FIRST!
First is a word I have read many many times in my life. Most of them, it seems, have been while trolling along the blogsphere. It seems like every popular, or even semi-popular blogs seem to always have someone make the comment someplace near the top of the comments section. This is almost always followed by at least 5-50 others doing the same, in hopes that they might have that glorious spot atop the comments list. Why? I can’t answer that. I, and many others like me, find it annoying as hell. I mean, sure, like any other “cool” thing, the first person ever to do it was probably a blogsphere rockstar for at least .23568945 seconds (which, in interwebz time, is a very long time).
So, I got to thinking. Who was the actual first person to say “first” on a blog comment? And, what semi-obscure blog was it? I want to meet this person, I want to know what exactly was going through their mind when they said it. What compelled them to simply put that single word into the comments section of a blog? Do they realize what they started? I mean, it’s kinda like being Kevin Rose. He founded the incredibly popular DIGG along with a few other things that have all turned to gold. There is a MAJOR difference here though. He did it RIGHT. And, he made a shit load of money doing it! Not only that, but, his creation (and this is where the similarity comes in) has spawned quite a few knock offs. I won’t do a list, but, I’m sure you’ve seen them.
I can understand where someone, and something like Kevin and Digg come about, and stay popular, however, this whole First! (can’t forget the exclamation point) thing, really just baffles me. I mean, not only is it an odd looking word, but, who really cares who gets the first comment? I surely do not. Unless it is something extremely poignant, and meaningful. What do you think the worlds reaction would have been if Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon, and instead of giving his now famous “One small step” speech, simply said “First!”. Or how about if Augustus upon rising to the throne of power as the first emperor of Rome simply said “First!” and never did anything beyond that. Think about how much the world would have changed…
So, now that I’ve vented a little bit, I leave you with an actual list of firsts. Ones that actually matter, and have significance in the real world. And, please, if you are one of the people out there that read blogs, follow blogs, or pretty much anything else, don’t ever say “First!” in any form of comments, you simply look like an idiot follower.
