Trying Too Hard to be Funny

I spend a lot of time these days (too much time) on a web site called Digg. It’s one of those social networks in which you create an account, upload an avatar and start socializing by submitting and/or voting on stories found on the internet. On Digg, these “votes” are creatively called “Diggs”. The more Diggs a story gets, the more popular it is and thus moves higher and higher up the page until, if really popular, it reaches the “front page” where it is seen by the most people and receives even more Diggs. If a story does not meet your personal minimum standards, you can “Digg it down” by giving it a negative vote.

Members are also permitted to post personal comments in relation to each story. You can even comment on other comments! Each comment is then subjected to the same “voting” scrutiny as the stories themselves. If a comment parallels your views or is in some way amusing, you can Digg it up, if not, you can either ignore it, or if for some reason you want to bring the heat on someone, Digg it down.

I have the most fun posting comments and witnessing the public reaction. I have received as many as 526 positive Diggs for a humorous comment I made about license plates and got burned with 27 negative Diggs for a comment I made about the New England Patriots football team and my prediction that they would not make it to the Superbowl even after having an undefeated season—but, I kind of knew I’d get fried on that one.

What is completely humiliating, though, is when you think you are making a brilliantly hilarious comment only to get it Dugg down into oblivion. When this happens, I try not to be overly offended and attempt to figure out the reason it didn’t work. Take the recent comment I made to a story entitled, Whoa? Three Spocks in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek.

The story was an interview with Leonard Nimoy in which he revealed there would be not one, not two, but three Spocks in the new film. The multitude of Star Trek fans on Digg quickly Dugg the story up to the front page.

I made the following comment:

I saw three Spocks once. That’s how I learned you should never drink out of one of those Captain Kirk whiskey decanters if the seal has been broken.

Star Trek fans on Digg are not amused with comments like this when there is serious discussion going on about the extreme awesomeness of three total Spocks! My comment is currently sitting with 18 negative Diggs and counting.

Usually, well written humor transcends even the seriousness of Star Trek. So, I have to believe that my comment was not really that funny. Maybe if I punched it up a little with something like:

I saw three Spocks once. That’s how I learned you should never drink out of one of those Captain Kirk whiskey decanters if the seal has been broken and your roommate is a heroin addict.

I think this is mildly funnier, but I suspect it would not do much better than the original—in fact, some Trekkies might even be further offended.

After several hours of consideration, I believe I figured out the real reason none of this works: I was trying too hard to be funny. And, in a sea of serious Star Trek comments, like anywhere else, forced humor tanks. I now believe my best chance would’ve been to simply type:

I saw three Spocks once.

This works much better in the midst of other, more serious comments. It sits there, almost like a whisper, doesn’t try and command attention, and leaves the potentially hilarious reason I saw three Spocks up to the imaginations of the individual readers. Nothing is funnier than a person’s own idea of what is truly funny.

So, I’ll continue to try-out humorous lines on Digg, and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way. Maybe I’ll see some of your comments on there as well. Be sure and stop by my Digg profile and “friend” me. I “mutual friend” everyone.

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