(Article) Internet Litter

Internet Litter breeds as much as crushed coffee cups stuck to unused--albeit now filthy--paper napkins.

Litter begins innocently enough. Family (F) or friends (FF) send you an invite to the coolest, hippest, newest social space, expecting you'll be as excited by the trend as they. Or, more common, the sender receives 200 points / a black mug with saying / another coolie gift for signing up as many F or FF as they can in 5 hours or less.

Unsuspecting--or, many times just stupidly--the "invitee" just says "what the Hell" and clicks the registration link and so begins another case of Internet Litter.

Symptoms of Internet Litter

1/ You have one or more screen names/ User IDs floating on websites in which you have NO interest;
2/ You have signed up but no longer remember the websites;
3/ You receive mail from websites but no longer remember WHY;
4/ You feel too embarrassed to opt out, lest one of your friends finds out.


It must be done

The only ways to stop Internet Littering require COURAGE, bold faced, gut-wrenching bravery. Open that mailbox and search for old emails from now-forgotten (they never were so memorable) webs. Get the URL and visit ONLY to find the links to CLOSE THIS ACCOUNT. If you can't find a link, write to Customer Service and tell them to close it ALL. Ahhh, but they offer pink PJs with 50,000 points--so what! Who cares! Can the site! Lose it. Get away. There's something better for you...just waiting... get out NOW!

Second, you must make a NO PLEDGE. The next time you get an invite, just say NO. No, no, no, no, NO! It doesn't matter that the site offers 5,999,899,999 zillion bytes of photo space-- say NO. It doesn't matter if they promise to find the Alien who birthed your 5th great grandmother--just say it, NO, no, no. None of it matters.

You must streamline. You must end this Internet madness. Try it.

No.
No, no.
No, no, no.
No, no, no, no........ it gets so easy! Such freedom!

If you think I am insane, do a search on Google for the UserID you use the most. Uh huh, I bet you never realized how much you litter.

Now, search (manually) the Cookies on your PC. See all those places you signed into that, now, you don't even remember!! Yes, it's bad, very bad. It's an illness, a plague. Take your life back--NOW. Swear to end Internet Litter! You'll be so proud.