TASNEEM POCKETWALA
Second Year BA student at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai
Let’s face it – we don’t have cool new clothes to wear to college each day; we crib about our assignments and swear it’s a personal attack from our teacher because she hates us; we talk to ourselves when no one’s watching us; we feel stupidly ecstatic when a professor doesn’t turn up for a lecture; trains/busses NEVER come on time when we are late – this is so usual that we’ve ceased to think much about them anymore. We are average people.
My Life Is Average (or just MLIA) is a website where average people get to post average, mundane happenings in their lives. And, since I happen to belong to this hugely mediocre group of average people, I love this website.
When you go through the site, you realise that there are people around the world whose lives tend to get as unnervingly normal as yours does. And sometimes, (heck, most of the time once you’re an avid MLIAer) it’s rather sort of cool to be just ‘average’ and not all that awesome. MLIAers are Harry Potter fanatics, still love childhood cartoon shows and games and, plainly, love being average.
Although MLIA is overwhelmingly American, the beauty of the site lies in the fact that barring some of the stories that reek of the American culture, you are able to ignore that because the stories posted are so relatable! Here is (finally!) a website to give a voice to the thousands of normal people lurking on the horizons of triviality, waiting for someone to shake them up and tell them that it’s ok to be normal. Or, it’s just a website for average people. Average? Join the club.
NIHAL ADVANI
Final year International Business and Economics Student at Collge of Brockport, New York
When something is successful, in this case a website, there are bound to be other people who try and take advantage of the popularity and benefits that can be achieved through such a site. A prime example is the website, My Life Is Average (MLIA). The site claims it is “a place to share your everyday mediocrity. It is a place to post the mundane things in your life, and read about what makes life normal for other people.” Who cares? I’ve been on the site. Aft er reading about three or four of the posts, I turned off my computer and sighed as I realised that I had wasted a good minute of my life.
The start of anecdotal websites such as F**k My Life (FML) and Texts From Last Night (TFLN) changed the way people view everyday stories: by putting them on the internet. These sites allow virtually anyone to submit a story or a text message that they found amusing or experienced firsthand and share their corky stories with the rest of the world. MLIA is just a bunch of boring posts from people complaining about how dull and ‘normal’ their lives are. People don’t want to read about average life; they want to read about exciting stories and real-life scandals. They go to these sites to be entertained, not bored to death.
If you’re looking for something entertaining, then don’t go to this site. It’s boring, dull and poorly moderated. FML and TFLN are far better. Don’t believe me? Go to all three, compare and contrast and decide for yourself. If you have even a slight sense of humour, you’ll probably agree with me.
Volume 1 Issue 3
