Has anyone else noticed that this is bringing out the "weird" in some people?

Stive Morgan

Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Jul 25, 2011
20,851
26,589
British Columbia
I finally let go of Facebook a few months ago after the craziness of 2020 COVID and the political climate in the U.S. I wasn't getting enough positive out of it versus the negative. I tried to unfriend or unfollow people who were constantly posting misinformation or political BS. It just wasn't enough. I have felt so much better without FB. I don't miss it at all. It's an addiction. Look out in public and see how many people are looking down at their phones as soon as they have a free second.

The evolution of FB is crazy to me. I first signed up in 2005/2006 time frame. You had to have a college e-mail back then. Initially, it was pretty awesome. I used to talk shit with my friends and logged on to see the pics of the attractive women I was FB friends with. It's insane to see what has happened to the platform.
This is exactly how I feel about Reddit. People don't realize it has nearly the exact same problems as Facebook. They don't even seem to realize it's a social media platform.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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The evolution of FB is crazy to me. I first signed up in 2005/2006 time frame. You had to have a college e-mail back then. Initially, it was pretty awesome. I used to talk shit with my friends and logged on to see the pics of the attractive women I was FB friends with. It's insane to see what has happened to the platform.

This is so true. I signed up right around the same timeframe, back when you were required to use a .edu address for signup and only certain colleges were eligible because they were in mid-rollout.

That first year or two it was basically just a group chat. People would announce parties, post silly pictures, update on stuff happening around campus.

For me, the turning point was when they opened it up to .com signups so your parents and bosses started showing up. Now all of a sudden you have to actually think, "who's going to see this if I post it?". Maybe you don't want your boss seeing you posting in the middle of the day, you don't want your mom to see you half-naked at a party, you don't want your girlfriend's mom to see you shotgunning beers. All of a sudden it's this strategic thing where you have to put on a face for the world, and that wasn't what we signed up for.

Fast forward another few years and it was just totally toxic. Half of it was vapid Minions memes, half was racist Boomer political memes, and the third half was Millennials killing themselves pretending to live an episode of HDTV. That was around the time I had young kids and felt an actual responsibility to post constantly because of all the family members who were at least nominally interested in seeing the kids grow up. And all my college friends who were getting married and having kids and how big of an ass am I if I don't like their pictures back? So now I'm on there every day trying to manage every single relationship I have (and hundreds of "we went to high school" non-relationships) through a toxic social media portal.

Over the past couple of years I dialed it back and quietly stopped posting completely. I haven't deleted the account yet, mostly because there are photos on there without any other backup copies, but my account just sits there. But it's about time to make those copies and shut it down... what a completely insane Frankenstein story that site has become.
 

FourRings

Registered User
Mar 26, 2013
4,775
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New York City
I finally let go of Facebook a few months ago after the craziness of 2020 COVID and the political climate in the U.S. I wasn't getting enough positive out of it versus the negative. I tried to unfriend or unfollow people who were constantly posting misinformation or political BS. It just wasn't enough. I have felt so much better without FB. I don't miss it at all. It's an addiction. Look out in public and see how many people are looking down at their phones as soon as they have a free second.

The evolution of FB is crazy to me. I first signed up in 2005/2006 time frame. You had to have a college e-mail back then. Initially, it was pretty awesome. I used to talk shit with my friends and logged on to see the pics of the attractive women I was FB friends with. It's insane to see what has happened to the platform.
So much yes. Facebook has really spiraled into something ugly. I deleted mine about a year or two after college and am happy I did. My wife vents about shit people post on Facebook and I'm thankfully completely oblivious to it otherwise.
 
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LionsHeart

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Mar 25, 2009
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I’ve noticed a lot of people I haven’t talked to in awhile reaching out lately. I think a lot of people are fatigued and feeling lonely.

Americans are also way more radical now than they were a year ago. All that time on social media looking up conspiracies and then an incredibly emotional election lead to a lot of people just losing it. There are some viewpoints I’ve picked up they have surprised me, and I hope don’t leave me as we get back to a little bit of normal.
 

The Podium

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Feb 19, 2010
22,846
10,014
Toronto
I had a patient tell me yesterday that when her 8 year old daughter wears a mask she immediately gets a lisp that lasts until 2 hours after she takes off the mask and then it is normal again. She is concerned that if she continues to wear the mask the lisp will become permanent....
 
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Treb

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May 31, 2011
28,177
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Montreal
I had a patient tell me yesterday that when her 8 year old daughter wears a mask she immediately gets a lisp that lasts for 2 hours after she takes of the mask and then is normal again. She is concerned that if she continues to wear the mask the lisp will become permanent....
The length some people will go... :laugh:


:ha:
 

HabsAddict

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Feb 27, 2002
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So much yes. Facebook has really spiraled into something ugly. I deleted mine about a year or two after college and am happy I did. My wife vents about shit people post on Facebook and I'm thankfully completely oblivious to it otherwise.

Someone asked me if I take pictures when I go to Europe.

I do.

Then he asks me about my Facebook account. Big laugh from me.

I don't do Facebook, Twitter, snapchat or whatever other social media. Sadly, some think that it's odd and somehow I'm "not in touch". I do plenty of touching (to my wife's chagrin), but I don't post my latest bowl movements or latest fake outrage to feel "connected".

Edit....I lied. I do have a Twitter account. With one tweet. Four years ago. Now long forgotten name and password....
 

Treb

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May 31, 2011
28,177
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Montreal
Someone asked me if I take pictures when I go to Europe.

I do.

Then he asks me about my Facebook account. Big laugh from me.

I don't do Facebook, Twitter, snapchat or whatever other social media. Sadly, some think that it's odd and somehow I'm "not in touch". I do plenty of touching (to my wife's chagrin), but I don't post my latest bowl movements or latest fake outrage to feel "connected".

Edit....I lied. I do have a Twitter account. With one tweet. Four years ago. Now long forgotten name and password....

You can have a Facebook account without posting everyday. :laugh:
 

NuxFan09

Registered User
Jun 8, 2008
21,649
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Merritt, BC
I think it's given some people time to really think about stuff. It's not all conspiracy theories. There are some things that once you take the time to really think about it, really make sense.
 

NuxFan09

Registered User
Jun 8, 2008
21,649
2,631
Merritt, BC
Most people are totally asleep at the wheel.

Zombies who believe whatever the mainstream media tells them to think.

If you're not a "conspiracy theorist" in this then you're just not paying attention.
Completely agree. The term conspiracy theory/theorist was invented so that people who were actually figuring shit out would be ostracised and mocked. It has also generally become a lazy retort for lazy people who don't want to think.
 

TaLoN

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May 30, 2010
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Completely agree. The term conspiracy theory/theorist was invented so that people who were actually figuring shit out would be ostracised and mocked. It has also generally become a lazy retort for lazy people who don't want to think.
No, the term conspiracy theory was created by actual conspiracy theorists who came up with the theories of a conspiracy about such things as the Kennedy assassination and Moon landing.
 

Pookie

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Oct 23, 2013
16,172
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Most people are totally asleep at the wheel.

Zombies who believe whatever the mainstream media tells them to think.

If you're not a "conspiracy theorist" in this then you're just not paying attention.


It’s ironic that you portray the cause of this laziness as mainstream media.

As if “mainstream media” is always wrong or not giving you the truth.

That in itself is lazy.
 

Love

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Feb 29, 2012
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12,229
No, the term conspiracy theory was created by actual conspiracy theorists who came up with the theories of a conspiracy about such things as the Kennedy assassination and Moon landing.

NuxFan09 is obviously wrong about how/when the term "conspiracy theory" originated. But he has point about it being a very overused and mindless retort.

I don't want to get into the thick of this because its silly and everyone is so mean to each other already, but IMO... the 2 big reasons people are more into conspiracies now than ever is because:

1. They know they're being lied to in the media so they have to go somewhere else for "truth". What once passed for opinion now passes as news. Everything is spin. Everything is a narrative. Clickbait headlines everywhere. Its actually quite sad, social media/mainstream media leaders are essentially trying to get us to hate each other for the sake of profit.

2. Theres actually a couple "conspiracy theories" that turned out to be true recently. The Jeffrey Epstein thing was a conspiracy theory for literally years before it turned out to all be true. Another one is vaccine passports. People have been talking about them since the start of the pandemic and they were dismissed immediately by many. Now, vaccine passports are much closer to being an inevitability than a conspiracy theory.

So all this to say, NuxFan09 does have a point and its stupid to dismiss anyone you disagree with by calling them names, in this case calling them a "conspiracy theorist".

Finally, I just want to add this: I think if you disagree with someone politically - whether its your neighbour, coworker, some loudmouth on social media - I truly believe that we generally all have more in common than not. We all want to have a nice, peaceful life, being around the people we love, make enough money to be comfortable, and be healthy. I think every person whether they're on the left or right can agree with that and we should approach these conversations with this kind of mentality, that we actually have a lot in common, but perhaps different ways in how we see that fleshed out.
 

Treb

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May 31, 2011
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NuxFan09 is obviously wrong about how/when the term "conspiracy theory" originated. But he has point about it being a very overused and mindless retort.

I don't want to get into the thick of this because its silly and everyone is so mean to each other already, but IMO... the 2 big reasons people are more into conspiracies now than ever is because:

1. They know they're being lied to in the media so they have to go somewhere else for "truth". What once passed for opinion now passes as news. Everything is spin. Everything is a narrative. Clickbait headlines everywhere. Its actually quite sad, social media/mainstream media leaders are essentially trying to get us to hate each other for the sake of profit.

2. Theres actually a couple "conspiracy theories" that turned out to be true recently. The Jeffrey Epstein thing was a conspiracy theory for literally years before it turned out to all be true. Another one is vaccine passports. People have been talking about them since the start of the pandemic and they were dismissed immediately by many. Now, vaccine passports are much closer to being an inevitability than a conspiracy theory.

So all this to say, NuxFan09 does have a point and its stupid to dismiss anyone you disagree with by calling them names, in this case calling them a "conspiracy theorist".

Finally, I just want to add this: I think if you disagree with someone politically - whether its your neighbour, coworker, some loudmouth on social media - I truly believe that we generally all have more in common than not. We all want to have a nice, peaceful life, being around the people we love, make enough money to be comfortable, and be healthy. I think every person whether they're on the left or right can agree with that and we should approach these conversations with this kind of mentality, that we actually have a lot in common, but perhaps different ways in how we see that fleshed out.

Until you get to gay bombs, Sandy Hook shooting staging, weather weapons, demon pedophile Robert Mueller and Pizzagate.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/alex-jones-5-most-disturbing-ridiculous-conspiracy-theories.html
 
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ZenOil

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Sep 23, 2010
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The internet combined with the addictive nature of the smart phone has opened up pandora's box. The bombardment of information leaves the mind confused and drawn to theories that make sense of the chaos while also aligning with the individuals feelings. Conspiracy theories or mind hacks? I'm starting to think it's not to hard to hack the human mind these days. Go Oilers!!!
 
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Treb

Global Flanderator
May 31, 2011
28,177
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Montreal
The internet combined with the addictive nature of the smart phone has opened up pandora's box. The bombardment of information leaves the mind confused and drawn to theories that make sense of the chaos while also aligning with the individuals feelings. Conspiracy theories or mind hacks? I'm starting to think it's not to hard to hack the human mind these days. Go Oilers!!!

You don't have to go far to find clear example of such things. A great example happened in the 1930s. Caused a big war.
 

HabsAddict

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Feb 27, 2002
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1. They know they're being lied to in the media so they have to go somewhere else for "truth". What once passed for opinion now passes as news. Everything is spin. Everything is a narrative. Clickbait headlines everywhere. Its actually quite sad, social media/mainstream media leaders are essentially trying to get us to hate each other for the sake of profit.

Absolutely true.

Media has morphed into simple minded propaganda.

A prime example of why....

People demand to read their bias confirmation or they will simply go somewhere else. Newspapers that were once moderately politically biased have now been consumed within their total bias. NYT subscriber base is 91% of those who identify themselves as democratic/left voters. Repeat....91%. Even if these papers wanted to be less biased, they are blackmailed by their mobs, aka subscriber, to either tow their line...or else.

Editor after editor and journalist have been torched by the mob, so now, there is nothing left in that paper but simple minded, single sided propaganda.

Rinse and repeat across all the media. You want to stay alive as a source? You want eyeballs? Click bait bullcrap and stay in your biased lane. Or else....

Which brings us....covid has pushed people further into news overdrive. Lives and deaths are on the line and we need to know. Wars always spike news hunger, but this war, this life and death is now in the neighborhood. Mr Cronkite, more please....

So.....between the recent political devide and covid, this news hunger is met with even more sources willing to do anything to get those eyeballs. If there is no story, invent one. It's not like you will be forced to reveal "sources". Make them up. Spin everything to serve the mobs bias. Make it sound good for your biased base, something they will swallow and you're good for a few cycle$.

But above all, the worst, the very worst, people blind bias is their normal and of course it's the others who are uninformed and unhinged. They have proof. Read their sources and you too will see the "truth".

And the media garbage flows....and the garbage swallowed...and the anger grows....and the devide widens....

25 New York Times Readership Statistics [The 2021 Edition]
 
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Snauen

Registered User
Dec 27, 2017
1,349
526
Absolutely true.

Media has morphed into simple minded propaganda.

A prime example of why....

People demand to read their bias confirmation or they will simply go somewhere else. Newspapers that were once moderately politically biased have now been consumed within their total bias. NYT subscriber base is 91% of those who identify themselves as democratic/left voters. Repeat....91%. Even if these papers wanted to be less biased, they are blackmailed by their mobs, aka subscriber, to either tow their line...or else.

Editor after editor and journalist have been torched by the mob, so now, there is nothing left in that paper but simple minded, single sided propaganda.

Rinse and repeat across all the media. You want to stay alive as a source? You want eyeballs? Click bait bullcrap and stay in your biased lane. Or else....

Which brings us....covid has pushed people further into news overdrive. Lives and deaths are on the line and we need to know. Wars always spike news hunger, but this war, this life and death is now in the neighborhood. Mr Cronkite, more please....

So.....between the recent political devide and covid, this news hunger is met with even more sources willing to do anything to get those eyeballs. If there is no story, invent one. It's not like you will be forced to reveal "sources". Make them up. Spin everything to serve the mobs bias. Make it sound good for your biased base, something they will swallow and you're good for a few cycle$.

But above all, the worst, the very worst, people blind bias is their normal and of course it's the others who are uninformed and unhinged. They have proof. Read their sources and you too will see the "truth".

And the media garbage flows....and the garbage swallowed...and the anger grows....and the devide widens....

25 New York Times Readership Statistics [The 2021 Edition]
Not so sure the world today, or atleast the part of the world using internet is more "divided" than before. There are less wars theese days in general on the planet. I believe most people get numbed/blasé by all the info (true or false). I think we are generaly better suited and prepared against collective desinformation and such now than lets say in the 1930's , like someone mentioned earlier in the thread.

Think its a sign of a socially healthy society when all kinds of different oppinions and ideas get the lime light in the media and social mwdia. There is a line of course, people can actually destroy other peoples, communitys or companies or countries well beeing by writing things on the internet with the aole purpose to brung down and smear. Them who causes that kind of harm and distress should be treated like the criminals they are. This is not some new phenomenon either though. Its a part of human behaviour far back too (unfortunately).
 

Pookie

Wear a mask
Oct 23, 2013
16,172
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2. Theres actually a couple "conspiracy theories" that turned out to be true recently..... Another one is vaccine passports. People have been talking about them since the start of the pandemic and they were dismissed immediately by many. Now, vaccine passports are much closer to being an inevitability than a conspiracy theory.

So, I have to stop you here.

To say that Vaccine Passports were a "conspiracy theory" that have almost "come true" is pretty misleading.

I started public school in the 1970's. I still have my yellow Immunization Record from the Province of Ontario. To this date, unless you have a valid exemption, you must show proof of vaccination to attend school.

Vaccine "passports" are nothing new.

The fear was also that Vaccine Passports would restrict movement amongst other things. Yep. If you can't show that you are protected from a disease, you might not be able to travel to places that are concerned about it.

Nothing new there. Yellow Fever Vaccinations are mandatory for travel throughout Africa.

The broader concept of some kind of international tracking cabal that went to all this trouble to create and launch a virus, create the vaccine, all for the goal of requiring a passport that already exists is ludicrous.

Especially when you are holding a tracking device that tracks your every movement, your online activity, even listens in on your conversations. You likely have "free" apps that do this incase Apple/Google/etc miss something. Now when you go into a restaurant, some places employ facial recognition software to track you and your buying behaviour. Fun.

If there was ever something to get upset about from a privacy perspective, there's plenty of evidence that this is a REAL threat to privacy. Not my yellow immunization record.

Like most conspiracy theories, there is an element of truth that gets blown into something beyond reason and evidence.

I'm not at all saying that organizations like the CIA or the KGB are incapable of doing some f'ed up stuff... but to lend any credence without evidence is really, really dangerous.
 
Last edited:

Pookie

Wear a mask
Oct 23, 2013
16,172
6,684
Absolutely true.

Media has morphed into simple minded propaganda.

A prime example of why....

People demand to read their bias confirmation or they will simply go somewhere else. Newspapers that were once moderately politically biased have now been consumed within their total bias. NYT subscriber base is 91% of those who identify themselves as democratic/left voters. Repeat....91%. Even if these papers wanted to be less biased, they are blackmailed by their mobs, aka subscriber, to either tow their line...or else.

Editor after editor and journalist have been torched by the mob, so now, there is nothing left in that paper but simple minded, single sided propaganda.

Rinse and repeat across all the media. You want to stay alive as a source? You want eyeballs? Click bait bullcrap and stay in your biased lane. Or else....

Which brings us....covid has pushed people further into news overdrive. Lives and deaths are on the line and we need to know. Wars always spike news hunger, but this war, this life and death is now in the neighborhood. Mr Cronkite, more please....

So.....between the recent political devide and covid, this news hunger is met with even more sources willing to do anything to get those eyeballs. If there is no story, invent one. It's not like you will be forced to reveal "sources". Make them up. Spin everything to serve the mobs bias. Make it sound good for your biased base, something they will swallow and you're good for a few cycle$.

But above all, the worst, the very worst, people blind bias is their normal and of course it's the others who are uninformed and unhinged. They have proof. Read their sources and you too will see the "truth".

And the media garbage flows....and the garbage swallowed...and the anger grows....and the devide widens....

25 New York Times Readership Statistics [The 2021 Edition]

To add... the school systems that teach the majority of youth in the world do not really create a world where critical thinking is embraced.

Eg. In a subject like biology, you have Science in the Theory of Evolution vs an Idea in Creationism and some school boards equate the two. Even though on an evidence scale, they are not even on the same planet. Some don't even teach the science/evidence driven theory. Yet, we just accept this.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
84,977
137,333
Bojangles Parking Lot
So, I have to stop you here.

To say that Vaccine Passports were a "conspiracy theory" that have almost "come true" is pretty misleading.

I started public school in the 1970's. I still have my yellow Immunization Record from the Province of Ontario. To this date, unless you have a valid exemption, you must show proof of vaccination to attend school.

Vaccine "passports" are nothing new.

The fear was also that Vaccine Passports would restrict movement amongst other things. Yep. If you can't show that you are protected from a disease, you might not be able to travel to places that are concerned about it.

Nothing new there. Yellow Fever Vaccinations are mandatory for travel throughout Africa.

The broader concept of some kind of international tracking cabal that went to all this trouble to create and launch a virus, create the vaccine, all for the goal of requiring a passport that already exists is ludicrous.

Especially when you are holding a tracking device that tracks your every movement, your online activity, even listens in on your conversations. You likely have "free" apps that do this incase Apple/Google/etc miss something. Now when you go into a restaurant, some places employ facial recognition software to track you and your buying behaviour. Fun.

If there was ever something to get upset about from a privacy perspective, there's plenty of evidence that this is a REAL threat to privacy. Not my yellow immunization record.

Like most conspiracy theories, there is an element of truth that gets blown into something beyond reason and evidence.

I'm not at all saying that organizations like the CIA or the KGB are incapable of doing some f'ed up stuff... but to lend any credence without evidence is really, really dangerous.

This should be pinned to the top of every Facebook profile so that you have to check a box that says "I agree and won't spread any more bullshit on this topic" before you can have posting privileges.
 
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