You may remember Wil Wheaton fondly as Gordie in the sublime Stand By Me, or somewhat less fondly as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. But it's been over ten years since he left the Enterprise, and today Wheaton is a minor celebrity in the blogosphere thanks to his pioneering web log. That's "pioneering" as in "one of the first." He's got a lot of readers-- not just because of his fame (although I'm sure that doesn't hurt), but because he writes with a strong personal voice and has interesting stuff to say. Nevertheless, don't underestimate the fanboy/girl factor. I submit this for your consideration-- an entry, quoted in its entirety, titled "garrgh":
I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me, but I can't write. I've started and stopped so many times this morning, I lost count.I want to write. I need to write, but I can't get my words to work. I've grown so frustrated, I want to scream.
I mean, it took me several minutes just to write that, for fuck's sake.
That little entry generated 105 comments.
105!
Now I want to scream.
Posted by Peter at October 28, 2003 12:24 AMI'm sure we could find you some groupies if we work at it...
Posted by: Dan Blum on October 28, 2003 7:28 AMTry
Posted by: Kenny on October 28, 2003 8:11 AMMore
Posted by: Kenny on October 28, 2003 8:12 AMExpletives!
Posted by: Kenny on October 28, 2003 8:13 AMMany blog writers are afflicted with Wheaton Envy. Don't let it bother you.
Posted by: Scott Hardie on October 28, 2003 12:01 PMPeter - Something's wrong with your site. The other 98 comments that were JUST HERE A MOMENT AGO seem to have disappeared. Must be a javascript error or something.
As for WWdN, I gotta say: As a former die-hard member of the I-Hate-Wesley Anti-Fan Club, I'm impressed. There should be a category for people like him: people who actually do decent stuff -with much less acclaim- after the work they became known for is completely over (and usually ridiculed). Sort of a has-been-but-now-is-better. Examples would include, say, Jimmy Carter and hm... any help here?
Posted by: DugSteen on October 28, 2003 12:04 PMPeter - when you become the poster child for little geek boys and girls on a major television show aimed at primarily a geek audience, then we'll work on getting you some fanboys at your website. I'm thinking we just need to create a new sci-fi spin-off series of your own, "Battlestar Gallactica: Cylon And On". You'll be the hip and superintelligent Puzzlemaster Pete, Starbuck's nephew, who finds a way to make the baddies explode by giving them impossible riddles to solve. We can use cgi to make you look like a teenager again. It'll be great!
-Dr. Publicity
Posted by: Nate Beeler on October 28, 2003 12:51 PMMost of you seem to be missing my point, which is not that I want groupies or am envious of Mr. Wheaton.
Some friends recently discussed how fame breeds success. People who've made a name for themselves in one endeavor have an easier time becoming successful in another.
I have no problem with Wheaton having lots of readers who comment on his writing. But 105 people commenting on his writer's block? Come on! Even if I were inclined to say something, I'd think better of it upon seeing that just a couple dozen others beat me to the platitudes. What can you possibly add at that point that hasn't already been said? I'd expect (perhaps wrongly) most people to think the same way. But when you add the fanboy/girl quotient, all bets are off. "Just relax, Wil!" "Go to Hooters! I'm so clever for posting on your blog." "By reassuring you I'm maintaining my fantasy of having a personal relationship with you."
Who in their right mind would WANT groupies?
Posted by: Peter Sarrett on October 28, 2003 1:44 PMJust making a joke, Peter. I have, however, noticed a tendency for popular weblogs (by tv stars or otherwise) to have a number of pointless comments after each entry. People quote a funny phrase from the entry and say "Hahaha! Brilliant!" and that sort of thing. As a result, the higher the number of comments after an entry, the less likely I am to bother reading them. That's a shame, because sometimes, really interesting conversations develop... well, really interesting conversations that are occasionally punctuating by "Hooters? Hahaha! Brilliant!"
Posted by: Scott Hardie on October 28, 2003 2:38 PMPeter - I have a javascript HTML file that opens up the eight sites I check daily, one of which is gamereport.com (another is BGG). Whenever the staticzombie subject is updated, I check it. Occasionally I'm even interested. :-)
Posted by: Harlan on October 28, 2003 4:45 PMDon't know if this'll make you feel any better (although it'll get your comment rate up) but my friends and I used to play a drinking game while watching STNG. Every time someone said, "shut up, wesley", we'd chug a lug. Explains why I liked that show so much...
Posted by: ranger on October 29, 2003 7:07 AM