Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Chicklet]

Social media usage makes me wonder what those people did before Instagram and Facebook? What on earth were their sad lives like without a way to announce every irrational thought and daily schedule to an unsuspecting world?

[JenCarroll]

That's called vaguebooking and is attention whoring to the nth degree. Once people quit responding it usually goes away. Or you can straight up post "someone is vaguebooking again..." and it tends to shut it down.

The Prayer Closet is continually educational!

[Chicklet]

Lamebook was created for people like us because there are people who shouldn't be allowed near a computer.

[Liz Tudor]

All y'all cold folks can join me in the Sunshine State, where it's felt like August...since August. We've had one "cold" day...yesterday was 58. Brrr. Me, I need to get somewhere cooler. I'm hot all the time, and my biology isn't helping. A word of caution...businesses, etc. usually run the AC pretty briskly, so bring a sweater, lol!

I have a permanently broken blood vessel in my left eye from what I can only imagine was a rage stroke I suffered while watching him hook up the cable to our new TV with a butter knife and masking tape. He was otherwise a lovely man, but every time I look in the mirror I remember exactly why we got divorced

Mr. Tudor & I had to pause the TV and laugh (I mean serious braying) at the imagery of "rage stroke." That is going to work its way into our lexicon. Although I'm sorry you have a permanent scar!

Lastly, thanks to your posts & feelings about FB, I, too, am now feeling normal about what FB has become. Like Wellfleet, we are ex-military, and FB has been a great way to keep in touch with fellow military as well as long-distance friends & family. However, my feed has slowly become filled with political rants, oversharing, narcissism, etc. And my personal peeve is MLMs (multi-level marketing/home businesses). Too many folks are using their personal accounts vs setting up another account to crow about how Plexus, Beachbody, Primerica, It Works, Younique, etc. has changed their lives, and can change yours, too, if you join their team! Blergh. I have unfollowed several people and my feed doesn't make me stabby nearly as much. One last thing...I only visit FB maybe twice a week, and I have friends who give me grief and think it's not normal for me NOT to compulsively read, comment, like, etc. They get irritated when I'm out of the loop. Ummm, yeah, I'M the one with the problem...

Edited because my iPad keyboard hates me. Feeling's mutual.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Liz Tudor

[emma675]

I've had to unfollow quite a few FB friends due to idiotic political rantings already and I expect as we get closer to the election I'll unfollow even more. One "friend" claimed she didn't want to bother people with political postings; she asked people to tell her if they wanted to read her rants so she could create a special feed where only those people saw it. Apparently not enough people wanted to read it so she's continued to post stuff (she's a Carson and Trump fan) on her main feed. Unfollowed.

Edited December 20, 2015 by emma675d

[bigskygirl]

I do not mind facebook in relations to keeping in touch with family members, people I met on the internet, keeping up with law enforcement or other emergency personnel agencies, certain comic strips (Peanuts, Garfield mostly,) or support the veterans and local assistance organizations. I cannot stand the daily support quotes, and political issues especially when I keep getting the same ones on my facebook page. Enough, I get it already. I have hid some topics coming up on my page.

[Jenniferbug]

I've become ruthless about unfriending people on Facebook. If they're annoying me and not someone I regularly have contact with, they're unfriended. If they're someone I do have regular contact with (current coworkers, family) I unfollow them. I'm due for a clean up of my friends list. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

I've become ruthless about unfriending people on Facebook. If they're annoying me and not someone I regularly have contact with, they're unfriended. If they're someone I do have regular contact with (current coworkers, family) I unfollow them. I'm due for a clean up of my friends list. 

I wish I had that luxury...my friends list is full of people I have little to no contact with, but between being a military family with WAY more acquaintances than friends due to moving around every couple of years and not having any relatives other than my parents and my children on the same continent, the feeling of maintaining at least some sort of contact with an incredibly far-flung assortment of people is a strong one, even despite the fact that many of these people have never been, nor will ever be anything like bosom buddies. They are still all I have. 

[Jenniferbug]

I can understand that. There are some people I hang onto for some reason, even if we haven't spoken in years. They're not usually obnoxious though, just people I haven't spoken to in many years. Admittedly, I am easily irritated so my ruthlessness is to avoid my blood pressure skyrocketing :-)

[MonicaM]

I hate it when people use Facebook as a passive aggressive weapon.  I had no idea my sister was angry or upset with me until I realized she had unfriended and blocked me on Facebook.  I still don't know what I did or didn't do that put her into High Bitch mode.  Since it was the second time she'd pulled that nonsense, I never bothered to talk to her about it and pretty much stopped communicating with her about anything more serious than the weather.  

 

Social media has opened up new avenues of ways to brag on yourself and fully develop your narcissistic tendencies.   You don't even have to be a Duggar to annoy me by posting endless selfies.  

[Happyfatchick]

My favorite of all time FB post (by my husband's early-20's niece):

Goodnight, my FB peeps!

[Lemur]

I've had to unfollow quite a few FB friends due to idiotic political rantings already and I expect as we get closer to the election I'll unfollow even more. One "friend" claimed she didn't want to bother people with political postings; she asked people to tell her if they wanted to read her rants so she could create a special feed where only those people saw it. Apparently not enough people wanted to read it so she's continued to post stuff (she's a Carson and Trump fan) on her main feed. Unfollowed.

 

Yeah, I have a pretty strict no-politics policy on FB (with the special exception of the Zadroga Bill for 9/11 responders - my sister worked at WTC and was there that day so it's a bit of a special cause).  I don't post my views and I stopped trying to debate with others long ago as I find it to be a Sisyphean experience at best.  I will occasionally point out where someone is blatantly, obviously, offensively wrong on an historical fact or quote, which is a compulsion I can't help.  I don't mind people not sharing my views - I think that's for the best and creates a counterbalance.  I do mind being inundated with things that make me feel like I'm actually getting stupider from reading them.  And that's not just political stuff - any motivational post that has a misspelling in it, that's an unfollowing.  Any Minion memes, that's an unfollowing (I seriously hate those bloody yellow turds and no I won't apologize for it).  Beach Body, that's an unfollowing.  Orange Theory Fitness, also an unfollowing.  Post too much obvious click bait, that's an unfollowing.  Share too many Mommy blogs, that's an unfollowing too.  I'm getting down to brass tacks, my FB feed is pretty much only people that make me laugh, as God intended.

[satrunrose]

Yes, sometimes the unfriending process can tell you a lot about a person. I had an aunt that I never really talked politics with who posted one of those conservative political memes so I sent her a private message explaining why I disagreed (complete with supporting numbers). This was soon followed by a passive aggressive 'boo hoo hoo Don't I have the right to an opinion?" status update to which her equally unpleasant daughter replied "Haters gonna hate. You don't need people like that in your life" and they both unfriended me. Come to find out, this aunt is hugely conservative. She even called my Mom when I moved out to yell at her for being a poor parent and "letting" me move out without being married (I was 26 at the time). Needless to say, I've smiled politely and avoided her like the plague ever since. 

 

 

Luckily, now that auntie and mini-auntie are off my Facebook, I don't see much of the politics that angry up the blood. It was kind of hilarious, actually, in a recent immigration controversy, I saw way more people getting angry at people who were posting opposing opinions on their feeds than actual opposing positions.

Edited December 22, 2015 by satrunrose

[Lemur]

You know who also gets unfollowed on my FB feed?  Adults who take verbal cues from Taylor Swift.  "Haters gonna hate"?  Used unironically?  So freakin' gone.  People who say "Bye, Felicia" but have never seen Friday?  Unfollowed.  Seriously, I had a co-worker say that to me last year, and when I looked at him like he'd had a stroke, he asked me if I knew what it meant.  I told him, yeah, it's also a reference to a twenty year old movie with Ice Cube in it.  Then he looked at me like I'd had a stroke.  Did I mention he was my boss?  And that I quit six months later?

Edited December 21, 2015 by Lemur

[Jynnan tonnix]

I just scroll past most of the political screeds...that said, I'm not much of a political animal to start with, and most of the stuff just rolls off my back. The gun nuts I can do without, but I don't try to engage them in conversation.

 

The things that I seem not to be able to resist commenting on are the  extreme vegan posts. I have three vegan cousins (and their offspring) and a brother-in-law. One unfriended and blocked me a coupe of years ago after I not only dared to disagree with her that there is absolutely no reasonable argument for ever using or ingesting the most miniscule bit of animal-derived product (and my argument wasn't even about present-day vegans but merely noting that homo sapiens probably would not have evolved to their present state had they not discovered efficient hunting and farming methods including the storage of significant amounts of animal protein, which freed them up from constant hand-to-mouth foraging). And not only that, but I "liked" a comment another "friend" of hers had made on a separate thread, and she accused us of having been trash-talking about her behind her back and having fun at her expense, and unfriended & blocked the both of us. We had never said a work to each other prior to this, but have become facebook "friends" since, in a largely theoretical way; we rarely "talk", but it's never about her anyway. I'm sure she would be disappointed to know that she isn't the center of everyone's conversations. She also sent me a expletive-packed message about how she never wants to hear from me again, and followed it up a day later by one telling me that, by the way, "your picture tells anyone all they need to know about you. You're nothing but a fat, greedy PIG. F*** YOU!" (yes, I am a little overweight, thank you). And, for good measure, told me to let my mom know never to call her again either.

 

But she feels so much better having jettisoned the "negative people" out of her life (I noticed on her facebook page when she momentarily unblocked me to send aforementioned messages) LOL

 

My other vegan relatives are a bit more live-and-let-live about it though they do post multiple vegan propaganda posts daily. I don't often respond, not to the memes, anyway, but might throw in my two cents if something gets into a debate. I don't block them, but since I block the sources of most of what they "share" it has cut down on a lot of it.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Jynnan tonnix

[kathe5133]

Alchohol. That's the problem with Facebook. I bet anything more than half of those that post are shitfaced or on their way to becoming shitfaced! Well, I suppose it's better than them driving.......

Edited December 21, 2015 by kathe5133

[theredhead77]

my FB feed is pretty much only people that make me laugh, as God intended.

Do you follow FB God? S/he's awesome and funny.

My former social circle had a trash talking Queen Bee (10+ years my junior) that took headship (we didn't have any sort of pecking order before). QB is of those triple booking, "I'm sooo busy", picks the best option people and I demanded a bit of respect for my time. As in If we make plans, keep them or cancel them in a reasonable amount of time. Don't message me 10 minutes before we're supposed to be somewhere that you're out of state and were too busy to tell me.

I was called toxic and run through the mud all over Facebook. She talked so much shit on her current BFFs though, it's only a matter of time that she moves on to a new group. She took over this group after being "soooo busy" with another group of friends she dropped (or dropped her).

 

Whew, that felt kinda good to get out. My mantra for 2015 is letting go of the past. I'm letting this go, here.

Edited December 22, 2015 by theredhead77

[Lemur]

Do you follow FB God? S/he's awesome and funny.

 

I love FB God.  Always good for a chuckle.  

[NEGirl]

I agree with all the above posters. I never discuss politics or religion on or with FB friends. My one sister is born again and she and my BIL post all kinds of religious stuff, which I ignore. I also have extremely conservative nephew/friends (ie:FOX network) who post political bs, which I also ignore. You can not win with those people so I don't engage them in any way, shape or form. They will not change my political beliefs and I will not change theirs. If there post are extremely nasty or crazy, I delete them.

[barbedwire]

I don't mind all of the tributes and remembering those who have passed on, that goes on on Facebook.  Whatever gets them through their grief, I support that.  But like you guys, I hate the political crap.  I too have asked "Has anyone ever changed their mind because of this post?"  My SIL got all high and mighty about Facebook last New Year's Day.  "I am going to have real, personal relationships."  Funny how I have only gotten one call from her, no visits, and yet I have seen her "like" her sisters' posts at least 10 times.

 

Facebook should just be fun.  I will have to find that god one you guys are talking about.

[emma675]

I thought of y'all today when a FB friend liked a picture of a little girl in a hospital bed holding up a sign that said "my doctor will let me go home for Christmas if this pic gets 1,000 likes". I wanted to shout "that's not how this works, that's not how any of this works!!". 

[BrianJ62]

I have a nephew that puts personal family details on FB, grizzly details of my nieces death on FB, theres no place for that in general especially on FB.

[theredhead77]

I will have to find that god one you guys are talking about.

Here's the page https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodLordAbove/

 

Usually funny, sometimes poignant in a Jon Stewart kind of way. The page suffers from the Facebook issue of requiring a lot of likes to show up in the feed so it will post like this if you see it. 

[magpye29]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=972829156096634&set=a.169855136394044.37026.100001086753419&type=3

 

This is how I feel about JOY.

[Lemur]

I will admit, one of the things that makes me super gun-shy about posting anything other than bad jokes or funny cat pictures is the lose of internet anonymity.  Remember back when we all first got online?  When Steve Case from AOL told us to make up unique usernames so we could participate in the World Wide Web but still keep our identities from being stolen?  When did we all decide to trade that in?  Why did we decide to trade that in?  I feel old.  I feel really, really old.  

[barbedwire]

We are doing that here :)

 

I just discovered I have one more thing to get.  Ugh.  Thought I was done shopping.  Wish me luck.

[Love2dance]

We are doing that here :)

 

I just discovered I have one more thing to get.  Ugh.  Thought I was done shopping.  Wish me luck.

Me too. Aaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh.

[scriggle]

I will admit, one of the things that makes me super gun-shy about posting anything other than bad jokes or funny cat pictures is the lose of internet anonymity.  Remember back when we all first got online?  When Steve Case from AOL told us to make up unique usernames so we could participate in the World Wide Web but still keep our identities from being stolen?  When did we all decide to trade that in?  Why did we decide to trade that in?  I feel old.  I feel really, really old.  

 

*nods*  Way back when FB was first becoming popular I wanted to see for myself why.  I created a FB using a made up name because there was no way in hell I was putting my real name online.  I quickly decided it wasn't for me even though I never shut down that FB (I confess I used it to follow a couple of actors I like).  Over the years, friends and relatives have urged me to create one and I won't.  I can't. It's too deeply ingrained in me to keep anonymous while online.  I won't even create a linkedin for that reason.

[kalamac]

"Women of negotiable affection" - I love it!

I can't take credit for that. I got it from the Terry Pratchett Discworld series.

Edited December 24, 2015 by kalamac

[Jynnan tonnix]

I can't take credit for that. I got it from the Terry Pratchett Discworld series.

*moment of silence*

 

All the love for the late Terry Pratchett.

[Chicklet]

Eggnog is the food of the gods. 

Feel free to disagree but I will not be swayed.

Now I must go and make cream puffs for a party tonight. Happy Christmas/Holidays everyone  (whichever makes you happy and not stabby)

[MunichNark]

Merry Christmas to you all - I shall be unwrapping my pressies shortly, as it's just getting dark here and we do the pressie thingy on Christmas eve.

 

Thanks for the laughter, the snark and the wise insights...

[scriggle]

Eggnog is the food of the gods. 

Feel free to disagree but I will not be swayed.

Now I must go and make cream puffs for a party tonight. Happy Christmas/Holidays everyone  (whichever makes you happy and not stabby)

 

I love eggnog!

[kathe5133]

My mother used to make egg nog from scratch. Food prep was not something she was good at, the concept of "mixing and blending" being completely foreign to her.

I haven't drunk egg nogg since that first glass 50 some odd years ago. Yuck!

[scriggle]

My mother used to make egg nog from scratch. Food prep was not something she was good at, the concept of "mixing and blending" being completely foreign to her.

I haven't drunk egg nogg since that first glass 50 some odd years ago. Yuck!

 

My mother used to make it from scratch too.  But hers was really good.  Then Hood started making eggnog and she started buying that instead. It is the best commercially produced eggnog I've ever had.  It really is the best.  It's a good thing it's only available during the holidays. I don't need to be drinking a half-gallon of it every two weeks.

[toodles]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all my ptv peeps.

[Jellybeans]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

[Ilovemylabs]

I don't mind Facebook.  My brother is very liberal and also a great photographer.  I unfollowed him but when he posts I get a memo.  So I click on his amazing photos and 'like' them or leave a message and ignore the rest.  I unfriended his wife because all she ever posts is liberal diatribes. I enjoy seeing my friends and families' photos and learning what they are up to.  The thing that really gets me is one of my sisters constantly posts some inane quotes that I think are supposed to be insightful and 'deep'.  I never recognize the author of these quotes and, rather than make me think, they make me laugh.  I do love getting the posts that show funny stuff and have posted a number of those myself.  Life is hard enough.  Love to have a chuckle or a good laugh.  Most of my friends stay away from politics, which is OK in my book.

Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, and Happy New Year to all of you.  Celebrate or not, as is your custom.  We love Christmas in our family.   Can't wait to see my grand kids tomorrow morning as they tear through their gifts.

[toodles]

Ok, I just caught up and need to weigh in on fb. I have a niece in to all the hippy dippy crap ever invented. She also fancies herself to be a humorous blogger with all the answers to every question. She also has a lot of time on her hands. All in all, a really bad combination.

I didn't want to hide her posts because her boys are too stinkin' cute. But she was filling up my feed, so bye bye.

I'm pretty selective about fb friends. I have a very sweet elderly aunt that posts way too much, but she stays.

I'm rambling, but wth. My point, although it is not original or exciting, is I take the good with the bad fb wise.

[Fuzzysox]

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

[amitville]

To all my friends Merry Christmas  enjoy 

Edited December 24, 2015 by amitville

[Wellfleet]

Ok, I just caught up and need to weigh in on fb. I have a niece in to all the hippy dippy crap ever invented. She also fancies herself to be a humorous blogger with all the answers to every question. She also has a lot of time on her hands. All in all, a really bad combination.

I didn't want to hide her posts because her boys are too stinkin' cute. But she was filling up my feed, so bye bye.

I'm pretty selective about fb friends. I have a very sweet elderly aunt that posts way too much, but she stays.

I'm rambling, but wth. My point, although it is not original or exciting, is I take the good with the bad fb wise.

 

Just wondering - is your niece in her 20s? They're usually the ones with all the answers. I know I sure was... 

 

PS - to all fellow posters [lurkers too]. If you celebrate anything at this time of year, here's to the merriest and most wonderful of them!  And may December 2016 find us ALL in a far more peaceful world.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Wellfleet

[toodles]

Early thirties. Just as bad.

[Chicklet]

It's not always the age of someone who knows "everything". Remember Bloob is in his late 40s and he is sure he knows everything.

MOST people grow out of that, hopefully. I think.

[emma675]

Well, my relaxing, peaceful Christmas Eve to myself is a no go. My brother called last night to say he was coming tonight to stay and today has been a frantic orgy of cleaning, washing the dog, vacuuming, mopping, uncluttering and cooking (my dish for Christmas day with the extended fam). I love him, but I'm a little ticked he let me know so last minute.

 

But, tis the season, right??

 

Merry Christmas to the greatest bunch of online friends a gal ever had!

[wilsie]

To all of the wonderful people on this forum:  May your holiday be full of every one and everything you love!  And may you know love and peace every day of your lives!  I'm so grateful to have you in my life!

[MargeGunderson]

Like the Grinch, my heart has grown two sizes lately and I am unable to snark, not even on the Duggars. 'Tis an odd feeling - perhaps it's Christmas cheer, or just all of the sugary treats I've eaten. I hope my snarking ability comes back in the new year. Happy holidays, y'all!

[allonsyalice]

It was my birthday yesterday and I got the most amazing sundae as dessert. The first thing I thought about, naturally, was the disgusting mess the Duggars get and how much better mine was. Anyway, I was gonna share a photo for comparison but I am baffles w/r/t uploading photo so....never mind.

Happy holidays, everyone! Once again, I am wishing you all amazing food and minimal family drama

[Love2dance]

Happy holidays to all my PTV friends. Hope you are all finding peace, joy, love, and whatever warms your heart this busy time of year. You have all enriched my life and helped me waste way too many hours on this site. FF hugs to all.

[Missy Vixen]

Happy Holidays to everyone on the Small Talk forum. I hope your holidays are full of everything you like and love the most. And here's to the happiest of New Years for all.

 

XO