posted by dreamyshade at 10:30 PM on February 3, 2010 [2 favorites]


fuckwad to 1974.

What's particularly interesting about that is that it took three full years after I was born and the phrase was therefore coined for them to put it in OED.

I guess they were waiting to see if I would get better and it wouldn't be needed anymore.
posted by quin at 7:52 AM on February 4, 2010


"wad" is such a funny sounding word. Wad. Wad.
posted by jabberjaw at 8:53 AM on February 4, 2010


Somewhat related and also amusing, this xkcd cartoon.
posted by booksherpa at 5:29 PM on February 4, 2010


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