Words We Don't Need: Bacn
Neologisms spread through the internet at the speed of, well, the internet. A new one appeared over the weekend, reportedly originating at the Pittsburgh Podcamp event, but already showing up in my RSS feeds and Twitter timeline and email: bacn. Apparently this is the term the cool kids are using now for stuff that falls in between e-mail and spam: low-priority messages that you really want, but not right now: Facebook notifications, newsletters you signed up for, things like that. There’s even an official web site for bacn now.
Color me curmudgeonly, but I’d like to see this one stopped in its tracks right now. Even apart from the spelling (would someone please buy Web 2.0 a vowel? I’ll chip in ten bucks right now), I don’t see any reason for a term for “low-priority e-mail.” Is there supposed to be something cool about having a lot of bacn? Do we compete in a bacn sweepstakes now? Is bacn management software next?
There are, of course, well-worn strategies for dealing with these e-mails. Routine notifications are not a problem if you don’t let them interrupt your workflow. If you’re plagued with an inbox full of “TomFool is now following you on Twitter” then it’s time to learn how the rules interface of your email client works. Shove those messages off to another folder where you can peruse them at your leisure. For the truly routine ones, move them and mark them as read the moment they arrive, then set up a daily (or weekly) task to scan the folder when it’s convenient to do so. If there are routine notifications you never read, unsubscribe from them or turn them off.
Of course, one big corporation will be happy if “bacn” catches on: Hormel, which had been fighting a valiant rearguard action to protect its Spam trademark. But the rest of us, I think, might benefit from letting this one get nipped in the bud.
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Throw me into the “curmudgeonly” category too, this bacn business is stupid if only because it’s going to lead to more and more of this crap if it catches on. Seriously, it’s the internet annoying enough as it is?
Dude, you are just curmudgeonly….
As one of the Pittsburgh Podcampers, I personally kind of heart it!
::runs and hides::
I find the fact that anyone would shake their fist at any new nomencalture hilarious. Every so often new phrases, new means of catagorizing things, pops up. Remember when “Spam” was just “junk” mail? People want definition. They crave order and things to label.
I dislike the whole “shortcut” mentality when it comes to posting ( “how r u” for example, and without the punctuation, mind you), but one of the signifiers of many Web 2.0 users is not (and I can’t believe I’m making this argument) because they can’t spell, or are too lazy, but that it feeds into the instant gratification, speed of light information mindset. Let’s not forget that messages conveyed in that way, and the people sending them, have developed their own jargon. Every subset of culture has one, it’s not surprising that this one does too. It doesn’t mean I can’t hate it, or ignore it when I see it.
But the fact of the matter is, acronyms have been around for ages, and they won’t go away. People use acronyms to facilitate communication. True, bacn is not an acronym, but its spelling was born from the l33t speak mentality that made commercials who complain about time spent texting “my bff jill.” It’s part of the culture. Love it or hate it, it’s still there, and it’s out there for everyone to see, adopt, or abandon. Plus, I saw it on the internet, so it must be true. ;)
*nomenclature… sorry!
Sounds to me like you are upset that you didn’t think of it first. Bacn is you friend not your enemy.
Fits right there with a piece I wrote today Out of Office reply , the Do Not Disturb for E-Mail
On another topic, you can start checking the Panelpicker for South by Southwest 2008.
I offered Just Over 50 and not dead yet….Vote for your favorites!
Bacn FTW!
I think we need a new term for all of you creepy old people who can’t deal with the pace of change in today’s world!
I hadn’t thought of the e-mail filtering option and was ready to roll out my Web 2.0 Bacn Software Solution: Fryr.
Also see Twitter postings earlier today from twitter.com/badbanana and twitter.com/cathleenritt with other suggestions. Here are some examples:
Non personal email from pastry chefs: bakn
Non personal email from commodities traders: Prkbellies