Snark Gulls

Back in the days that I worked in grocery stores, we had a name for high-level managers who would make the rounds of the stores in their regions - Sea Gulls. They tended to swoop in, point out everything that was wrong (S#!* on you), and fly away.

Today, it would appear, the Sea Gull has been replaced with the Snark Gull and they are EVERYWHERE!

Maybe it started with "Said no one ever". Remember that? It was a huge phase for a while. Though not used as frequently now, it is still in use to convey a snarky attitude towards an activity, object, group of people, etc.  So what is a Snark Gull, you ask? They fly in on social media sites, snark on something, and fly away. People go about their day doing what they do best - posting (usually mundane) posts. Poor unsuspecting users. And then SNARK!

Let's take the folks who use apps like Nike Running, Map My Ride, & Strava. Perhaps it is because these apps haven't been around as long as the likes of instagram or perhaps it is because these apps depict the user as an active person, or perhaps it is just because, but post an update from one of these apps and SNARK! here comes a Snark Gull to let you know know that they don't care how far you have run, biked, hiked, walked, whatever (and typically adding that no one else does either), and then they are gone. No response to comments, DM's, @'s, or the like. They came, they snarked, they left.

Now why does no one snark on instagram, I wonder? Is it because instagram posts pictures and pictures are the very fabric of social media (along with status updates)? Isn't an app post a status update?

Personally I think it is part of a bigger problem - the "look at me, I'm hip, I'm cool, I'm snarky, I'm a mean person" syndrome. The race to get to the top of the snark pile. The "look good by putting others down" mentality that we labor under. Isn't it time we stopped snarking and started treating our fellow human beings the way that we want to be treated? As with every phase, snarking will be gone sooner or later. Let's hope sooner. My response to the snark: Map My Yardwork - and like it!

(Insert SNARK! below - in the comments section).