SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

I'm pausing here from my work-laden day to express disgust at people who ABUSE social media. What the hell is wrong with people? Are they crazy? Bored. Sociopaths? (I think I just described most of my everyday clients)

This afternoon I received a picture on my phone (text from a friend) of a newborn baby that was supposedly left in a dumpster in the town nearest me. I'm 9 miles from any 'township' and live out in the country - but I claim this small town as my own. Population 6500. Farmers. Lots of retired people. This picture went viral around here because the dumpster is supposedly in our little town and while the newborn baby is alive, it's critical. Of course if baby dies, there will be murder charges if the 'dumper' could be found.

But after some quick research, I found this is fake news. And here half the little town is up in arms (literally!) wanting to find the people who dumped a newborn baby, in a garbage bag, into a dumpster, in our little peaceful town. What satisfaction can the poster - and those who spread such rumors - get out of this??

I found the photo was first circulated in New Mexico a few months ago. So who KNOWS if there was a real baby dumped and if it survived and where it is. Picture is very real.

In the past I've almost lost friends because I have refused to join FB and other social media sites. SI is my only social media.

There are several reasons I have not signed on to any of them -- mainly my work and I don't have time - but also there seems to be no privacy and I've heard people talking about posting their every move on social media.

There ARE (have to be!) millions of responsible users of social media or it wouldn't be so popular - but it seems to me the nuts are trying to take it all over.

I deal with 'ugly' all day, every day - and seeing a picture of a newborn baby still tugged at my heart. I hope wherever that baby is, he/she is alive.

Ironically, the same friend who sent the text to me had her bank account hacked for $500 today.

I think there is a mixture of types of people contributing to this.

First, there are some malicious jerks creating viruses and malware for whatever thrill or reward they receive.

But second, and I believe there are MANY more of these, are the people who just mindlessly share anything that catches their eye or their emotions. Those are honestly more of a problem, IMO, and I get more irritated by them.

There aren’t and have never been people spiking Halloween candy with drugs. Never. It’s NEVER been credibly confirmed. And as a recovering addict I can promise you nobody is wasting their own stash on strangers’ children. But damned if the whole world doesn’t have to blow up every October warning parents about this nonexistent hazard. Meanwhile, the true threats… family members, that neighbor guy who is always SO NICE to the kids.. fly under the radar.

The “inspirational posts” attributed to some celebrity also drive me crazy. That picture of Steve Jobs withered away from cancer with a misattributed quote about what really matters in life… takes maybe two clicks to find out he never said that.

John Wayne did receive a fan letter from Robert Schuller’s daughter but it was not a letter entreating him to follow Jesus.

I (privately) corrected someone on that one once and she went scorched earth on me.

Whatevs. These days if I’m feeling bitchy I will post the Snopes link as a comment. Mostly I just scroll on, with a little less respect for the person who posted whatever.

My MIL is terrible about sharing the scam posts about abused/hurt animals. She is a HUGE animal lover, and older, so she doesn't spy it.
Every time she shares one my H will post a response - Mom- This is a SCAM. And she deletes it.
But a lot of this is done to raise $$$ for a false pretense.

Been in IT for over 30 years. Reminds me of the early virus days when people would ask why they did it. This was well before the idea of encryption made malware a business opportunity. They would do it for the notoriety or to make themselves feel big. They didn't care about burning things down. Just that to be able to say look what I did, even if they couldn't out loud.
This is the mindset of those who start these. All they care about is the rush of being the person responsible. They have no care of any repercussions or disruptions it causes. Then you have the "victims" who are the same ones who perpetuated chain letters back in the day. A little bored maybe.

Ironically, the same friend who sent the text to me had her bank account hacked for $500 today.

There's a number of social media memes going around that some in the security field suspect were started to collect answers to secret questions. You know the ones that are typically used as security measures on same sites for things such as password resets or second factor answers for new machines. Like the following one. I cringe every time I see one making the rounds. You add the unlikely to be documented elsewhere from the results of that (favorite color where you were born) and publically available info and you basically have what you need to answer those questions.

40 odd things about me . . . Please play along! I love reading them - these are fun. Keep it going!!
1. Do you put ketchup on hotdogs? Yes
2. Choice of Soda? Diet coke
3. Do you put salt on watermelon? Yes
4. Can you swim? Yes
5. How do you eat your steak? Medium rare
6. Favorite type of food? Italian
7. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes
8. What do you drink in the morning? Diet coke
9. Can you do 100 push ups? Probably not
10. Summer, Winter, Spring or Fall? Winter
11. Your favorite animal? All
12. Tattoos? 0
13. Do you wear glasses? Yes
14. Do you have a fear? Dying alone
15. Do you have a nickname? xxxxxx
18. Rain or Snow? Snow
19. Can you change a tire? Well yeah
20. Favorite flower? Chinese lilies
21. Can you drive a stick? Yes
22. Ever gotten arrested? Yes
23. Children? 0
24. Favorite color? Blue
26. Can you whistle? So so
27. Where were you born? Jewish hospital downtown
28. Surgeries? 9+
30. Shower or Bath? Shower
31. Last song you heard? Believe
32. Broken bones? 0
33. How many TV’s in your house? 2
34. Worst pain? Loss my Parents
35. Do you like to sing? Yes
36. Are your parents still alive? No
37. Do you like to go camping? Yes
38. What do you binge watch? Yellowstone
39. Pumpkin or pecan? Neither
40. A photo of yourself:

Gullible people. The baby in trash story came from FB and I guess some believe if it's on FB, it has to be true.

In the vain of false stories, and sociopaths, I saw today that 13 school districts in the Boston area were 'swatted', meaning someone is calling 911, claiming there are active shooters at schools.

I mean, how horrific is that? All of those students panicking when first responders show up, until they realize it was a swatting call. And the trauma for all of the first responders who think they're coming to the aid of students and staff members and don't know what they're going to find.

I’m a Christian

But so tired of the if your want a blessing type Amen and share this Jesus picture.

Well I’m never gonna be blessed because I scroll on.

Amen Tanner.

I use Facebook for genealogy but have a really sweet Chrome extension that kills the newsfeed so when I sign in, all I see is a quote by a historical figure. From there, I go to the pages I’m working with, provide or receive the info I’m researching and sign off.

And if I want to, I check my daughter page for pics of the grandkids.

Without that extension, I’d quit using it because of all the nonsense now that FB shows me stuff from more than just the pages I’ve designated as "friends."

They’re catering to the ignorant and pretty soon, there’ll be no one left except the idiots.

I got rid of all the "time suckers" Fake Book Instagram
I found people will write things that they would never say face to face.
I look around and people are not even talking to each other! They are on their phones ... Looking down ... Paying no attention to their suroundings! Plastic surgeons will make the big bucks fixing all the jowls on the faces from everyone constantly looking down!

Yeah, not a big social media guy, so I don't get the need to post selfies or what mood I'm in. That's what you guys are for! The only reason I keep FB is to connect with friends via PM and using marketplace.

I think the larger symptoms is the desperate need for notoriety which stems from a deeper issue, the lack of intimacy in our culture. We all want to feel connected, that we somehow matter, and heaven forbid, we die, that we will, at some level, be missed. So the social isolation we suffer has prompted us, like drowning people, to grasp at any and everything we can. Hence social media. It provides that instant gratification and validation that we crave. Having a bad day, post your mood and get some meaningless emojie responses that cost nothing, require no authentic effort on the part of your "friends". Hell, even the term friend has been watered down so much to render it meaningless to some degree.