Who are these "others"? Sneaky Bullies?? (O.o)
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
Austin, Texas
May 1, 2019 12:04pm CST
Everybody else gripes about social media abuse. Why not me?
I know a lot of people have left Facebook for various reasons. But I have had an account for almost a decade and honestly? I just started figuring out how to use the system a couple of years ago. So now that I'm getting the hang of it. I'm not leaving! I have business pages, I'm in groups, I have friends, etc.
But I've had this experience and it always feels weird. Like there's a creepy evil ghost following me around online; especially in my social media accounts.
Weird things that have been happening to me recently which I attribute to the uuhhh … extraneous forces. In other words, events that really don't have anything to do with me. It's just that my account probably got caught in a dragnet! Forces like … Cambridge Analytica, streaming live videos of really bad things, etc. I have nothing to do with it, but in the owner's effort to keep the platform clean and safe, my mundane almost useless uneventful social media account gets flagged by some quirky algorithm that says “I'm a meanie!”
The algorithms I can forgive because … it's just a computer program. It doesn't have a heart! It's just doing what some programmer, who doesn't even know you, programmed it to do because ... their boss told them that was their job!
I have a blog that I've had for at least 5 years. My memory is blurred and fuzzy. I think I use to share the links. At any rate … recently … I have tried to share the links and I get this message about “Community Guidelines”. Something something etc. … if you think is an error contact us.
So I contact them NOT expecting a response. Figuring the message will be dropped into a black hole. Then I forget about it and find other work to do.
I forgot about the message. But to my surprise, I get a message back that says “We checked and it turns out that your content does not violate the guidelines.” The message flashed like a blink and I ignored it almost as fast. By that time I had forgotten what I had reported.
So I try again to post a link from the same blog and I get the message again.
I'm confused. Can I post or not?
So I go to the blog and I try to use the social share buttons and I get an error message that says “Can not be shared because link includes content that has been 'reported by others' as 'abusive'.”
Reported by others?????????
I'm not even that busy on Facebook. People have to come and find me. Then they have to scrutinize my posts with a magnifying glass and find a speck of dust on a pinhead and say “Ah hah! Gotcha!! ABUSE!!”
An algorithm is not a human.
Is that error message saying that there are real humans going around and reporting me as abusive?
I'm thinking: Others? Who others? What others?
I don't know who the “others” are but … I feel like NOW it's a matter of my rights.
I feel like I'm a victim of “sneaky bullies”.
You know what I mean?
9 people like this
9 responses
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
3 May 19
It's beyond me too but I'll be darn if I'm going to let it deter me from accomplishing my online goals. I've already set my mind to do something. Unless the platform owners kick me out, I'm staying. I saw a Blabber Buzz headline and evidently, Facebook censored Snoop Dogg! He's hopping mad and raging about it. If he invested money, time and effort into creating a Facebook presence he's probably a lot angrier than little old me. Me? I'm not angry. I'm just confused. My blog posts don't actually stir up controversy. How can they be "abusive"? That's what has me scratching my head. So it's either a technology screw-up or somebody out there don't like me. I choose to think it's a tech bug. But I do wonder if it's a person or persons. Hey! It's a thought. I think a lot!
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
3 May 19
@cmoneyspinner Sorry, I can't help you or give good advice. I'm not active on facebook. I have an account there but only so that I can stalk some people I know. I do that only several times a year.
2 people like this
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
3 May 19
@MALUSE - I don't know this for a fact but I suspect that if I had linked a phone number to my account the situation would be much worse. I think ... I say "I think" ... I think a lot of problems happen because there are "gaping security holes" in the apps developed for mobile devices. That's just what I think. I'm like those old people who, when I was a kid, didn't believe that a man walked on the moon. Some of them said it was a government hoax. So now I'm old and I'm like: These confounded new-fangled doo-dad thingamajigs! They're nuttin' but trouble and headache! But I gotta use 'em. 
My husband won't go near Facebook or any social media. Every once in a while he'll let me show him a picture of a friend or family member that's been uploaded. That's the closest he'll get. I can't even get my husband to use eMail! 
My husband won't go near Facebook or any social media. Every once in a while he'll let me show him a picture of a friend or family member that's been uploaded. That's the closest he'll get. I can't even get my husband to use eMail! 1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325854)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 May 19
I don't have much idea what you're talking about but please don't take offence. I hear others talking about similar happenings and it completely turns me off ever having a FB account. However I know they're useful and great when used properly. I hope you get the problems sorted.
2 people like this
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
3 May 19
I just celebrated a 10-year anniversary. I have made real genuine friends over those years. I really don't want to throw that all away. It's a head-scratcher kind of problem. Probably has something to do with technology and since I'm not a geek it might take me a while but I might be able to work it out.
2 people like this
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
3 May 19
From what I'm hearing anyway Facebook is apparently banning not just words but names of people that they disagree with politically and just don't like for whatever reason. I don't use FB really so don't know for sure if thats true
2 people like this
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
3 May 19
Facebook, i,e. Zuckerberg, is REACTING. Reacting to Congress and some "others" who are on him and all over him about some things that happen that were or are way beyond his control. But he is trying to control or curtail some of the things that he can. I know he's a Jew but he probably prays a form of the Serenity prayer on a daily basis.
But the truth is if an evil person wants to do something they'll use whatever is available. People who don't want to perpetrate evil and just want to live in peace have to stay vigilant and watchful and be able to PROTECT and DEFEND. We all want to be able to respond and react BEFORE something horrific happens. You can't put your safety and wellbeing all on the shoulders of somebody else, another person like a Mark Zuckerberg. Pernicious predators, vile hatemongers, etc. always had a platform. They published books and newspapers. They passed out pamphlets. They recruited others and held "secret meetings" about all the mess and mayhem they planned to do.
These folks didn't just start acting that way on social media. They always used whatever was available to promote their agenda. It's been good versus evil since the beginning. It's going to be that way until The End. To paraphrase Billy Joel: "We didn't start the fire. It's been burning since the world's been turning."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search The Serenity Prayer is the common name for a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr[1][2] (1892–1971). The best-known form is: God, grant me the serenity to accept
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
5 May 19
Facebook has become ridiculous in censorship. The amount of people who are getting summary bans without realy too much explaination is becoming habit forming. Sharing posts can get you an automatic ban. What I would do is report it and ask for it to be reviewed. Invariably they will reverse the ban.
1 person likes this
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
10 May 19
As an example. My posts timeline disappeared from my profile. As did my Notifications and Applications. When I messaged my friends and asked if they could see my timeline, they all said Yes! Now does that make sense? They can see my posts on my timeline and I can't see them??? Somebody is just messing with me. But I'm too sleepy right now to care about it. 
I'll just get up tomorrow morning, Lord willing, and do it again! I'm sort of a creature of habit, I get up every day and do the same thing. Turn on my laptop and try to see if I can make some money. Facebook used to be a lot friendlier and easier to use. I guess I can't complain. They banned Alex Jones and Louis Farrakhan. At least, I still have an account.
I'll just get up tomorrow morning, Lord willing, and do it again! I'm sort of a creature of habit, I get up every day and do the same thing. Turn on my laptop and try to see if I can make some money. Facebook used to be a lot friendlier and easier to use. I guess I can't complain. They banned Alex Jones and Louis Farrakhan. At least, I still have an account. 1 person likes this
@DianneN (246906)
• United States
10 May 19
@cmoneyspinner I swear I saw just what you are talking about. I was on Facebook yesterday and couldn't believe the posts that had disappeared!!!!! Something strange is going on for sure!
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
27 May 19
It's just that we do so much in our daily lives using technology. When things are running smoothly and then all of sudden a major change happens and you don't even know why. There was nothing you did that was any different. So what caused this glitche? Then when you ask the proper people and don't get answers that just makes it even worse. Nevertheless life carries on.
@GreatMartin (23676)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
5 May 19
I have NEVER had a problem with facebook and I've been there 13 years!
@moffittjc (118459)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 May 19
I rarely use Facebook and other social media sites for personal use, but I do manage 12 different Facebook pages for my work. I have never had any issues with content I've posted or shared, but I know it will only be a matter of time before I deal with the situation. The worst I've experienced so far was when Facebook questioned the ownership of one of my pages, I guess someone else was claiming to have the rights to the page, but I worked with FB to send them all the necessary documentation to show that my organization was the legitimate owner of the site. FB was easy to work with, and very responsive to getting the issue settled quickly.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
7 Jun 19
I guess I don't spend much time on line, I have never seen anything like that. But I'm on Face book and here, that's about the most time I spend on. I have messages for good friends and relatives too along with email. Nothing creepy yet...
1 person likes this
