5 ms·

If you want to destroy someone’s productivity for a day, link them to tvtropes.

by cirgue 4y ago

rzzzt 4y ago
Lampshaded in "Bert & Ernie Go to the Movies", where Big Bird receives a link to the website.
boomboomsubban 4y ago
I seem to be alone, but tvtropes never does this to me. I'll read something I find interesting there, but rarely do I find the links intriguing enough to continue. Clicking the wrong Wikipedia link can cause me to lose hours of my life, but never tvtropes. I feel like I'm missing some enthralling way to use the site. Maybe that's for the best.
- Vivtek 4y ago
  You're not alone.
howlin 4y ago
That this comment is in every discussion of TV tropes is a weird trope in and of itself.
- reilly3000 4y ago
  Do we owe this to that Minecraft welcome message? Or is fundamentally one of those self-fulfilling prophecies? .
  - codetrotter 4y ago
    No. This saying about TVTropes definitely exists outside of any influence that Minecraft may or may not have had.
  - fknorangesite 4y ago
    No; it was already an established meme. Minecraft got it from the wider culture, not the other way around.
- kibwen 4y ago
  Indeed, and here's the page for it: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWi...
citizenpaul 4y ago
Long term it saves time though. Once you start seeing how often TV/Movies lean on the cliches the site deconstructs it kind of ruins much of the mass produced low quality media these days. So you don't have to waste time watching them anymore.
- reilly3000 4y ago
  This! I've noticed my watching habits have waned to almost no mass produced (visual) media. I'm no paragon of self-control, its just distasteful and not my first choice. It's all been demographically motived, paced, tested, optimized formulas that maximize ROI. For me the there is vibrance online that doesn't exist on TV. Regrettably, a lot of that is happening on TikTok right now, where authoring is so easy, all barriers removed. You don't have to show your face or use your real voice, the trends feel fresh and organic. There are lots of new voices, and the unstructured AI topic and audience clustering has helped some otherwise impossible communities to emerge. Short form video is wildly engaging, especially as a variety show. Sure tropes emerge and trends get tired, but the sheer diversity of iterations and reactions feels like some raw genesis energy.
- vestrigi 4y ago
  But using tropes is not a bad thing in general, or what would you say? I think I kinda know what is low quality without looking at TV tropes beforehand.
  - WeylandYutani 4y ago
    Ofcourse not. Things become tropes for a reason. And it is next to impossible to be original as a writer. Everything has already been done at some point in the past 5000 years of recorded history.
CM30 4y ago
For a day? More like introduce them to TV Tropes and leave them addicted to the site for the rest of their life. If you're the kind of person who likes spotting patterns in works of fiction (like myself), you'll end up checking the site for every single of media you watch ever again, lol.
- MrVandemar 4y ago
  I introduced a friend to tvtropes while on IM. Later that day ... > That's an amazing site, but I'm going to have to go to sleep now. "Yeah it's fascinating isn't it. > Night. "Have you looked up 'Videodrome'?" ... > You bastard.
csdvrx 4y ago
It may take some time to explore the site, however I believe more in revealed preferences (here, the time spent) than in declared preferences ("omg my work is so important!") My hypothesis is understanding the social fabric we live in is of the utmost importance, so maybe spending a day (or more, personally I spent weeks on tvtropes!) means that we unconsciously realize that, since it's more important than immediate productivity. To say that differently, since we live a social life and interact with others, I think the long-term gains that come with a better understanding of the "common mental picture" allowing more fruitful interactions may be way more important than writing a few more lines of code.
Noumenon72 4y ago
In this instance, my journey ended up scrolling through all the Quora questions on the topic of Prince Valiant.

If you want to destroy someone’s productivity for a day, link them to tvtropes.

by cirgue 4y ago

If you want to destroy someone’s productivity for a day, link them to tvtropes.

rzzzt 4y ago

Lampshaded in "Bert & Ernie Go to the Movies", where Big Bird receives a link to the website.

boomboomsubban 4y ago

I seem to be alone, but tvtropes never does this to me. I'll read something I find interesting there, but rarely do I find the links intriguing enough to continue. Clicking the wrong Wikipedia link can cause me to lose hours of my life, but never tvtropes. I feel like I'm missing some enthralling way to use the site. Maybe that's for the best.

Vivtek 4y ago
You're not alone.

howlin 4y ago

That this comment is in every discussion of TV tropes is a weird trope in and of itself.

reilly3000 4y ago
Do we owe this to that Minecraft welcome message? Or is fundamentally one of those self-fulfilling prophecies? .
- codetrotter 4y ago
  No. This saying about TVTropes definitely exists outside of any influence that Minecraft may or may not have had.
- fknorangesite 4y ago
  No; it was already an established meme. Minecraft got it from the wider culture, not the other way around.
kibwen 4y ago
Indeed, and here's the page for it: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesWi...

citizenpaul 4y ago

Long term it saves time though. Once you start seeing how often TV/Movies lean on the cliches the site deconstructs it kind of ruins much of the mass produced low quality media these days. So you don't have to waste time watching them anymore.

reilly3000 4y ago
This! I've noticed my watching habits have waned to almost no mass produced (visual) media. I'm no paragon of self-control, its just distasteful and not my first choice. It's all been demographically motived, paced, tested, optimized formulas that maximize ROI. For me the there is vibrance online that doesn't exist on TV. Regrettably, a lot of that is happening on TikTok right now, where authoring is so easy, all barriers removed. You don't have to show your face or use your real voice, the trends feel fresh and organic. There are lots of new voices, and the unstructured AI topic and audience clustering has helped some otherwise impossible communities to emerge. Short form video is wildly engaging, especially as a variety show. Sure tropes emerge and trends get tired, but the sheer diversity of iterations and reactions feels like some raw genesis energy.
vestrigi 4y ago
But using tropes is not a bad thing in general, or what would you say? I think I kinda know what is low quality without looking at TV tropes beforehand.
- WeylandYutani 4y ago
  Ofcourse not. Things become tropes for a reason. And it is next to impossible to be original as a writer. Everything has already been done at some point in the past 5000 years of recorded history.

CM30 4y ago

For a day? More like introduce them to TV Tropes and leave them addicted to the site for the rest of their life. If you're the kind of person who likes spotting patterns in works of fiction (like myself), you'll end up checking the site for every single of media you watch ever again, lol.

MrVandemar 4y ago
I introduced a friend to tvtropes while on IM. Later that day ... > That's an amazing site, but I'm going to have to go to sleep now. "Yeah it's fascinating isn't it. > Night. "Have you looked up 'Videodrome'?" ... > You bastard.

csdvrx 4y ago

It may take some time to explore the site, however I believe more in revealed preferences (here, the time spent) than in declared preferences ("omg my work is so important!") My hypothesis is understanding the social fabric we live in is of the utmost importance, so maybe spending a day (or more, personally I spent weeks on tvtropes!) means that we unconsciously realize that, since it's more important than immediate productivity. To say that differently, since we live a social life and interact with others, I think the long-term gains that come with a better understanding of the "common mental picture" allowing more fruitful interactions may be way more important than writing a few more lines of code.

Noumenon72 4y ago

In this instance, my journey ended up scrolling through all the Quora questions on the topic of Prince Valiant.