Do you remember back in the day, when we told each other everything and social media didn’t exist? When our journals were public and no one knew where to look for them? Where entries were frequent, and long, and we read them?

Do you remember how we used to write, before the limitations of status updates and 140 characters? Do you remember when we were younger and sharing wasn’t so scary? When the Internet wasn’t somewhere your boss would look for you? And the Internet was a different place entirely, separate from the Real World? Do you remember how free it felt? Do you remember finding each other, complete strangers, and creating bonds that by now have lasted 5, 10, 12 years?

Do you remember when it was all new and exciting? It’s not that Internet any longer. It’s information overload and comments – comments everywhere that make me lose faith in humanity’s ability to not only comprehend the written word, but more importantly the lack of empathy leaves me cold and worried. The Internet – which I loved for the joy and adventure we shared, more than ever it’s gut reaction and taking great pleasure in condemning complete strangers who may have made a mistake. The Internet takes the worst of humanity and combines it with news articles, as if allowing the Great Public to lower the tone is furthering the conversation.

Maybe it was always like this. Maybe I’m becoming bitter and old. Maybe I’ve changed more than the Internet. But it’s not my Internet any longer, it’s not my playground like it used to be. And it feels like I’ve lost something.

I have been a happy user of BookMooch for the last several months. I’ve given away twice as many books as I have requested and I’ve happily spent quite a lot of money on the postage, to get books to people who really want them. I recently stopped mooching  as I am moving over to digital books as much as possible, and re-listed several books that I’d just received, most of which where picked up quickly. I got quite the surly email from someone who received a book today:

Thanks for sending me the book. I’m a bit disappointed about the state of the book, though. It is really rather bad which I do not remember in your condition description. The covers are stained, creased, yellowed and dog-eared; the spine is badly broken falling open on a particular page with that section about to come loose; and the whole book is yellowed with a large water stain at the top extending through about half of it.

I suggest that you donate my point back to me as this book is meant for permanent collection and I would like to get a better copy than this.

…..you suggest what now? Your free book wasn’t good enough for you, so you want your point back? For the uninitiated, you “pay” for books with points and get a point for each book you send out.

I gave the person 5 points with the following message:

Here, have five. Now you have enough to get however many more books you want. Word of advice – if you care so much about the condition, ask the people you mooch from. Or buy the book second hand on Amazon, rather than complaining about free books.

Honestly, some people. It’s a book exchange site, not a shop. You get what you pay for, and that book was free. It was actually in the same condition when I received it, and I had no problem with it whatsoever.

I think I’m going to start giving my books to charity shops again instead, especially as bookmooch is only an expense for me now – I’m not requesting any books as I am trying to de-clutter.