Facebook – Sandpiper Editorial

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a quick visit to social media. Be it Facebook, Twitter, or whatever, it is never just a quick look, is it?

I can be busy with an online project, taking five to gather my thoughts and have a cuppa, figuring that I might spend a few minutes checking my Facebook pages and then get back to work with a fresh approach… And that would have to be the most ridiculous example of self deception there is, because it is Never just a few minutes.

I know this for a fact because my last thingy of just a few minutes on Facebook turned into one hour and forty-five minutes! How could I have spend so much time checking my notifications, scrolling through my newsfeed, commenting and Liking/Loving/Caring/Wowing/Sad Facing/Angry Facing? Where did one whole hour and forty-five minutes go? It seemed like only two or three minutes ago I put the kettle on! What the hey?

And that’s what happens. If time allegedly flies when you’re having fun, I must be having an absolute ball on Facebook! It doesn’t feel like I am in seventh heaven exactly, but I must be if that much time can elapse and I don’t even notice it.

I think it might be the scrolling. That newsfeed page seems to be never ending and it’s possible I become a little mesmerised by the constantly changing images and the need to see what the next one will be, and the next one and so on. Plus all the news and shared posts from family and friends. They post a lot, they share a lot and I have to ensure I read the lot! And then comment and/or Love/Like/Care… etc, etc. It’s almost impossible to not respond in some way because I feel I am being remiss if I don’t. What if they think I missed it? Or worse, I saw it and I’m ignoring them? Okay, so chances are they wouldn’t think that at all, but you never know.

Thing is, I can be researching material, a lot of it, and making notes, editing things, cross referencing and writing and it can seem like I must have spent a longer than one hour and forty-five minutes doing that but it’s actually only been forty minutes when I look at the clock. Sure, I like what I do, and enjoy getting my teeth into a good lead, feature or news item, but I must love it to bits if I can get so much done in a shorter amount of time than I think I’ve spent on it. Either that, or I am a ridiculously fast worker. Or it could be that when I’m onto something I can work through coffee breaks and meal times without really noticing. I’ve done that a few times.

So why does it take me so long to go through my social media pages and why does it feel like I’ve only been doing so for five minutes or something? Maybe there’s subliminal text buried in the images that says “Don’t log out yet. You’ve only just got here.” and my brain says “Sure, no worries. I’m not going anywhere…”

Sounds feasible to me. As we are all aware weird stuff can happen online and maybe we’re all being quietly brainwashed into locking onto eternal loops of social media posts…and then we can’t unlock until acute hunger or a throbbing bladder snaps us out of it and we find it’s been, like, five hours! Well yes, I have to admit that sounds a bit too much like a conspiracy theory, and a silly one at that. As if that would really happen.

But on the other hand…

Tired of Facebook blocking your posts and/or flagging what you’re posting with their fact checks? Has the social media giant dumped you in “gaol” because you failed to get the message about the content of some of your posts? Are you sick of having your content censored? Then you are probably looking for somewhere else to spout your spleen and your deliberate and damaging misinformation. Therefore, what you really really want is another social media site where you can feel right at home amongst like-minded individuals who are as mouthy as you are.

And I’m not talking about a healthy differing of opinions here, I’m talking about the deliberate promotion of rabidly inaccurate inflammatory trash.

Therefore…welcome to MeWe and Parler! Both these alternative social media networking sites will be right up your alley because you can say what’s really on your mind, no matter how nonsensical it is, with very little (if any) censorship on what you’re posting, and where you can interact with others of the same ilk. If you believe it, you can post about it any old how you want.

MeWe calls itself the “next gen social network” and is owned by a company called Sgrouples, which was founded by a guy named Mark Weinstein, who thinks he has the potential to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Well, in 1988, Mark Weinstein did create a very early social network type site called SuperGroups, but it only lasted three years because the site’s investors shut it down in 2001. Okay then, not quite in Mr Zuckerberg’s league yet…

Both MeWe and Parler have become very attractive, however, with Donald Trump’s supporters over the last twelve months or so, as well as with a motley crew of anti-vaxxers, racist types, QAnon and various other extremists since Facebook and Twitter started coming down on those spreading damaging misinformation (anti-vaxxers mainly) and bile (Trump supporters mainly) via their stance on blocking posts where the content is blatantly wrong or deliberately misleading, and if you are one of those who posts that type of content then that would definitely pee you off, because how can you stir up controversy if no one can read your rubbish?

Anyway, as well as those who sign up to MeWe as members, any random individual can set up an account on the network and pretend to be an official outlet for various genuine individuals or groups and, naturally, this appeals to MeWe as it makes the site appear to be attracting more active growth than it actually is. What makes it so attractive to those with nonsense to share though, is that there are no filters regarding fake news items and information that is just plain wrong. The site prefers to view posts such as these as “opinions” which apparently make them okay. Could be why there is so much QAnon content on MeWe.

The type of users MeWe has been attracting lately though are making it look an awful lot like Parler. Like MeWe, Parler is based in America and is another site which has become very popular with Trump supporters, right wing extremists, anyone into antisemitism, QAnon, and those who live and breathe conspiracy theories and generally see Big Brother everywhere they look.

So what is Parler? Parler is also a social media platform which resembles Twitter in many ways and was first launched in 2018. It has become the go-to site for those who have been banned from mainstream social media networks because of their rabidly over-the-top and/or potentially dangerous posts. The site markets itself as a “free speech” unbiased alternative to the other mainstream social networks, and yet it censors conservatives. So I’m guessing “free speech” only applies if you are spewing the same trash as all the other OTT types Parler appears to attract. Talk sense and you’re outta there, hon.

So why would any normal person want to go there? Well that’s just it, normal people don’t. It’s the other lot which find MeWe and Parler so attractive and what could be worrying is the growing number of members drawn to these two sites, and their dogged belief in the content they see there. With luck, the lot of them are simply all talk and no action.

With luck…