7 Ways To Be Insufferable on Facebook (Taco, Forums, Blogs)

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susan peplow

climber
Joshua Tree, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 15, 2013 - 10:35pm PT
This kills me so much I posted it to my FB page last month with a pledge to stop the madness but wanted to share it with the Taco. Reading it to Russ the other day and can see so clearly how it crosses over to the forums and blogs as well. Enjoy or read with added silly visuals at http://www.waitbutwhy.com/2013/07/7-ways-to-be-insufferable-on-facebook.html

***

The memory is vivid.

New Year's Day, 2013. I'm going about my afternoon pleasantly, when I open my email and a friend has forwarded me what she calls a particularly heinous Facebook status from her newsfeed, written by someone we'll call Daniel.

It read:

2012 was a biggg year for me. I left my amazing job at NBC to move back to Chicago. I started dating my angel, Jaime Holland. I started yoga (thanks Jake Fisher & Jonah Perlstein!). I wrote an album with Matthew Johannson. Wrote another album I'm proud of. I got to hang with Owen Wilson, and worked with Will Ferrell on an amazing project. Had a conversation about Barack Obama with David Gregory. Danced. Joined a kickball team. Won a couple awards. Helped my sister plan her summer trip. Swam a lot. Golfed a little. Cried more than you would think. Read The World According to Garp. Saw Apocolypse Now. Went to Miami for the NBA Finals. Drank the best orange juice I've ever had with Davey Welch. Tweeted. Went to amazing weddings in Upstate New York. Drank a ridiculous amount of milk. Learned how to make sand art. Saw a great light show. Saw the Angels and Lakers. Fell in love with Jawbone Up. Cooked with Jaime. Gardened with Jaime. Watched Homeland with Jaime. Wrestled with Jaime. Laughed for hours with Jaime. Fell in love with Jaime's family. Worked on a play. Played World of Warcraft. Did some improv. Played a ton of the guitar. Really just had a wild, amazing year. What a world.

By the time I finished reading, I realized that my non-phone hand was clutching tightly to my forehead, forcefully scrunching my forehead skin together. I had the same facial expression I'd have on if someone made me watch a live event where people had their skin slowly peeled off.

It was everything bad about everything, all at once.

But instead of distancing myself from the horror, I soaked in it. I read it again and again, fascinated by how something could be so aggressively unappealing.

It made me think about what makes terrible Facebook behavior terrible, and why other Facebook behavior isn't annoying at all. It comes down to a pretty simple rule:

A Facebook status is annoying if it primarily serves the author and does nothing positive for anyone reading it.


To examine this a bit, let’s start by discussing the defining characteristics of statuses that are not annoying.

To be unannoying, a Facebook status typically has to be one of two things:

1) Interesting/Informative
2) Funny/Amusing/Entertaining

You know why these are unannoying? Because things in those two categories do something for me, the reader. They make my day a little better.

Ideally, interesting statuses would be fascinating and original (or a link to something that is), and funny ones would be hilarious. But I’ll happily take mildly amusing—at least we're still dealing with the good guys.

On the other hand, annoying statuses typically reek of one or more of these five motivations:

1) Image Crafting. The author wants to affect the way people think of her.

2) Narcissism. The author’s thoughts, opinions, and life philosophies matter. The author and the author’s life are interesting in and of themselves.

3) Attention Craving. The author wants attention.

4) Jealousy Inducing. The author wants to make people jealous of him or his life.

5) Loneliness. The author is feeling lonely and wants Facebook to make it better. This is the least heinous of the five—but seeing a lonely person acting lonely on Facebook makes me and everyone else sad. So the person is essentially spreading their sadness, and that’s a shitty thing to do, so it’s on the list.

Facebook is infested with these five motivations—other than a few really saintly people, most people I know, myself certainly included, are guilty of at least some of this nonsense here and there. It's an epidemic.

To lay out the most common types of offenses—

7 Ways To Be Insufferable on Facebook:

1) The Brag

Bragging is such a staple of unfortunate Facebook behavior, it needs to be broken into three subsections:

1a) The “I’m Living Quite the Life” Brag


Description: A post making your life sound great, either in a macro sense (got your dream job, got your degree, love your new apartment) or a micro sense (taking off on an amazing trip, huge weekend coming up, heading out on a fun night with friends, just had an amazing day)

Examples:
Guess who just got her TFA acceptance letter!!!
Hawaii!
Tailgating, Giants game, night out with Dave, Matt, Paul, and Andy. I love you, Saturday.

Core reasons for posting: Image Crafting (I’m successful; I’m happy; I have a great social life), Jealousy Inducing

So at best, you’re just really excited about your life and you need to tell everyone, and at worst you’re specifically hoping to make people feel worse about their lives and jealous of yours. Somewhere in the middle would be you calculatingly crafting your words as part of an unendearing and transparent campaign to make people see you in a certain way.

Let’s give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re just excited and need to brag to someone. Even if that’s the case, the only people it’s okay to brag to in life are your close friends, significant other, and family members—and that’s what email, texting, phone calls, and live talking are for. Your moment of self-satisfaction is profoundly annoying to people you’re not that close with, and they make up the vast majority of people who will be subjected to the status.

1b) The Undercover Brag

Description: Like the blatant brags above except behind a frail disguise. This includes all humblebrags, indirect brags, brags disguised as a rant, etc.

Examples:

Apparently they now give PhDs to frauds and drunks. What a time to be alive!
I’ll be traveling for the summer if anyone knows someone looking to sublease a Soho apartment in July and August.
On my walk home from work, I was whistled at twice, honked at twice, and one car almost caused an accident slowing down to stare at me. Sometimes I really hate men.

Core reasons for posting: Image Crafting, Jealousy Inducing

On one hand, these people are at least self-aware enough to cloak their brag in something. On the other hand, they have the same exact core motivations as the blatant braggers and looking at these examples actually makes the first group seem almost lovable in comparison.

1c) The “I’m In a Great Relationship” Brag

Description: A public expression of your extremely positive feelings for your significant other or an anecdote signifying the perfection of your relationship.

Examples:

A surprise trip to Vermont for two nights in a cabin. All I can say is Wow, what a boyfriend.
Thanks, Rachel, for the best year of my life.
Excited for a rainy Sunday of pizza, games, and movies with the wife.

Core reasons for posting: Image Crafting (FYI, I have a boyfriend; I’m in a wonderful relationship), Jealousy Inducing

The image crafting and jealousy inducing motives here are transparent. The only less-appalling possibility could be that it’s an attempt to strengthen the relationship itself by showing how you feel in a more substantial way than just saying it in private. But really? You’re gonna drag 800 of us into this sh#t because you couldn’t find a more creative way to go over the top in expressing yourself?

The one very funny possibility when it’s a guy posting is that either he’s in trouble for something or that his girlfriend’s friend’s boyfriend pulled some sh#t like this at some point and his girlfriend has now been 10% mad at him ever since it happened, so he finally has to just bite the bullet.

The fact is, there’s no excuse for it, because if you feel the need to plaster your relationship all over Facebook, there are plenty of socially acceptable ways to do so—go nuts with couple profile photos, and enjoy three separate moments of like button and comment applause when you change your status to “in a relationship,” “engaged,” and “married.”

2) The Cryptic Cliffhanger

Description: A post that makes it clear that something good or bad is happening in your life without disclosing any details.

Examples:

That’s IT. I am DONE dating.
This could be a biggggg day…
Moments like these make all of the struggle and all of the pain worth it.
Ughhhhhhhhh

Core reasons for posting: Attention Craving

The fun part of these is watching the inevitable comments and then watching how the author responds to them, if at all. This process slots the author into one of four sub-categories:
The celebrity: The author stays silent, treating the commenters like gawking fans.
800 people’s collective high-maintenance girlfriend: The author explains everything in the comments, which means he wanted to talk publicly about it, but he didn’t want to just tell the public, he wanted the public to ask him about it.
The tortured protagonist: It's something bad. The author responds but maintains the mystery—she's unhappy about it and she “doesn’t feel like getting into it.”
Everybody's special princess: It's something exciting. The author responds but maintains the mystery—it’s really good and he “can’t say yet but you’ll find out soon!” Now you’ll have an extra hop in your step as you wait for the big news with bated breath! This is a special one because it also brings Narcissism, Jealousy Inducing, and Image Crafting in. What a fun person to have in your life!

3) The Literal Status Update

Description: An actual status update on someone’s mundane day.

Examples:

Off to the gym, then class reading
Dumplings!
Finally finished my paper!

Core reasons for posting: Loneliness; Narcissism; Thinking a status update is supposed to be an actual status update

Allow me to present a visual—


“Finally finished my paper!” Okay…and? What are you looking for here? A fake congratulation from a bunch of people who aren’t emotionally invested in your struggle? Finishing your paper is green territory on the above chart, or if you had been working on it for a couple months, it might scrape the outer edges of the orange. For 90+% of the people who will read the status, it doesn’t come near the red territory, which is all they care about.

Off to the gym, then class reading. Oh is that what’s on tap for tonight? Who exactly are you telling this to? I really want to get to the bottom of this. At some point between leaving work and arriving at the gym, you had an impulse to take out your phone and type this status. Then you put your phone away. Tell me what was accomplished.

We’re talking about serious blue territory here, which means that even your mom doesn’t give a sh#t. A lot of annoying statuses fall far from red territory, but they all serve the author in some way, which is why they’re posted.

But info about your schedule doesn’t do anything to craft your image or induce jealousy in anyone—so it just seems a lot like Attention Craving’s sad cousin, Loneliness. I suppose it’s nice that Facebook gives a lonely person someone to tell their day to, and if these statuses didn’t come with the byproduct of reminding everyone else that life is meaningless and they’re gonna die someday, they wouldn’t have to be on this list.

The other possible explanation is severe narcissism, as if somehow, because you’re you, even the smallest details of your life are interesting to others. A weird part of the life of a major celebrity is that people are obsessed with everything about them, even their blue territory. If you’re not a major celebrity, this is not a problem you have, I promise.

4) The Inexplicably-Public Private Message

Description: A public posting from one person to another that has no good reason to be public.

Examples:

I miss you! When are we hanging out?
What a weekend with Julie Epstein and Emily Rothchild. I love my girls!
All private jokes.

Core reasons for posting: Image Crafting; Jealousy Inducing; Narcissism; You’re over 80 and don’t realize there's a difference between a public post and a private message.

My grandmother aside, there is no good reason to ever do this. Good is the key word. There are lots of very annoying reasons to do this. Let’s list them:
 To make yourself seem cool and social and make your social life seem vibrant and fun
 To show everyone what good friends you and the recipient are
 To make people jealous or feel worse about their own lives
 Because you’re acting like you’re in high school and you’re one of the popular kids whose social situation is actually an important thing for people

The one possibility I enjoy is that the message is written to be jealousy-inducing specifically for one individual who will likely be seeing it, whether it be an ex or a friend they hate. That kind of malice is so extreme it crosses over the far line and becomes awesome.

5) The Out-Of-Nowhere Oscar Acceptance Speech

Description: An outpouring of love for no clear reason and aimed at no one in particular

Example: I just want to say how thankful I am for all of you who have touched my life. Your support means everything and I couldn’t have gotten through a lot of things in the last year without you!

Core reasons for posting: Attention Craving

I refuse to believe you feel a genuine outpouring of love for your 800 Facebook friends. And if you felt suddenly emotional about your best friends and family, is a public status really the way you’d express it? Wouldn’t contacting a few people by email or text be a lot more personal and genuine? Not relevant, because that’s not what’s happening here.

What’s happening here can really be boiled down to, “Hey everyone! I’m here! Hug me!” You know the inevitable response to one of these statuses, no matter who you are, will be dozens of like button hugs and comment arm squeezes. And isn’t that a little needy of you? You’re not feeling loving when you write this post—you’re feeling the need to feel loved.

The one time this is somewhat acceptable is when it’s part of a huge collective group hug, like on Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you open Facebook on Thanksgiving, you’ll be treated to hundreds of Out-Of-Nowhere Oscar Acceptance Speeches. (These I could also do without, if you’re wondering.)

6) The Incredibly Obvious Opinion

Description: When a big event happens, a post chiming in with the opinion we’ve heard 1,000 times.

Examples:

I feel so deeply for the Egyptian people fighting for their right to freedom. Everyone has a right to freedom and I pray that they prevail.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families in Newtown after this unspeakable tragedy. I have no words to express my sorrow for those who lost a child.
I’m disappointed about some things about Obama’s first term, but I’m happy he was reelected and hopeful about what his second term can bring.

Core reasons for posting: Narcissism; Image Crafting (I’m the kind of person that has this particular opinion or reaction; I'm smart and I can say adult things)

These are annoying because A) you’re not saying anything remotely original or interesting on an event the media is already flooding our airways about, covering every possible angle, and B) you’re now making a huge, and often tragic event, partially about you. The sadness you’re feeling about the massacre of children isn’t really a key piece of the puzzle here, and you need not describe to us what the event looks like through your personal lens, especially when the lens is just transparent glass—if I want a side dish of narcissism along with my tragedy, I’ll just read celebrity tweets about the event.

7) The Step Toward Enlightenment

Description: An unsolicited nugget of wisdom.

Examples:

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” ~Buddha
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6
I don't see what the big deal is about new years and people claiming how different they are going to be next year. If you want to better yourself it shouldn't matter what day of the year it is.... Me? Im going to be the same person I am today tomorrow.

Core reasons for posting: Image Crafting; Narcissism

Oh, where to begin.

First of all, let’s be entirely clear that there is no humility involved in a Step Toward Enlightenment post simply because you might be quoting someone else—the clear patronizing message is, “Ahh hello Facebook Friends. I am one who knows the secrets of life—allow me to teach you so that you too can one day find enlightenment.”

Secondly—you know what inspires people? You achieving something incredible and letting it be an example and inspiration to others. For your words alone to be inspirational, you need to be a gifted speaker or writer who really has something original to say—and we both know that’s not you. So for you to consider yourself an inspirational character by simply posting trite quotes is, well, flagrantly narcissistic. You’re assuming that you, just by being you, are inspirational.

Thirdly, let’s get to your real motive with these statuses—Image Crafting. You want people to see how enlightened you are and admire the spiritual journey you’re on.

* * *

Our friend Daniel's post was quite a feat—in one simple paragraph, he sliced through my soul, accomplishing nearly every terrible status type and motivation discussed above. The thing is, though, that if you looked right below his post, all you saw were likes and a couple friendly comments.

And that's why insufferable Facebook behavior will never go away—there’s no dislike button or eye-roll button or middle finger button on Facebook, and it’s bad form to be too much of a dick in the comments below a status. So annoying statuses are just positively reinforced, and people remain un-self-aware that they regularly bring down the quality of everyone else’s life.

The bigger point here is that the qualities of annoying statuses are normal human qualities—everyone needs to brag to someone here and there, everyone has moments of weakness when they need attention or feel lonely, and everyone has some downright ugly qualities that are gonna come out at one time or another.

And that’s why you have people who love you.

The thing that Daniel and most others haven't internalized is the fact that if they have 800 Facebook friends, only about 10 or 15 love them. For an especially lovable person, maybe it’s as high as 30. Between 1 and 4%. That means that between 96 and 99% of your Facebook friends DO NOT LOVE YOU.

People who don’t love you don’t care about you or your day or your life that much, they’re probably not especially rooting for you, and they certainly want nothing to do with your worst qualities. And you doing something purely to serve your emotional or egotistical needs really should not show up on their computer screen—it just shouldn’t.

Okay, gotta go. Off to the gym, then dinner, then home, then bed.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Oct 15, 2013 - 10:43pm PT
I feel your pain...RJ
couchmaster

climber
pdx
Oct 15, 2013 - 10:46pm PT
Haha, I quit reading before the 'Flew my Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia for the total eclipse of the sun" part....
MisterE

climber
Oct 15, 2013 - 10:47pm PT
Whoah, just whoah.
jstan

climber
Oct 15, 2013 - 10:57pm PT
Incisive social commentary. Send it to the New York Times. Or be interviewed on NPR.
Gal

Trad climber
going big air to fakie
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:07pm PT
Well, you know how I feel ~ L.O.L! You're so right, lots of this can be applied to the taco ;-)
Dapper Dan

Trad climber
Menlo Park
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:08pm PT
Where do trip reports fall into these definitions?

I always felt they were cool to look at , but mostly just showing off.
Snowmassguy

Trad climber
Calirado
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:18pm PT
So true. I have blocked some folks on FB because I just can not stand to read the same narcissistic stuff every day. Geez....I already know you have the smartest, best looking and most athletic kids in the world.

That and the endless political rants about how you are so stupid unless you support candidate XXXX. Oh wait, this is what ST is all about these days lol

Narcissism is alive and well. I do worry how it impacts the kids that are growing up with social media as a main stay in their daily lives. Monitoring my teen/tweens Instagram feeds( Facebook is passe) is interesting to say the least.



Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:26pm PT
Possibly useful. People should definitely consider their audience before broadcasting.

But fundamentally, on FB and forums, etc. your audience members might differ on what they consider amusing/entertaining.
So do you post stuff that is amusing to the "median friend", or amusing to 25%, 75%, or 100% of friends?

Back in rec.climbing days, at one time we thought people were bragging if they posted a trip report. Many people thought it was supposed to be something out of the ordinary.
Here we usually encourage people to post more ordinary trip reports, and we figure "you can always ignore it, if it's not interesting to you".

Ultimately the question of what is the critical % of interested friends to be worth posting is a function of how easy it is to ignore the uninteresting posts.
Snowmassguy

Trad climber
Calirado
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:32pm PT
Any climbing content is (usually)interesting to me unless coated with too much spray and no humility.
Gal

Trad climber
going big air to fakie
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:38pm PT
I think trip reports are definitely the best part of the taco~I will admit that I like that on the Taco, a wide variety is discussed, but of course the tr's are my fave.
Mtnmun

Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:41pm PT
I'm impressed that you took the time, perhaps days, to analyze Facebook. It was well thought out and you always amaze Susan.
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Oct 15, 2013 - 11:46pm PT
Makes me happy I almost never post on FB. Pretty hard to dodge being "insufferable" (according to that list).

Yeah.. I mostly can't stand the people who post every boring detail of their lives every minute of the day like they are some kind of important and fascinating person and we care. I've ditched a number of those. They are usually too busy talking about themselves to notice though. I got annoyed and de-friended one person because she only posted pictures of her-self... like every day. The camera still takes pictures if you point it away from yourself FYI.

@Dapper Dan. Trip reports are different. There's a specific forum, you can pick and choose what/who you want to read. They serve as written accounts of specific climbs or adventures, take time and thought to compose. It's not just random, inane, narcissistic chatter being thrown at you scatter-shot over the web by FB people.
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Oct 16, 2013 - 12:11am PT
Life is wonderful. It's about living your life and while living it giving love and a hand to those along the way. If people focus on themselves......well that's on them.

Word. Live your own life the best you can, helping others.

Edit: OK, I know you pro think that's too Pollyana.

So, Sooze, I re read your Thread. Not to easy, you wrote much that needs to be thought about. But generally, you are right.

But even though you are right, we need to remember there are lonely people out there. There are also people out there that need affirmation.

You get what you need. I get what i need too. We do that by looking inside and learning to live by our very own self.

But ya know, who are we to judge how others find their self worth? Maybe they don't have the inner core to say to themselves I'm good. Perhaps that is why they try to find their definition of who they are on Facebook. I'm hacking this a bit, but I think you know what I'm trying to say.

We are all humans. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Think it a good thing to help the fellow traveler on their way. Anyway, Peace on a beautiful evening.

Cheers to the Taco and all who call themselves Campfire Folk.

Lynne

justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Oct 16, 2013 - 12:38am PT
LOL^^^

Barbie is totally checking you out.
RyanD

climber
Squamish
Oct 16, 2013 - 12:43am PT
Awesome!



The Larry

climber
Moab, UT
Oct 16, 2013 - 12:46am PT
Ha! Funny stuff and true. I'm guilty of some of those but I'm a self loathing narcissist.
Time for a selfie

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 16, 2013 - 12:56am PT
^^^^^. Did you use yer Lear Jet to skywrite that?
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Oct 16, 2013 - 01:25am PT
susan you missed the whole point of FB
bhilden

Trad climber
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
Oct 16, 2013 - 01:27am PT
Facebook = Existence Verification (AKA I'm OK! I'm OK! Right?)
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Oct 16, 2013 - 04:41am PT
Facebook=data goldmine. Marketing data galore, and the state, feds and internationals all use it to bust stupid people all the time!
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Oct 16, 2013 - 04:41am PT
One might say the person who wrote that whole analysis is using their analytical skills as a tool to distinguish themselves from all those lowly people who do those annoying things. "Aloof" is a pattern to cloak loneliness and insecurity. I feel qualified to comment on it because I'm even doing it right now! I'm even more aloofer than that aloof dude who is aloofer than everyone else. We all have our foibles. But I've found the most rewarding way of dealing with people is to look past the layer of coping mechanisms (if you can do it without going nuts or getting hurt) and see who is there beneath it.

That doesn't stop me from blacklisting some people on facebook so I don't see their spammy updates or what cake they bought or farm they did something with or what mafia lieutenant they became.
anita514

Gym climber
Great White North
Oct 16, 2013 - 06:58am PT
FB is a pointless exercise in vanity

I use status updates to complain, rant, hate and say whatever the f*#k I want. if people are offended/annoyed, they can "unfriend" me, and they have.

similarly, people who do nothing but post pics of their awful children and other lameness, like how amazing they are because they ate at this restaurant, or because they bought some shoes, or because they went apple picking, or those inspirational bullshit daily quotes, I usually hide/block/unfriend.


this is pretty funny, and spot on:
http://www.generalforum.com/general-discussion/21-really-annoying-facebook-friends-we-all-have-106532.html
Pennsylenvy

Gym climber
A dingy corner in your refrigerator
Oct 16, 2013 - 07:09am PT
I think facebook is a supervisual and interactive site. Someone can blow the doors off that media. I post any pictures I think will help me get laid. On This site I post pictures like this
[url=http://s243.photobucket.com/user/tetontim/media/korfestnov2010112_zpscd80b335.jpg.html]{{img}}h~~p://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff137/tetontim/korfestnov2010112_zpscd80b335.jpg[/img][/url]
DanaB

climber
CT
Oct 16, 2013 - 08:09am PT
Where have you been? Self-absorption is SOP.

Perhaps bad luck, but more than a few of the new partners I've climbed with in the past few years - these people spend the entire day talking about themselves. Not a glimmer of interest in anything else.
TwistedCrank

climber
Bungwater Hollow, Ida-ho
Oct 16, 2013 - 09:05am PT
What is this "Facebook" everyone speaks of?
susan peplow

climber
Joshua Tree, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2013 - 12:24pm PT
Some of these responses are pretty funny. Specifically Reilly and The Larry - classic and made me "LOL".

For the record, I did not write the article rather just found it incredibly amusing and probably the best thing I've seen on Facebook all of 2013. Thank you Gal as I had shared it from her page.

I find myself categorizing people's posts now, even my own. And randomly calling out to Russ "image crafting", " cliffhanger", "step toward enlightenment", .... when I read people's posts now. I'm not sure if it ruined me, made me even less accommodating towards people's feelings or just find it humorous and continue on with the epidemic by posting my own stuff classified as Category A.

It's all in good fun though just the same, even being totally insufferable it's still fascinating. Quite honestly, if we could all take a little something out of this article and apply better behavior we could make FB, the taco and other forums more palatable? Maybe a little less "literal status" updates (Taco people you know who you are!!!) but whatever you do, don't stop the selfies those are priceless :)
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Oct 16, 2013 - 01:27pm PT
Susan.

You're saying:
"I find myself categorizing people's posts now, even my own. And randomly calling out to Russ "image crafting", " cliffhanger", "step toward enlightenment", .... when I read people's posts now"

My conclusions:
You're now insufferable and ruined, considering yourself enlightened about other people's posts... even your own...

And Marlow is of course saying this to your enlightment, which makes Marlow insufferable...

The only non-insufferable person I can see on ST is Norwegian and maybe that makes Norwegian politically correct... I don' remember the sin connected to political correctness... Is there an enlightened view offered to me considering this issue?

;o) Marlow in hell...
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:08pm PT
Incisive social commentary. Send it to the New York Times. Or be interviewed on NPR.

Hilarious, jstan!

I love Facebook, because it's an easy way to keep up on the lives of people I care about without the need to telephone each one every night. Besides, Bob D'A posts several outstanding photos there every day (this is true, and a sufficient reason to be a member if Bob will "friend" you).

John
Snowmassguy

Trad climber
Calirado
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:13pm PT
Some people do face book right, others not so much. I know really nice people( in real life) that are annoying as F*** on FB.
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:23pm PT
I've found that the easiest way to be deemed insufferable, on any of those outlets, is to simply post to them with any regularity.


Edit: oh shit! I just posted!
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:24pm PT

That's why I'm KNOTT on FB!!!!
GDavis

Social climber
SOL CAL
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:29pm PT
Some of us live on a hair trigger.


Facebook - serious business.
Ill be drinkin crunk juice with Ludakris while y'all self loathing whities extoll the virtues of nihilism.


How you gonna act like my rims ain't clean BEOTCH!!
jstan

climber
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:32pm PT
Incisive social commentary. Send it to the New York Times. Or be interviewed on NPR.

Hilarious, jstan!/JE

I wish I did not have to disappoint, JE, but I was serious.

If you look at the debacle on ST every day, how it is an event when any two of us actually talk, I have to conclude we do not yet know how to use the new technology. This actually is a very useful topic for study. I'll admit my formative years came during the second war when society was possibly the most united it has ever been. Still, what I see today does not appear to be healthy. Not healthy even without bringing Washington into the discussion.
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Oct 16, 2013 - 02:50pm PT
Thanks for the thread.....Mirror mirror on the wall. I need to develop a sense of humor. lynne
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Oct 16, 2013 - 03:22pm PT
Jeff, I actually enjoy viewing your pics and seeing what you're up to, really. lynne
phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Oct 16, 2013 - 03:49pm PT
The OP article itself was funny and well-written.

But the status update by the guy s/he's skewering doesn't really bother me. I'm happy for him that he's so happy. Ok, so he's probably a narcissist and it's unlikely we'd actually be friends in real life but I've been living in the SF Bay Area for 30 years so I'm kind of immune to narcissistic overachievers.

For me the worst status updates are the ones with pictures of food, because I'm hungry most of the time and a little bit overweight. It's torture.

JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Oct 16, 2013 - 04:21pm PT
Still, what I see today does not appear to be healthy. Not healthy even without bringing Washington into the discussion.

Too true, John. I think the real issue with using most social media for incisive social commentary is the very low signal-to-noise ratio. One thing I can count on, though -- when you post, the signal improves.

John
hobo_dan

Social climber
Minnesota
Oct 16, 2013 - 06:06pm PT
Thumbs up
I like it

It is tricky to be as great as I am and still have the skill to share my fabulousness without becoming insufferable

But I digress
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Oct 17, 2013 - 01:04pm PT
Excellent, hobo dan!

John
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 17, 2013 - 02:44pm PT
And then there's my niece who lives a champagne lifestyle, relatively, on a beer budget and
recently went on FB and begged her friends for money to pay her vet bill. Luckily her father
doesn't partake in FB. I don't either but the wife keeps me up on the sad and sordid goings on.
Binks

climber
Uranus
Oct 17, 2013 - 06:39pm PT
Here's another insufferable pattern. The endless, I mean endless stream of everything your child ever did and will do posted online. Seriously, stop posting this stuff. Your kid certainly doesn't care about it either.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Oct 20, 2013 - 08:25pm PT
Russ,

You did what all weekend and you had Nothing, nothing to report? :D
Crimpergirl

Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Oct 20, 2013 - 08:29pm PT
I'm shocked there is nothing on the list about photos of cats. :) Guilty!!
HighTraverse

Trad climber
Bay Area
Oct 20, 2013 - 08:35pm PT
Posts that are too long to read.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Oct 20, 2013 - 09:52pm PT
hey there say, johnElizarian (got to check the spelling again) :)

as to this:

I love Facebook, because it's an easy way to keep up on the lives of people I care about without the need to telephone each one every night. Besides, Bob D'A posts several outstanding photos there every day (this is true, and a sufficient reason to be a member if Bob will "friend" you).

sure enjoyed that! seeing bob's bird photos, near makes me feel like i enjoyed them in my own yard: which actually only gets a small handful of a
variety here... :)


sadly, it is the only way i ever learn of my outofstate grandkids, :(
so i AM GLAD FOR IT... i get to peek in, as they share them with others of their nearby relatives...


and then, last but not least:

yes! jeff and his post are soooo fun!
i really do like to know that a friend is doing fun stuff!
make me smile, :) to know they are well... :)



when you have a variety of friends, that overlap a tad in the things that
they like, occasionally you may share more to one's liking than another's, but i keep trying to keep it even--and keep updates for those that do WANT that, since i have no long distance phone calls on my service, out, ... :))
MisterE

climber
Oct 20, 2013 - 10:56pm PT
Touche Riley...LOL.
LuckyPink

climber
the last bivy
Oct 20, 2013 - 10:56pm PT
facebook is advertising, no matter what way you look at it.
some advertising is fun to watch, some not so much. personally I like all my friend's posts because if I don't.. DEFriend. Love your friends, foibles and all.

pb

Sport climber
Sonora Ca
Dec 22, 2014 - 09:06am PT
this has some merit
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Dec 22, 2014 - 09:12am PT
Here's another insufferable pattern. The endless, I mean endless stream of everything your child ever did and will do posted online. Seriously, stop posting this stuff. Your kid certainly doesn't care about it either.

What about the kids??? You sign up for Facebook at ten and now all your friends have access to what basically amounts to your baby book!
How embarrassing! ;)

TYeary

Social climber
State of decay
Dec 23, 2014 - 08:51pm PT
I am guilty on every one of those bullet points.
TY

Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Dec 23, 2014 - 10:53pm PT
What just like the rest of the internet and what's on your phone and computer? What tv shows you watch, who you call, where you go....

Between cell phones, rfid tags, and facial recognition software big brother is everywhere...
bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
Dec 24, 2014 - 01:34am PT
This is why I hate people in general and refuse to do Facebook.

People, try to get a f*#king life that you don't have to 'share' with everybody else. Poseurs!!!

Ugh....
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Dec 24, 2014 - 02:17am PT
Merry Christmas

The banter here and over on the thread about Snoden the whistle blower who "Risked His Life". . . the hook of the tread title, are shadowing each other.
The world has not been free since the sixties. The end of freedom came with the trappings of freedom like the fall of the Berlin wall.
What is said, is often
the opposite of what is. . .
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
Dec 24, 2014 - 04:31am PT
facebook is horrible.
it's like highs-cool social life all over again,
except that you don't get to touch any boobies.

i recently found linkedin,
and it suits me well as
it allows me access to distant acquaintances,
without jelly and marshmallow-scum
smeared all across my screen.
Reeotch

climber
4 Corners Area
Dec 24, 2014 - 07:05am PT
And you doing something purely to serve your emotional or egotistical needs really should not show up on their computer screen—it just shouldn’t.

Ha ha, don't expect things to change any time soon . . .
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Dec 24, 2014 - 07:15am PT
DMT.... I expected your face to be in the center of that.

I quit FB soon after I joined. Just filled up with to much BS stuff, made my friends look less friendly. I really don't need to know all that info about daily habits, interactions and conflict.

Taco is enuf.

Ronin

Trad climber
Franklin, WV
Dec 24, 2014 - 07:20am PT

So the people you friend on FB are annoying and insufferable.

That makes one of you an idiot.
G_Gnome

Trad climber
Cali
Sep 9, 2016 - 12:30pm PT
It would be FANTASTIC to be in the middle of such a beautiful place...

Talk about ENVY...

Locker, they would probably all fart on your at the same time. But then you would probably like that too.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Sep 9, 2016 - 12:49pm PT
I clicked on this wondering if Burch had written a book. I guess if it had been 7,000 instead of just 7.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 9, 2016 - 01:06pm PT
I do not like the concept of "participatory surveillance," Sam I Am.

But I do like the taste of green eggs and spam.

I can do better than Facebook, I know.

So I post mostly to supertopo.

We all get along in a brotherly way.

You can like someone tomorrow that you hated today.

And the lists...thousands of names listed 1, 2, and 3.

With more lists in the works, just wait and see.

POST MORE, SAY LESS!

Phil_B

Social climber
CHC, en zed
Sep 9, 2016 - 05:14pm PT
I dunno. It's pretty easy to just move onto the next post. If necessary, just don't follow them anymore. I had to do it with a cousin I like, but couldn't deal with all the hate filled political shares.

Remember the script that would just not show certain people? Does that still work? I've gotten a new computer since I last used it and there aren't that many people who really irk me that much.

I like FB because it also makes it easy to see what folks are up to. It'll probably kill the HS reunion. Browsing FB, I can see that there are quite a few folks I've grown away from.

Gotta admit though, Cleo and I are gonna start photobombing people who are walking around with their selfie sticks.
nature

climber
Boulder, CO
Sep 9, 2016 - 05:25pm PT
Phil yeah, the greasemonkey script still works (Firefox only). But I've found it's just as easy to not read or respond to people that are simply not worth my time. It's easy to scroll. Though I do still read a line or two as a reminder of how f*#ked up a minority of this crowd is.
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