Attention whores and their audiences

I can, right this second, name at least ten attention whores. Some are people I know, and others are those celebrity types whose names have become synonymous with whoredom in several senses of the word.

Either way, I'm sick of it.

Now, I realize the fact that I'm sharing this irritation on my own, personal, self-indulgent blog does allow a certain level of irony to taint my message, but I don't care.

But here's the thing--it's not the "news sharing" that bothers me. It's not the new jobs, or the status updates about relationships, or the "here's how my day is going" posts. Truely, it's not. In fact, I've been able to get back in touch with a number of old friends and I really enjoy knowing what they're doing. Where the problem comes, though, is the motive.

Exhibit A:
Girl is having a terrible day and announces it on Facebook. Girl doesn't really want you to know she's having a terrible day. Girl is an attention whore and is certain that by telling the world she's having a terrible day that millions of "awww, so sorry" comments will roll in, thereby feeding her whoredom. And, they are.

Exhibit B:
Guy updates a new job and a new relationship on Facebook. Guy is involved in a completely salacious relationship in the workplace. Guy doesn't need to post WHO the relationship is with, but he does because he's insecure and needs the world to know that he's in a relationship. Same with the job. He's dancing around (virtually) singing "Look at me, look at me, I have a great new job and a great new girlfriend and my life is sooooo incredibly awesome! Please tell me how incredibly awesome my life is!! Please!! Please?"

I've decided that the best--nay, the ONLY--way to deal with these whores is to ignore them. Block them, defriend them...take away the fuel for their fires. The trouble is, there are far too many attention whores out there in the world, and I'm only one person...