Are you an Information Technology Professional? If so, you are probably a douchebag.

I'm what society would lovingly refer to as a nerd. I play video games, I collect things that real people don't collect, and I make jokes that reference obscure television shows from thirty years ago. So on the video game topic there has been a trend increasing in popularity over the years that I'd like to address today.

In most online games, especially Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs, Google loves keywords), you have a percentage of people who will spend the majority of their subscription time bitching on the game's official forums about how terrible the game is. Rather than simply cancel their accounts they feel the need to express how dissastisfied they are by posting thread after thread and replying to other threads to make sure everyone sees how important it is that they are dissatisfied. That's all well and good, but we're not to the trend I speak of yet - the trend you clicked on when you came to this page.

Within this group of people (and in all other groups of people who live on the internet) is a smaller percentage, the "IT Professional". These people believe their post and their opinion is more important than everyone else because they are in the field of Information Technology. This elustrious profession enables a person to have more important opinions on the internet because, somehow, they contribute to the overall success of the internet and those who reside there. It's very easy to spot this type of douchebag because they will insert something about being an IT Professional in any opinionated post - especially that of security, game mechanics, or connection problems. The Information Technology Professional will direct his messages directly to the developers of a game because they feel their words should not be ignored. They will post a suggestion in the General forums because the "Suggestions" forum will not get them the attention they so desperately crave.

There is another group of douchebags out there who make sure you know exactly who they are. Within the small percentage of people in this world who acquire a Doctorate. These people who will introduce themselves as Doctor Jack Asshole. Or when you do telephone support for HP Pavilion computers and you need to take down their name..

"Thank you for calling HP Pavilion Desktop Support. My name is Jess, could I start by getting your first and last name for our records please?"

"Jack Asshole."

"Okay, Mr. Asshole, how can I help you today?"

"Actually, it's Doctor."

I kept calling him sir throughout the entire call and I could practically feel his temperature rise through the phone. Finally he said I need to learn some respect, he didn't go to school for ten years to be disrespected by some asshole on the phone. I was polite, I called him Doctor, and then I told him he had a virus and needed to format his computer - but we have to charge for virus support so I had to charge him $100 to format his computer (four keypresses). I was deeply apologetic as I took his credit card number and charged him the best $100 I ever made anyone pay. The next three virus customers got it for free.

Oh, and although virus removal wasn't covered by their warranty, formatting was. If he chose to format instead of remove the virus I didn't technically have to charge him - but Doctor Asshole was living up to his name and so I decided to be Jess Asshole that day.

Back on topic, this guy is a perfect example of how much of a douchebag someone can be. But you know, he DID go to school for a bunch of years. He paid thousands upon thousands of dollars to pay for school so he could remind people that he's a doctor. Although I think he's a douchebag, he HAS kind of earned it. But what about the IT Professional? Has he earned the right to throw that word out there in every situation?

Taking IT courses can be done in nearly any school, including colleges that don't offer Bachelor's degrees. IT is not necessarily a four year program (though it seems at some schools it can be - though why you'd take IT over Computer Science I'll never understand), most people finish IT in 1-2 years. For more information I decided to look it up: http://www.acs.org.au/dit/.

I'll highlight the best part in case you're too lazy to click the link: A candidate may sit a maximum of four examinations at any one offering. Most candidates take twelve to twenty four months to pass all eight examinations.

12 to 24 months to pass all eight examinations. Depending on your courseload you could finish your Diploma of Information Technology. Holy shit, that's a lot of work.

I visited Monster.com and searched Information Technology. Like any job, having a degree opens a lot of other doors - but is certainly not necessary to get into the IT field. Many jobs require that you have at least 1-2 years of work experience, though. No problem, everyone has 1-2 years of work experience if they write their resume properly (read: lie).

So back on topic. People who include IT Professional are attention whores who haven't even deserved it - and that's assuming they're not lying on the internet, which let's face it, everyone does. Even the few who maybe got a Bachelor's or even a Master's degree in IT or a related field who might actually know a thing or two about the subject they're posting about STILL make themselves look like morons by including that in their posts. If your points are valid they're going to be valid whether you're an IT Professional or not - because they're valid posts. If you're posting stupid shit about things you don't understand being an IT Professional isn't going to suddenly add clarity to your garbage.