Social media

Read the fine print

Posted on by backuphill

photography of a woman sitting on the chair listening to music

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Actually, the print isn’t really even that fine. It is in BOLD, and in CAPS.

Anyone else out there notice this trend?

So, once in a while I come across stuff in the house or garage that is still in good shape and would likely be useful to someone else. It could be worth a little cash, so I have tried selling this stuff on OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. I have even tried Craigslist. I am not trying to make bank and if it doesn’t sell within the first couple weeks of being posted it usually ends up getting donated to one of the thrift stores in the local area.

BUT, there seems to be a trend of people who don’t really read the description and only look a the price. Here’s the scenario I encounter all too often: I have an item marked “Price is firm” and yet I get low-ball offers that no one in their right mind would accept. Do people really believe items are priced with no prior research? I know what it is worth and I have researched it so it isn’t the highest priced item. I want it to sell! But I am also not going to necessarily give it away either (unless it is truly something that can be donated).

The other trend is that people don’t actually READ the description. An item I have posted right now has been inquired about at least 30 times. It always starts with the “Is it still available?” question. I always follow up with confirmation that it is indeed available but ask if they read the description. Shortly thereafter they respond that they are no longer interested. Obvious proof they haven’t read the description, which clearly states in caps that the tool is NOT CURRENTLY FUNCTIONAL. It needs repair, but it is beyond my capabilities. It is nearly new (as far as use goes) so someone could get some value out of it. However, people are just wasting my time by not actually reading the description and just clicking a button. They are totally distracted by the price.

Anyway, it’s kind of frustrating. But, actually, it doesn’t surprise me anymore. People only see what they want to see.

 

Have you experienced something similar?

Just the facts

Posted on by backuphill

photo of head bust print artwork

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I am sure you are aware, but just in case you aren’t…we no longer live in a society that is based on facts. A large portion of our society, our neighbors, or family members just live on feelings.

It is nearly impossible to have a discussion with anyone these days and actually use facts as a counter argument to their hysteria because they just don’t have any reason left.

**Side note: Yes, I am quite aware that Trump has a poor grasp of facts, as well, so you don’t need to point that out. **

As an example, last night I was having a discussion with someone about the whole Home Depot, former founder, and donations/support of President Trump. The individual was jumping on the bandwagon of boycotting Home Depot (never mind that the guy no longer has anything at all to do with the retailer any longer and hasn’t for more than 10 years) because of it and they made the blanket statement about “old, rich white guys ruining the country.”

See my response below:

Here’s the weird thing about picking on rich, old white guys….
Old, rich white guys fought to make the colonies, then states, free and the place you call home. Similarly, old rich white guys fought to keep the colonies from being free and the place you now call home. 
Old, rich white guys fought to give equality to slaves during the Civil War. It was also old, rich white guys that fought to keep slaves and break apart the country you now call home. 
It’s old, rich people (because it just isn’t white or male anymore) fight to keep Planned Parenthood from killing babies. And, it’s old, rich people who fight to keep letting Planned Parenthood kill babies. 
It’s old rich people who fight to let you keep more of your money so you can do with it as you please because, hey, it’s a free country and you have freedom of thought & opinion. It’s old rich people fighting to force you to give up more of your money so they can spend it as they please, tell you what to say and think, and take away the freedoms old white guys gave you in the past. 
Which group of old rich people does right? That’s subjective. 
What is not subjective is that rich people put their money where they believe they can get the best deal and make more money. If the wind blows this way, they invest there. If it blows that way, they invest there. Heck, some invest in both regardless of which way the wind blows because they know eventually the wind will change either way. 
I imagine you are not really all that different from the rest of us, you put your money where you can get the best deal and can get the most out of it. Saying you’ll stop shopping at one place or another isn’t really the truth because you’re really just like those old rich people, and so am I.
This well reasoned response was met with a “I disagree with everything you just said.”
REALLY? Everything? Sorry, are you not an American? Do you have no knowledge and understanding of history at all? Do you not know how the economy and politics of our nation work, whether we like it or not?
Thus, the conversation ended because there is no reasoning with someone who doesn’t have a grasp of basic facts. The problem is, more and more conversations end this way. Reason is getting harder and harder to use, let alone find.
Let’s be honest here, it isn’t old rich people that are ruining the country. They have just done what they have always done, found a way to exploit those who don’t think for themselves and manipulate those people to do the work for them. The problem is that the people who are easily manipulated are multiplying faster than those who have a grasp on Reason.
Therein lies the true danger to the country.

Have you encountered the same sort of difficulty? Do facts and Reason have no place in society any longer?

Bent but not broken

Posted on by backuphill

food healthy yellow broken

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Can you believe some people use this as justification for breaking the rules?

Recently someone said, “Well, you never said I couldn’t…” – fill in the blank. They had bent the agreed upon limitation (rule, if you will) so that it could accommodate their desired outcome.

So, if that is the case, unless we explicitly define every possible circumstance then bending the rules is fine. Never mind the intent of the rule, or even the law.

That’s the problem today with society. We will do whatever we can to make things as easy and accommodating to get what we want. We find every way possible to bend the rules, which we know is wrong to do, just so we can get what we want.

Speeding? Oh, well, I was going downhill.

Cheating on a test? Well, is it really cheating if they didn’t say I couldn’t use the book?

Affair? It’s not an affair because we didn’t have sex.

Murder? Oh, well, I didn’t want the as yet to be born baby.

Sick day from work? No, I wasn’t sick but everyone does it. It was for my “mental health,” and go to the beach.

Which, or what, bent rule irritates you the most?

 

Omission

Posted on by backuphill

black and white black and white depressed depression

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What do you consider a lie?

Is consciously leaving out information or details lying? If you only get part of the info, is it really the truth?

If someone repeatedly, or maybe habitually, omits info can you trust them? When do you draw the line?

This is a tricky topic because we all do it to some degree. Sometimes it is not on purpose, but other times it is an outright choice.

I guess the question really comes down to: Are you prepared to stand your ground when you know you are being deceived on purpose or do you just let it slide?

Drawn and quartered

Posted on by backuphill

the greek statues

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There are very few things in life that seem to warrant the old punishment of “Drawn and Quartered.” It used to be reserved for high treason, but it isn’t used anymore. Something about cruel and unusual…whatever…

I have determined, and I am sure many of you will agree, that this punishment should now be returned to service, not to be used for high treason but for something much worse.

Being the creator of spam.

In EVERY single form it exists.

We are all aware of the spam we get in our email. We are also all now very aware of those auto-dialers that create spam phone calls. Spam on social media is now a thing too. Here’s one you may or may not be aware of…

Have you checked your blog comments section for spam? Good grief. There is a lot of crap in that file. Thank goodness it gets filtered! But good grief, how do you get like entire Wikipedia science articles spliced into 18 different comments? Yeah, spam. Lots of it. It seems this is all hidden behind “proxy” type addresses, so it is easy to quickly decide it is spam and delete but the fact that you have to do it at all is really annoying.

So, I submit to you all that we bring this medieval punishment of “drawn and quartering” back for a 21st century crime. It might not stop the behavior as a deterrent, but it would be totally satisfying to see the spam creator suffer a just punishment.

Just saying.

#endspam

Who’s with me here? Do you agree? Do you have a better suggestion?

Avoid or ignore?

Posted on by backuphill

close up photo of woman covering her ears

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No, I am not talking about doing that childhood favorite of skipping down the road obnoxiously swinging your arms, smiling, and just generally being carefree.

I am talking when someone purposely and obviously skips (avoids?) you but manages to respond to everyone else.

I don’t make it habit of leaving comments on other people’s blogs just so to leave a comment. I am selective and I try to put thought into it so that it can generate a conversations. I also make every effort to respond to comments left on my blog as I believe engagement is a good thing (at least when the comment isn’t purposely malicious).

Anyway, I have noticed that certain bloggers out there are really good at leaving a comment, a thank you, a thumbs up, etc. for the people who take time to comment on their blog. I think that is great, especially if there are a lot of comments, because it takes time. Returning the love is a good thing.

However, it also becomes a rather conspicuous omission when they fail to respond as well. As an example, a blog I made a comment to yesterday had 48 comments as of this morning. Now, we know that WordPress (for some reason) counts all comments, including the ones from the author, so really there were fewer than 48 comments from people who read the blog. As I scrolled through this morning to see if I received a comment (maybe I had missed a notification?), I noticed that every single comment the blog received go a response except mine. In some cases, there were multiple responses from the author.

Hmmm, weird.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not butthurt here. I just think it is rather interesting because it is SO OBVIOUS.

What habits of bloggers to you find annoying? Do you have any that you really appreciate?

Cart…horse…

Posted on by backuphill

man riding on the carriage surrounded by trees

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

Irritating, isn’t it?

When people put the cart before the horse?

Lots of people do it.

Jump to conclusions. Assume the worst. Overthink it. Worry before you know.

I have been known to do it myself.

Isn’t it weird how people, in general, do it more and more?

 

Friendship tests

Posted on by backuphill

green friends text

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Anyone else tired of those things going around on social media, or real life, that try to prompt people into a response?

You know, the one that says read this all, copy  & paste this, and then I’ll return the favor? Or, the one that says I am cleaning out my “friends” list so unless you comment something I’ll likely delete you? This one is great…I am trying to see which of my friends is paying attention…or, copy and past this obvious phishing scam answer skimmer test so we can play a game together and learn more about each other.

Desperate attempts at attention much?

OK, so social media has allowed us all to be voyeurs in each other’s lives (or at least the “best parts” of it) when we allow others to see it.

But what about those friends/acquaintances that probe your friendship by popping in and out of the picture to see if you’re still there? Like that friend from high school or college that randomly messages/texts you to see what you’re up to but you think might secretly have an agenda? Or that friend you only hear from once every 6-8 months, checking in saying, “Hey, we should get together and hang out” but then never follow through. Better yet, how about the one that will get back in touch and act like your best friend for a short time, reconnecting like no time has passed and it was only yesterday that you stopped seeing each other, only to disappear a few weeks later?

I can see you nodding your head…I see you have people like that in your life too…

Hey, wanna be friends? LOL

Pardon me

Posted on by backuphill

book business calendar close up

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Pardon me, but your agenda is showing.

Some companies are good at hiding it. Others not so much. Some blatantly censor content (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), some do not. Some quietly push a liberal agenda and some quietly push a conservative agenda (though this is becoming more rare).

If you take a look at the Discover feed, here on WordPress (parent company Automattic), you will see that over time their agenda is beginning to show. It isn’t about highlighting good content, though it may be to some, it’s about highlighting only one side of the content – that which fits their agenda.

Thus, I have found myself skipping Discover because there isn’t necessarily good writing or salient points of view, just agenda. A confirmation bias of politically correct, social “justice” agenda. I wanna see ALL points of view. I wanna see ALL manners of opinion. I wanna see an agenda-less feed of good writing, art, history, politics, food, humor, entertainment, DIY, outdoors, and hobbies.

Is that too much to ask?

Headline spoilers

Posted on by backuphill

voice spoiler

Thanks a lot, HuffPost!

Not only are you a hack news outlet, but you are also the jackwagon news outlet that chose to post a headline spoiler for “The Voice” the morning after the finale. Look at the other headlines. Any of those have a spoiler in them? NOPE!

I am still gonna watch The Voice finale, but I am irritated that this stupid gossip rag doesn’t have enough sense to keep the spoilers out of the headlines. I bet they also published that Santa and the Easter bunny weren’t real either….

Ever had something spoiled because you looked at the news?