Tag: social media

Just Gossip

I can’t believe the video I just watched. It shocked me. It scared me.

This video shows Donald J. Trump, former President of the United States, inspecting a military. This military was south of the U.S. border with Mexico. They were Mexican troops: Trump’s private army.

He founded and established it. Members of his Mexican military were enticed to join with promises of land and rights in the United States.

His idea, according to the video: “President Donald J. Trump wants to control the southern border with Texas so that his army can be let in once the 2024 elections are over, whether he wins or not. Governor Abbott of Texas is working with President Trump to control the southern border. That’s the driver pushing Gov. Abbott’s fight to take over control of that border from the Federal Government.

“President Trump has gained the trust and co-operation of the Mexican government. First, he paid key officials to be consultants and commanders. Then he promised Mexico that on Day 1 of his administration, he would stop imports of any consumer goods, including automobiles and trucks, from anywhere. The exception would be those goods made in Mexico.

“With accomodations and support from Mexico and Texas, and assistance from Florida, Trump’s army will spread across the United States. Detention centers will be set up for Democrats, and Trump’s army will lock them up and imprison them. Democratic members of Congress will be executed.”

A chyron stayed on the screen’s bottom. It said in capital, italized yellow block font, “PROJECT MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

The narrator was General Mily. He also showed a meeting between Trump and over a dozen red state governors who swore their allegiance to him and promised him that they would activate their national guard units to support him. Besides Trump inspecting his troops, the video gave data about the size of his army. It was sickening that these forces have been set up to overthrow the rightful and legal government of the United States and install a military dictator.

I was so sickened by it, I couldn’t watch more. Especially when they started interviewing right wing militia groups who were staging to join Trump from Idaho, the Dakotas, Michigan, Kansas, Wisonsin, and Oklahoma.

As an American, I am shocked and appalled that the GOP has gone so far.

***

Yeah, none of that is true, as far as I know. I made it up. Just exercising my free speech. You know, as Rep. Jim Jordan embraced on Sixty Minutes in a segment with Leslie Stahl.

As Mr. Jordan noted, Americans are smart.

Yes, if they’re out of information bubbles and get all the information.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Many Americans live in information bubbles where the full truth is rarely heard or seen. Instead, they’re fed a steady diet of misinformation to support their hardening views. The other side is being painted not just as a political opponent, but a threat to Democracy and freedom. A threat which must be put down by violence.

Mr. Jordan is upset because he believes the social media companies are removing more conservative, Republican, and right-wing info after it’s deemed misinformation. So he’s trying to stop them from removing anything. The media companies are backing off as a result.

So I suspect that someone ‘on the left’ is going to begin retaliating on the scale of misinformation that the right wing is putting out. Then they’ll exercise their own free speech and spread misinformation. In the end, it’s just gossip. No harm at all.

Because Americans are smart. They’ll see through pieces like mine for the fictions that they are. Just ask people about the shadow government.

They’ll show you how smart they are.

4

Floofrade

Floofrade (floofinition) – An animal who is a close associate, confidante, or companion.

In Use: “Many people shut in with illness or social isolation often bond with an animal who becomes their floofrade, alleviation their loneliness and buoying their spirits.”

In Use: “People rage about which make better floofrades, cats or dogs, a silly argument, as many people — and animals — easily have both canine and feline floofrades, along with birds, hamsters, turtles, and wildlife like squirrels, crows, deer, and chipmunks.”

Recent Use: “Social media is heavy with stories about how a found floof becomes someone’s floofrade and saves them.”

2

Facebook Wackiness

I shared a post from another person on Facebook. The original post was of a bridge which I think is the Astoria-Megler Bridge, showing it going up.

Neat photo, right?

Someone commented on it and I added a reply with another photo:

“It’s not as bad as the photo looks. It’s the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Here’s another angle. It’s over the Columbia River just before where it and the Pacific Ocean meets. We stayed in a wonderful hotel toward this photo’s bottom.”

Here is Facebook’s response to posting that additional comment:

“Your comment may go against our Community Standards on violence and incitement

“Your comment looks similar to content that we’ve removed for going against our Community Standards. You can delete it now to avoid potential account restrictions.”

I guess they have something against bridges or Astoria or hotels. Facebook’s world view is getting wackier by the week, innit? BTW, I went ahead and posted it.

5

Another Wandering Thought

Yes, it’s a little early in the week for a rant, but here I am.

In July of 2023, Twitter was renamed X. Since then, there are many who still write things like, “X, formerly known as Twitter,” or some variation of that.

Do those posting that really think people need reminded? Are there people out there asking, “Say, whatever happened to Twitter? And what is this ‘X’?” Are people reading those posts and articles where it’s written, “X (formerly known as Twitter),” and then turning to others with a gasp of surprise and asking, “Did you know that Twitter is called X now?”

How many more months will pass before this trend ends? Do we need to have a New Year resolution about it?

1

Thursday’s Theme Music

After thinking about the dreams and feeding the cats, I was making breakfast and started singing “Black Balloon” by the Goo Goo Dolls (1999). I thought, why not have a song about falling into addiction as a theme song? Seems appropriate for this social media age.

Yeah, my thoughts are slightly spun by the impact of a dramamentary, or docudrama, The Social Dilemma, and all about the efforts to push us to like more and more to make these platforms money. Many people find themselves caught up in chasing information. I go in and out of it, but it mostly bores me. The same stuff is displayed again and again.

Anyway, here’s the music. Hope you find something in it. Remember, stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vaccine. Cheers

0

The Twitter Response

A few days ago, Twitter informed me they’d blocked me because I tweeted a fact-check article that said the story being shared on social media about mail-in ballots being found in a California landfill is false. I challenged them because I disagreed with their decison.

Here is the exact headline I used, as copied from the offending tweet:

Viral Image Falsely Claims To Show Unopened 2020 Mail-In Ballots In A California Dumpster

I didn’t link this headline to any article in this post. If you want, you can copy that headline and search for it, as I did. I found articles that came up, confirming what I had tweeted was true in USA Today, MSN, Checkyourfact.com, and other places, including my original source, mediabiasfactcheck.com.

Twitter doesn’t agree. They say that I violated their guidelines. Here’s their copied response from the email.


 Hello, 

Thank you for your patience as we reviewed your appeal request for account, @mwseidel1, regarding the following: 

Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision. 

You will not be able to access Twitter through your account due to violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically our rules around:

In order to restore account functionality, you can resolve the violations by logging into your account and completing the on-screen instructions. 

Thanks,

Twitter

The Twitter mediocrity, sorry, bureaucracy, has made their decision. You can tell by the details included in their form letter that it was tediously thorough. They cited the violation — oh, wait, no, they didn’t.

Well, that doesn’t matter. They did cite the rule that I violated, so that I may look it up and learn my lesson from this incident, as I couldn’t find it when I checked their rules and guidelines before. The relevant rule is:

Well, they left that blank, too.

Surely, then, Twitter’s decision strikes me as a thorough, totally impartial, fair, and intelligent decision. Yes, that’s snark. They obviously did nothing of the kind and revealed how little their standards mean, as they couldn’t be bothered with citing anything. I’m too much of a peasant account for that.

In view of this response of theirs, I thought about my response. Should I waste more time fighting it? No, just delete it and go on. Sadly, Twitter’s decision is about the norm for customer service and modern organizations: damn capricious and with little thought.

I do keep in mind, however, that others who retweeted what Trump said often have their accounts locked for using Trump’s exact words, while Trump’s original tweet is just labeled with a mild warning.

As always, Twitter — like other organizations — speaks to power with one standard, and sneers at people like me, truly the mark of a wonderful corporate citizen and a worthwhile part of the social landscape. Sorry, more snark. Just couldn’t be helped. Their response just asks for it.

Cheers

3

Floofzen

Floofzen (floofinition) – a continuous process to improve the lives of all animals, educate people about animal behavior, reduce fears and anxieties about animals, and end animal abuse and hunting.

In use: “Social media has become a powerful tool for floofzen as animal abuse and trophy-hunting incidents are put under the spotlight, and rescue organizations reach across geographic and economic boundaries to help each other rescue animals and stop abuse.”

2

Instafloof

Instafloof (floofinition) – social media site housepets use to share information and stories.

In use: “As the people partied, drank, and became sillier through the evening, the cats and dogs slipped their iPaws out, snapped shots, and posted them to Instafloof.”

0

Late at Night

You ever put something on Facebook or other social media late at night, and have a friend immediately respond to it? Then you think, what are they doing on the Internet so late at night? As a sidebar, do you also sometimes wish you and that person were actually sitting beside each other so you can have an actual conversation?

There are some who remain your friends regardless of how long it was since you last saw them, and the distance between your homes. Good to know such people are out there.

Want to introduce me to a few?

 

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