Let me start off by saying that I like the internet.
I like being attached to the rest of the world. Whether it’s social media, or researching, or whatever else, I do enjoy it. It’s nice that we can have maps at the tips of our fingers; that we can contact friends and family in an instant; that we can watch family and friends throughout their life via posts and the such.
Alas, there are times I long for my youth, before computers and the Internet got so big.
Life was so much more simple. You actually got the news from TV or newspapers. Things weren’t so slanted. You didn’t find angry people screaming because your opinion was different. And if you did, it didn’t last long. These days, you can’t even read comments to posts anymore because no matter what the issue is, there will be people who go absolutely crazy.
It can be about sports, politics, everyday life, or whatever else – somebody will tell you how you should do things and if you don’t agree, you are flat out wrong.
Just go look at some of the groups about things like what to feed dogs and you’ll see.
My favorite is “I heard … “
You didn’t hear. You read it on some other post and decided it is fully correct, so you now heard it.
But anyway ….
The worst is click bait. You know what I am talking about – the posts where they draw you in with a story and then you have to click through pages and pages to maybe find the story you were interested in. Sometimes, it’s not even there. Thank goodness for people in comments who tell you ahead of time.
It’s the same with sports or political things. The punchy headline to draw you in and then you realize the “news” they want to report is a bunch of BS.
And how about this?
BREAKING:
Yeah, everything now is breaking news. It could be that a cat walked across the street. It is somehow breaking news. Just because there is something you want to give an opinion on does not make it breaking. Also, breaking isn’t something that is days old. It’s breaking news … as in then and now.
Of course we are now into 2024. That means, at some point, the click bait is going to get worse. It’s going to be all about the presidential and congressional races. Fact or fiction – it won’t matter. We’re going to see so much BS and “BREAKING” news that it may make us explode.
So yes, I do long to head back to the early to mid-80s as a kid. Playing Atari or Nintendo. Playing baseball on a dirt lot, or some Matchbox cars. Life was so much more simple back then.
Maybe there’s some click bait I can follow that will bring me back to those times.
Linkup for Day 4:
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook!
I think you pegged the Interweb perfectly. I also like the ease of information gathering and connection with others. Hey….wouldn’t have met you and Harper without the Internet! But, for all the good that can be gained, there is an equal amount of S#!& out there. Click bait….I’m getting pretty good at identifying it before I get sucked into the abyss. The media simply cannot report facts without it becoming an op ed. It’s sickening how partisan the media has become. I made a decision long ago to try and not post anything political on social media (FB and Insta). So far. So good. But it is an election year…….
There are goods and bads associated with every thing, that’s for sure. As somebody who worked in newspapers, it’s hard to see what it has become. It’s one thing to have a partisan stand, but your newspaper as a whole should be fair (which most major ones are — NY Times etc.) But the way the political world has gone in recent years, if one doesn’t agree with an opinion column, then all of it is tainted. We’ve gone down a bad hole and I’m not sure we’ll ever come out of it.
I don’t do politics on social media. It is too much. I’ve been known to mute, or if it’s too bad or getting into conspiracy theories etc., I’ll delete friends. As you have seen with my social media — I try and make it a happy place. If my feed gets too crazy, I start eliminating. Haha.