Full Disclosure: I’m an old fart.
How old? Let’s just say the surfboard I used careening down the face of twenty-foot waves on the north shore of Hawaii would now be considered an antique. That being said, social media has been around for decades. Pretty much since the beginning of the internet though the masses didn’t become aware of it until Prodigy and AOL came into existence way back in the late 1980’s. For young people, they were the very first dating apps. Sure, there were message boards also but those were primarily for academics. No, these two websites gave young people the ability to meet other young people they would never have met otherwise. And it was a very cool thing although sometimes turned out to be the complete opposite of what we expected. Still cool just the same. For two (now funny) cringe worthy examples of this, I invite you to read my article Internet dating: When you Meet Them in Person. Sad to say, they are both true stories. All in all, even after a few not-so-great experiences, I can honestly say I remember those days fondly.
Next thing you know the News Media got on board with the added “comments section.” Now one could not only read important news and opinion pieces from whom we all believed were reputable journalists, we could actually comment on them. No-one was aware at the time, but this was the beginning of what would turn into twitter, Instagram and every other social media platform we see today. It all began with the comments section at the end of news and opinion stories from CNN and the rest even though most now no longer have them. I should add that this was also the beginning of the Trolls which is most likely why so many decided to do away with their comments section. Fox News is just about the only one left. Speaking of FOX News…..
Hooked on Comments
And man…. did I get hooked. It began with reading some comments on a story I was interested in. I scrolled down to the comments and while most seemed to be written by sane individuals, I couldn’t help but notice the ones soooo…… I can’t come up with the word. Wrong? Completely foolish? Absurd? Ludicrous? Antagonizing? Well, suffice to say, I came to the conclusion that my opinion needed to be read also. So I signed up and became an official FOX news commenter using the name basket of fish (of course.) That day was the beginning of my addiction. Not to the comments I made per say. Oh no— it was all the Likes produced because of them. I received a few at first. Five or six here and there and those Likes are what fueled my wanting to comment more and more. It got to the point where I was commenting on the ridiculous comment someone else made with more Likes from those who agreed with me. I would sit back in my chair smiling thinking to myself… “Yeah… I got him!”
A month or two later after spending pretty much all my free time commenting on articles and arguing with other commenters, the “Likes” I was receiving on grew into the thousands. I was on what I can only describe was a comment high fueling my desire to comment more and more. Then one day, it dawned on me. What the hell am I doing? I’m in the middle of writing another book, FOX comment moderators would not allow me to promote or mention my books so what the hell am I doing here commenting on stories sounding more like preaching to the choir than actually making people think. I was changing no one’s mind. At all. Then something strange began happening. My comments weren’t being seen after I posted them. Having more than one computer on my desk, I fired it up and went to FOX news to see if my comment showed up. Nope, wasn’t there. I don’t know if this is what they call “shadow-banning” but more and more of my comments failed to post although they did show up on the computer I was posting from. Well, after that I finally came to my senses and closed my account on FOX and got back to work on my book. I came to the conclusion that commenting on news stories was a complete waste of time unless you were being paid to, which from what I understand, there actually are paid commenters. Good gig I would imagine if the pay is right.
Twitter… Oops~ I mean X
I was just about finished with my fourth book 2024: The Wreckoning (available now on Amazon) when I heard that Elon Musk was purchasing Twitter. While I was never a fan of Twitter in the past, I figured it might be something to look into now that Musk was running the show. Why? Because unlike posting comments on news articles thinking my thoughts could change the world, I would finally be able to promote my website, my articles and books. Sure— I had (and still do have) channels on YouTube and Rumble but seeing as they are video channels while adding the fact that I’m a one-man show and videos take a lot of time to produce, let’s just say I don’t have thousands of views on either of them. Which is fine, I gave it a shot. Then my brother introduced me to TWITCH and believed I might find that platform useful which it is, to a small extent. Again, it was like preaching to the choir with a few Trolls mixed in for good measure, I guess. But again, the time involved compared to the return I was receiving wasn’t worth the effort required so while my profile is still there, that’s about it.
X (formally known as Twitter) is different. Sure, you still see all the bullshit comments and posts from Trolls but as I stated above, I can promote my website, articles and books without repercussions. And I have to admit, it’s working. Slow but sure, I’m seeing a boost in visitors to my site and an upswing in the amount of people reading my articles and book sales have increased as well. Seeing as I don’t have a gazillion dollars to promote anything, X has been quite helpful in this department. The nicest thing of all— is all I have to do is make a few comments to stay relevant. I make a comment, post a link to a new article (like I will with this one) and people check it out. But it’s not just my most recent article, they’re reading older articles as well which is a very good thing. I realize I’m not going to make a world changing difference typing a few hundred characters on X, but I just might be able to knowing that because of those characters— people are reading my more in-depth articles on basketoffish. I do my best not to be overly concerned with Likes and Followers because for me, it’s all about getting people over to my website. And speaking of Likes and Followers…..
X Addendum:
I forgot to add (which I’m doing now) that a few days after publishing this article, X has permanently suspended my account. The only reason given was I supposedly violated their rules. I appealed asking for them to be more specific and they simply replied with some form email that my appeal was denied. Again, citing no rule that was violated. I appealed again and got the EXACT same (form email) response. Not once did they give me a specific reason for permanently suspending my account. Oh well…. c’est la vie.
The Best Likes and Followers Money can Buy
I always knew you could purchase both online regarding Facebook, so just for shits and grins, I looked online to see if you could do the same with X. Low and behold, there it was, countless websites devoted to the sales of Likes and Followers. Cheap at the price too! I had a feeling that could be the case because one of the first things I realized was getting either from a posted comment isn’t as easy as one thinks. Now it very well could be most on X just think I’m full of shit but my numbers on Basketoffish.com tell a different story. Therefore, I can only conclude that because Likes and Followers are so damn cheap and perhaps it might make a commenter who has monetized there account a little more money, I can see how purchasing a few hundred thousand of each could be profitable in the long run. Is this what’s happening? Honestly, I have absolutely no idea but it sure seems plausible.
WARNING!: Social Media can be Hazardous to Your Health
Is the above statement true? I guess it all depends on who you ask and how one defines the word Hazardous. As I said at the beginning of this article— I’m an old fart so the only time I’m on Social Media outside of commenting on X is to watch a video showing me how to fix a problem with my car or disassemble a laptop to replace a broken part. But there are occasions when I venture out beyond my normal interests to see what’s going on in cyber society. Add watching and reading the news and I feel I can make a few educated observations.
If we look at Social Media adding perspective, I’d say that generally speaking with the amount of users being in the billions on a daily basis, it’s fairly safe to say that as a whole, Social Media is not hazardous to one’s health. Then again— and this is important, try telling that to a parent who lost a child from suicide due to online bullying. Try telling that to the thousands of parents who lost children and loved ones from fentanyl poisoning due to pills purchased through social media they were told were harmless. Try telling that to parents of impressionable children and young teens whose lives are irreparably damaged from online stalkers who convinced them they were there to help. Or the thousands of young adults who consider themselves as one or more of 200 genders because they bought into the shit so-called online influence-rs were spewing to the point of making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.
And let’s not forget the mob riots and looting of retail outlets from teens because they heard about it on Social Media or young people facing years behind bars because of the easy money they were told they could make from Cartels smuggling illegal aliens to safe-houses.
Enough examples? I could go on but to these people and their loved ones, Social Media has been anything but safe. And while one could make the argument that Social Media isn’t 100% at fault in all this, I would have to agree— but I could also agree that if it weren’t for Social Media, their children and loved ones would be alive today.
So, whose fault is it? Social Media? Parents? Politicians and the government for not regulating Social Media? Or could it be society itself now created by Social Media either directly or indirectly. The answer? All of the above with the exception of government regulation and I’ll tell you why…. shortly. But first, let’s talk about the principle players.
Social Media: They play the largest role purely by their existence. Can’t burn your house down if there’s no fire around, right? In the lives of the people mentioned above, Social Media supplied the matches.
Parents: Next in line are the parents themselves for not recognizing red flags their children were displaying. Or perhaps they didn’t prepare their kids for the day Social Media would enter and become a large part of their lives. The good, the bad and the ugly. It doesn’t matter if it’s a two parent household or a single parent with three kids. They had to have known the day of Social Media would come sooner or later and they knew or should have known how their child would react psychologically to the onslaught of influence their child would suck up like a dry sponge.
Society Itself: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what’s going on not only in the U.S. but around the world as well. Thankfully, for the time being, this societal upheaval we’re witnessing appears to be concentrated mostly in large cities controlled by democrats but none-the-less, social media along with mainstream media and the entertainment industry have all played a large role in the direction this country is heading. And most don’t like it.
Is there an answer? Well, the only one I can come up with is that parents and those young people respect and give value to their opinions need to begin communicating with them. Tell them the truth without sugar coating it. These kids need to be told under no uncertain terms that if they accept a pill whether it’s from an unknowing friend or bought cheap online from someone they met on Facebook, they have a high probability of dying from it. And they have to mean it so much, it literally scares their child. For parents of younger children, they need to prepare their kids with what they can expect from these cyber communities. Again, no sugar-coating. Above all else, these kids need to be told that they (parents and close friends) are the only ones who will be completely honest with them instead of a 24 year old school teacher with purple hair, three lip rings, covered in tats with rainbow flags covering their walls. That not everything presented as cool on Social Media actually is cool in real life.
As far as government regulation is concerned. Technology has proven year after year that you can’t legislate behavior. It’s impossible. People are going to do whatever they want to as long as their willing to take the risks and accept the consequences.
Sometimes, people just have to learn the hard way and the price they pay for some of life’s lessons can be with their own lives. Or the lives of others.
Social media can play an important role in making the world a better place but sadly, there are people who use social media to steer others onto a pathway of destruction. For more on this, you can find a couple of articles here addressing these issues. First is Gen Z: The Lost Generation and the second is The Gender Lie. I invite you to read them both. There’s a whole world out there folks. Instead of keeping your nose buried in your smart phone….
take some time and explore it before you shuffle off this mortal coil.
Oh… and for all of you worrying about your Likes and Followers? Take it from me, in the scheme of things, It’s not the end of the world. Hopefully, you’ll have more important things to worry about in your life, like actually having a life.
