If nothing else, participatory activity on the Internet brings people together. I’ve often thought this about online video gamers. They are often painted as basement-dwelling misanthropes, but in reality they are out there fraggin’ and slaying bog monsters with other people. Even the adversarial games often build bonds and friendships and that sort of thing.

I remember one Counterstrike player plopping down the credit card to pay for a new system and she commented that she never would have thought she’d upgrade for a single video game. “Guys do that,” she said. I told her that you are buying this kit so you might excel at your sport. When you haul this thing down to that big match in the fall you’ll get to meet a lot of those people who’ve been fragging and that’s all good. You might even win. It’s really no different than meeting up with your old rivals at the Tour de France.

In her case, gaming was a possible career. For me, it’s an unproductive diversion only. I’m rambling now. I guess I just would never want others to accuse me of wasting my “cognitive surplus” on activities that were not seen as productive. Given that, I don’t see how I could criticize someone else for enjoying Big Brother or American Idol or any of the brainless shows you get on the T.V. these days.

http://www.cobolhacker.com/?p=714#comment-323778

However, I do think it is fair to say that participatory activities such as blogging, sports or even gaming are better on some level because they allow you to improve yourself (even if the skill is not that useful).

Also note that the article was mostly picking on sitcoms. While there is TV that is challenging and educational sitcoms are not.