Two strikes

I’ve decided to remove some more stress from my life.

I thought removing certain people from my life would bring less stress. Then came Facebook, and that stress level has gone back up again.

It’s not the games that stress me out (I don’t play but a couple, and they actually de-stress me). It’s the people.

And it’s not all of the people. Just some of the people.

It’s also not all of the time. But enough of the time that I want to pull my hair out, reach through the screen, grab them by the neck, shake them and scream at them.

And that can’t be good for anyone’s stress levels.

You might ask what these people are doing that causes such a reaction from me. And I could answer simply that they’re posting stupid shit.

But that’s not the entire story. Everyone posts stupid shit now and then. Sometimes the stupid shit is pretty damn funny. That’s not the stupid shit I’m talking about.

I’m talking about the stupid shit that’s not true, and the stupid shit that shows how unintelligent, gullible, uneducated, and/or bigoted a person truly is. I’m talking about the stupid shit that could be factually proven wrong in less than a minute.

I’m talking about this sort of stupid shit:

July 2011 will include five Fridays, five Saturdays, and five Sundays, a phenomenon that occurs only once every 800+ years.

Untrue

and

IMPORTANT!!! people change your profile pics back to YOU cuz the group that told us all to change our pics to our fav cartoon characters were a group of pedophiles.They’re doing it because kids will accept their requests faster if they see a cartoon pic, it’s got nothing to do with supporting child violence. [check…… the news tonight… & pass it on

Really?

and

Facebook will be closing down for good on 15 March 2011.

False

and this timeless gem

Facebook (or FarmVille) soon plans to charge monthly subscription fees to users.

Duh

Or any of the other panicky posts that claim that Facebook is going to do something horrible and you must act now to protect yourself and make sure your friends do the same!

And how about the political and religious falsehoods that people post? Like these:

New U.S. dollar coins were designed with the motto “In God We Trust” omitted.

Still there

and

President Obama has directed the United States Postal  Service to REMEMBER and  HONOR the EID MUSLIM holiday  season with a new  commemorative 42 Cent First Class  Holiday  Postage Stamp!

No, that was Bush

and my latest favorite meme

Kentucky just passed the best law ever. To be on food stamps, Medicaid, or cash assistance on your children or yourself, you have to pass a DRUG test. Now every other state should do the same. If you agree re-post. We have to work and take a drug test. So should they!!!!!!! kk

I had the pleasure of debunking this 5 times in 2 days

And if those weren’t enough, we also have the “click here and you will see something extraordinary” posts.

Sick! never thought this prom dress will get this teen girl suspended from school and eventually arrested +[link]

People must really like to be scammed

It’s insanity out there in Facebookland! (I’m sure it happens on Twitter, too, but I don’t do Twitter,  so I really can’t say for sure.)

After spending over 2 years correcting people, and showing them that what they’ve posted isn’t true, they are still posting stupid shit!

I’ve tried to educate people about how to fact-check something before they post it, and I’m hit with every excuse in the book about why they can’t.

Really, people? You have a computer, you have access to the internet, you presumably understand how to copy & paste something, and I’m pretty damn sure you know how to type!  So how fucking hard is it to type  google.com and paste your stupid little post into the search box, and see what comes up?

99% of the time, the first link you get will be to a site that debunks your post, thereby saving you the trouble of posting it. Time well spent, in my opinion! Certainly better spent than clogging up my news feed with your bullshit!

So I’ve decided to institute a new rule: Two Strikes and You’re OUT!

I’m going to keep a list of names of people who post things that are untrue, scams and hoaxes.

The first time it happens, your name will go on the list. I will debunk your post, then attempt to educate you about how to fact-check things.

The second time it happens, I’ll send you a nice little email informing you why I’m deleting you from my friend list, and then I’m going to delete your sorry ass.

I just don’t have time for people who don’t have the decency to verify that what they’re posting is true.  And I certainly don’t have time for people who can’t be bothered to learn something.

It might pain me to know that I’m allowing this type of stupidity to go on unchecked, but I’ll just have to resign myself to the fact that ya just can’t fix stupid.

And on that note, I’ll leave you with my most recent favorite debunking.

 

I can feel the stress leaving my body and mind already.

Facebook responsibly, people!