by YatPundit | Sep 22, 2023 | social media
Is it a gun or a camera?
Maybe it’s a camera
I found this meme on Da Twittah. So, I shared it on Zuckerbook. I figured it would give folks a chuckle. That plan sort of backfired. Many people who follow me saw a gun here.
It’s not a gun. It’s a camera, on a tripod. A lot of photographers take a rig like this and throw it over their shoulder to move from, say, one room or building to another. Moving the camera while assembled speeds up their work day. You don’t have to break down the equipment, pack it, move, then re-assemble.
We see what we want to see
If it looks like a gun, it must be one, right? Think again. How many times have we read about someone getting shot for holding a toy, or even a mobile device. The cop explains, they thought they saw a gun. They reacted as if their lives were in danger.
Guess what liberals? You just did the same thing here. Your brain processed this image as a weapon. You might even have the same reaction as the cop.
Words are important
Some folks stopped looking at this image when they read the caption. It says, “Give me ONE reason why any civilian needs access to something like this.”
How about because they’re taking pictures of their kid’s soccer game? They’re a bird- or (like me) a train-watcher. It’s a feckin camera.
But you didn’t pause to consider that. Your mind said “gun.” The caption implies “gun.” You don’t like guns. You think people should have guns.
When it comes to guns, you’re not wrong. Thing is, this isn’t a gun. You need to work on your critical thinking.
But…but…but
Then there are the double-downers. One person on Instagram commented on this. I suggested they look again. Their reply was that people shouldn’t set up a camera so it looks like a gun. Doubling down on an error is rarely a good idea. When your double-down is particularly stupid, well, that’s when I mute/delete/block.
by YatPundit | Jul 11, 2023 | Instagram, social media, Threads, Twitter
Threads isn’t ready for primetime.
Meta’s Treads isn’t worth the bother…yet
Like a zillion other folks, I installed Threads from Meta last weekend. I lasted about thirty-six hours before taking it off my phone. As the list of things about the platform I didn’t like grew, I gave up. Some items I didn’t like, below.
Instagram connection
While it made sense for Meta to tie their Twittah buster to Instagram, Meta made a poor choice in featuring Instagram “influencers” so prominently in the home feed of Threads. If I want to see Instagram Performers, I can go to IG. if I want Mr. Beast. I come to Da Twittah to talk to people.
User Interface
The home feed’s a mess with all the Perfrormers. The “notifications” section is also problematic. When you follow someone on Threads, you see posts from folks they reply to, before you see the reply. So, I’m reading something that the person I follow thinks is interesting, but it might not be to me. I don’t even know how that post got in my feed until I scroll past it. That increases my temptation to shitpost someone spouting nonsense. Oh, I know, that “nonsense” might not be viewed as such by my realtor, human resource, and social media friends, but context is important. If I see their posts first, I know to move along.
The other UI goofy “feature” I found amusing is the “Tweet this” button. While one Performer thought this was the height of petty on part of Meta, it’s a good example of an unfinished package. You make a post on Threads and want to share it on the other platform. So, you click the button, and it brings you over to Da Twittah. You share your post, but now you’re back on Twitter. There’s no return to the original platform! Not sure that’s what Meta wants.
API
The lack of an API at this time is inconvenient. I use Dlvr It to post to multiple platforms simultaneously. I can hit Twitter, Facebook, IG, and Mastodon from a single posting. It also picks up the RSS feeds of my blogs and shares those. To get something over to Meta’s new platform, I have to manually go back for it.
The bottom line is, I’m out, but may be back when it becomes a usable platform.
