Nutcases on Facebook
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I don’t know if any of you look at Facebook. I’m told it’s a grandparent thing now, but seeing as I am one now, I guess it’s okay for me to go there.
What a cesspool! I kind of “know” that there are algorithms which make your “preferences” appear at the top of your feed, and interacting with crazies only increases the bombardment, but I’m there. I couldn’t resist commenting on their stupidity (weeks ago), and now I’m inclined nor to go there at all. I also doubt that these are real people posting such nonsense. Maybe they get a monetary retribution for every click. I’m old-fashioned – I don’t know.
So I have come to (virtual) blows with people who “believe” the Earth is flat, people who think that the moon landing was a hoax etc… they all fit into the conspiracy theory clique. People who take photos of planes taking people on their holidays, leaving a wake of “chemtrails”. The list is endless.
I unfortunately engaged with some of them, for my own amusement, but they (if they are real) get nasty, accusing me of being a lizard from outer space and an Epstein partygoer. I’m told to “wake up”.
It would all be quite ridiculous and harmless except that in these groups (and I know their presence is magnified due to the algorithm) they actively encourage going out and getting burnt by the “healing” sun, because skin cancer doesn’t exist and it’s all a plan to sell sun lotion – which “gives” cancer. “Fuck you!”, I told them. I actually have skin cancer thanks to basking in the Scottish sun at the age of ten, on the day it was sunny in 1971. “You sound like you’ve been vaxxed” they respond, as if being vaccinated against Covid was a sign of a weak mind. For fuck’s sake, I told them, I am actually – in the real world – in close contact with medical students looking for ways to combat viruses and diseases in general! But no, it’s all a conspiracy.
Seriously dangerous, deluded nutcases. I would have them all shot. Fucking waste of space, all of them.
Totally agree. Whatever reasonable counter-arguments you present, that’s all part of the conspiracy, too. It’s a no-win scenario.
Facebook… well… I mean, I’m on the “grid” for quite a while, and I remember when Facebook was a new thing. Of course I am on Facebook, I’m also on LinkedIn, Tiktok, Instagram, Pinterest, X/Twitter, Telegram, BlueSky, and whatever… and all these Social Media Bubbles (part of my job).
In any case, I don’t post much on Social Media, because I find it tedious. Conversations come and go, people delete their comments (and mine with it if I replied), etc., controversial topics attract maggots like flies (what did I just say? Interesting… I go with it) most of them want to scream loud and listen little because apparently, they already know everything and have the truth.
However, when I look through my Facebook stream right now, for the most part, I find more or less interesting news, more or less (sometimes less, but still) reasonable people… so I don’t have an issue with it.
If against all better judgement I post on Social Media on any current affairs, I tend to cultivate the persona of a detached misanthropic cynic (which seems to come natural, as I may just be a detached misanthropic cynic. Maybe because I’m on the “grid” for too long and have seen too much). But by and large I find Social Media not suitable for any probing discussions into worthwhile subjects, which is why I rarely discuss current affairs on today’s social media platforms.Seriously dangerous, deluded nutcases. I would have them all shot. Fucking waste of space, all of them.
Though it’s interesting to note that you call all these people who post all kinds of nonsense on the Net “seriously dangerous” and your response is to have that “fucking waste of space” “shot”…. “all of them”.
Yeah, that’s probably a good way from keeping all these dangerous nutcases in line: have them and their families and their neighbors (just in case) executed without mercy.
I am on Facebook and Instagram currently – I also still have a dormant X account… – but I don’t actually only use the feed for people I actually follow and never the “algorithm suggestions”. It’s easier to do that via desktop than in the apps.
I do post every once a while but are not too active there and don’t use groups or rarely interact with others outtside just people I follow. That way you even on X – which I actually rarley peek into – escape these things. Of course unless you look into the X trends “for fun” or review FB comments on especially political suff.
Facebook is quite useful to me, and a lot of my life is organized around it — there’s no denying that. So I don’t have an angry agenda against it, like many do. I rarely share personal updates, but usually work-related updates. Also, I don’t mind that teenagers have left it for good; I’m not a teenager.
That being said, there are issues. One is the ridiculous amount of ads in the feed. I miss the good old days of 2007, when I joined – a more ad-free experience. Second, there’s the thing that Graham speaks about. Lots of idiots around. Which is why I never discuss on Facebook if I can help it. Third – and just as importantly – the interface is absolutely RUBBISH for discussing. It’s very confusing with just two “levels”, and I often don’t understand who responds to who. Even the old tree-format messageboard of the 90s is better than this.
So yeah, I keep my discussion to messageboards like this. In fact, ONLY this particular messageboard right now. I don’t care diddly squat that people find it outdated as a discussion platform. It’s not outdated as far as useability is concerned; so far, I have not seen any other technical solution that can match it.
Yeah, ads can be annoying everyhwere but services need to finance somehow so I try to find some acceptance if I don’t want to pay for it… (excluded that the owner is ridiculously rich by that already). I find not that many ads in my personal feeds actually. In case it is unknown you can select that in the browser – no idea where that is in the apps – on the left sidebar. Find “Feeds” and select and then you can select that. You still get some ads but generally the chronogical feed what you follow. You can bookmark that naturally.
Insta has it as well right on top in the browser as “Following” which you can also bookmark. It is also in the app but a bit hidden so you have to click on top of ot and it does not stick you so you have to select it again everytime you open it.
Message boards are IMHO way better and independent for any service (even if there is of course a dependency to the system used). It is considered “outdated” only because of general convenience because they require extra access and logins and are not “within the apps” everyone uses anyway…
Third – and just as importantly – the interface is absolutely RUBBISH for discussing. It’s very confusing with just two “levels”, and I often don’t understand who responds to who. Even the old tree-format messageboard of the 90s is better than this.
Yep, that’s so true. No way to have any meaningful discussion of any complex subject matter. It’s almost impossible to follow a conversation, it’s never clear who refers to whom and what, posts and replies get deleted, so that other comments don’t make sense anymore or are out of context, and so on. Facebook is ok to get short updates and such, but it is not at all suitable to discuss any subject in more depth. Just nor worth it.
Facebook has its uses, for sure (it’s the only social medium I’m using). It’s a great way to keep in touch with people you don’t see very often physically, and Facebook groups and Messenger are very handy when you need to keep in touch with a specific group of people. My main issue is what’s been mentioned earlier here – the ads, the algorithms that keep feeding you all kinds of ridiculous stuff, and the conspiracy nuts (I wouldn’t want them shot, though…). I’m interested in astronomy, and Facebook apparently thinks that means I’m also interested in joining flat Earth groups… Um, no, I’m not. But then I, stupidly, sometimes look a flat Earth or other conspiracy theory discussion, which of course means I’ll just get fed MORE of the stuff. It’s like that car crash analogy: You know you shouldnt’t watch, but you just can’t help it. It’s the same for discussions about hot, real world topics – Trump, immigration, gender issues, the Middle East etc. But I’ve become a bit better at it – if the lunatics arrive after a few post (they usually do), I just leave it.
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