I'm becoming an old grouch

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
I don't think things like this used to bother me so much and I know the general population has the IQ of a mashed potato but it's getting to be more than I can put up with.

When I got on Facebook this morning, three different people had posted a thing about how Facebook is going to start charging and "it's even been on the news." It took me about 10 seconds on Snopes to establish that this is the same old scam that's been going around for several years and there is no truth to it. So I commented on their stuff to tell them it is not true. Probably should have not bothered. I read on down a little farther and here was another one wanting me to sign a petition because saying the pledge of allegiance is now illegal in schools. I taught school for over 30 years and I still sub and I know we say the pledge every day. Another 10 seconds on Snopes: there is a court case that involves 3 schools in California, that will probably be straightened out soon. No other schools are affected. So of course I had to straighten that person out too.

What is it? Are people just wanting to hear the worst and when they do they automatically believe it? Or is it that they are just too darned lazy to even click once or twice to see if the garbage they are passing on has any resemblance to truth anyplace? And why do I care! LOL
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
I think folks still have a hard time giving serious thought to what they read online. If it's printed, it must be true.

I can't tell you how many times I've read status updates like that with someone who I really don't know know anymore (the old highschool chum, someone I worked with 25 years ago, etc.)......I just ignore....

Sharon
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Actually I attribute to the decreasing number of people who actually read newspapers, magazines or watch the news on television. This is the age of "instant experts". Sigh! I don't do FB or modern instant communication but it really bugs me when I receive multiple "forwards" via email that all assert the same position that is not based on fact. I "try" not to let it bug me but it does. DDD
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
I'm becoming a grouch too then. I'm irked by the same things! I mean, unless one just fell off a turnip truck, those 2 examples are constantly going around and should be pretty universally known you'd think, that its all koi. Same with the facebook will shut down if you don't forward this blah blah blah. The ones that REALLY bother me are the viral amber alerts that are NOT true. It's crazy how few of the amber alert messages that start going around on FB to raise awareness, are faked. I am also one who ends up telling the person it is FAKE and providing a link to confirm, on these constant messages.

What I really hate is how people email complete random viral email poems, jokes, etc. Fine, send me the odd joke IF you think I'll for some reason personally find it amusing (not just sent to everyone a person knows). But gosh I hate when people are addicted to their forward buttons. I also have too many people who haven't heard of the blind carbon copy setting, meaning that not only do I end up with a huge list to scroll down in order to read the message, it also means that my email address sits in gosh knows how many email inboxes. Any of those computers or accounts get infected with something, my email address is being harvested and then I get more useless email. It also leaves it open that someone I know in common with someone else could end up with my email address even though I would never want them to have it. Given that you can use a email addy to search for people on facebook and other sites, I protect my email address online just as closely as my phone number. I get a bit cranky and to the point when people leave my email exposed that way.

Color me green and stuff me in a tin can on Sesame Street. I've crossed into crotchity.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I'm right there with you! I've seen that same post about charging for Facebook (or some other variation) at least twenty times and several times I've left a comment pointing out that Snopes says it's a hoax. And without fail, someone else will come along, copy it, and pass it along again! I've noticed that on Facebook, among the people I know in real life, it seems to be the same gullible people every time who are so eager to pass along every doom & gloom rumor. And I agree too that very few people read newspapers any more or even watch the news on TV. As a society, we are progressively becoming more and more ignorant.

Sort of unrelated and not meaning to be mean or snarky but Facebook really points out the difference between generations sometimes. Of course not all the time, but MOST of the time, if you see a post that makes sense, where all the words are spelled correctly, grammar is OK and proper punctuation used, it is from an older person. If you see something that's a senseless, jumbled up, grammatically incorrect, misspelled mess with no punctuation ... it's from a very young person! Is it because they no longer stress it in the schools or because they're so used to texting or they just don't care? Do they not realize how ignorant it makes them appear to be? Poor ol' Mrs.Watson, my high school English teacher, is probably spinning in her grave!
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Donna, did you know that cursive handwriting is no longer being taught in many schools? I can't believe that! Thank you notes are brief emails. Two my college grad kids had to be taught by me the difference between "good" and "well".
Crazy world. DDD
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
There is a new show on tv called H8R I had to go online to google to figure out what in the heck it was. Never even occurred to me that it was text language for...guess...Hater.

Now I have tried to learn text language but Im not very good at it...lol. Sometimes I fall prey to things I read online. Sometimes not. I hate the forwards in my email. Thankfully the person who did it so badly isnt around anymore.
 

crazymama30

Active Member
Those things like the facebook thing? I just ignore. The way I see it? I have too many things in my life that are much more important to worry about. If facebook starts charging? I will quit using it. I don't have the time or energy to devote to foolishness like that.
 

keista

New Member
Move over on the grouch couch. The FB starting to charge? I don't even cite snopes anymore. I tell ppl that they are just spoiled and if FB who has provide this lovely site for FREE for all these years, decides to start charging, they are fully entitled to. AND if anyone doesn't like it, it will be perfectly OK for them NOT to pay and go create their own website and we'll see how long they are able to offer it for free.

Yesterday, I had myself a very serious grouch couch episode when my own sister (an intelligent human being) fell victim to all the Facebook Frenzy due to the recent changes. She posted as her status a request for all her friends to mouse over her name and click *unsubscribe* to everything so she could keep all her information private! WTF?????????? I publicly refused her request then created my own public post to counteract the insanity.
Everyone MUST stop going insane and take a deep breath and THINK! STOP reposting that request to your friends to "unsubscribe" from your postings. This will NOT keep your information private, it will keep YOUR friends from seeing what's going on. If you want all your stuff to be private then leave Facebook, or USE your PRIVACY settings. If your default is 'Friends of Friends', then yes, anything you post on your friends' comments, photos, links, ALL of their friends can see. If you set it to 'Friends' then ONLY your friends will see it. If you set it to 'Public' then the whole world can see it. AND as you are posting, you can adjust who can see THAT SPECIFIC post by clicking on the box right next to the POST box. For example, I have overridden my default setting and made this individual post PUBLIC. Please repost this if you think your friends are going INSANE over some minor Facebook changes.
 

flutterby

Fly away!
What's even more stupid about the facebook thing is that it says right on the login page - "It's free and always will be."

I'm grouchy, too. I ignore it most of the time, but if someone posts something stupid and I'm in a mood..... I'm getting better at ignoring it then, too, though. If people insist on posting stupid stuff nothing I say or do is going to change a thing.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Oscar was always my favorite character on Sesame Street, lol. I can be pretty grouchy too.

My father will NEVER have my email because he sends from three to thirty stupid "jokes" a day. He uses bcc or something so that he can send it to a group with-o anyone getting all the other people's email addresses, but it is ANNOYING. He has people who love his jokes. Most of us do not - and do not in a BIG way. Dad can't grasp that. If you laughed at them one time, then you always laugh at them. It is one of his problems. Luckily, his obsessions change every couple of years. Sadly the email thing is still happening and probably is a lifestyle instead of a habit.

I tend to block people who send junk like that to me. My childhood bff called me all upset at one point because i didn't respond to her emails. I checked all of her emails - and wanted to know why in four years there had been a grand total of zero emails that were directed at me - they were ALL group emails about dumb jokes, idiot chain letters, and some expert who said everyone is going to die because such and such is full of toxic something or other. I told her if she sent me messages that were to ME, not to a group, then I would answer. But she couldn't be mad that I don't respond to mass mailings when she couldn't even bother to respond to a direct message unless it was about me sending a gift to her.

I try to laugh if those come from someone I don't care about. If it is a group or person I care about, I will post the snopes or other links. Mostly I don't bother though.
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
I've gotten some of those people who want me to unsubscibe for stuff too. My big question is: What kind of moron EVER put anything on Facebook (or most any other computer site) that they don't want the whole world to see? Facebook may have changed slightly but if you were an idiot before it changed, you are still an idiot. The change really won't affect you all that much on that score. LOL
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
The thing about Facebook ... I don't EVER post anything that the whole world couldn't see! Nothing really personal, nothing private. But I've seen some people who carry on regular conversations with friends or family on Facebook where everyone will see it. The thing that bothers me with the new format is that now if one of my Friends comments on a post of one of their Friends (not a mutual Friend) that whole post appears on MY newsfeed! I'm looking at hundreds of pictures of babies and pets and family reunions of total strangers! So much for "privacy"!
 

keista

New Member
donna723, with the changes, you can start getting rid of those. At the top left of a post, if you see a blue triangle, it means it's marked as a top story. Click on it to unmark it as a top story, and they will try not to put similar stories into (or at least at the top) of the news feed.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
No I haven't, Janet. But on some other people, if they comment on one of their friends posts or even click "Like", that entire post (including pictures) will appear in my news feed. It's all gotten so complicated, I won't even pretend to to understand it all.
 

keista

New Member
That's because they have their privacy set to 'Friends of Friends' or 'public' - nothing you can do about it except ignore and now unmark it if it's considered a "top story"
 

1905

Well-Known Member
I'm actually embarrassed that I can never work facebook. I sent one of my kids a message, a private message about where a book might be located, and I think everyone saw it. I sent it there because I don't know what time his classes are, and didn't want to disturb the class. If I like something, does everyone see it? It's a mystery to me...sorry if I sent any of you some stupid and annoying stuff on your facebook page.
 
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