Pepe says… F@#% it…I very much dislike social media and FakeBook (FaceBook) in particular. Some of you may be now asking “…why?” Those who know me well already know the answer to that. For everyone else…

In the beginning, I – like so many others – jumped onto the social media bandwagon with flourish and gusto! Myspace paved the way. Then came FaceBook! Bigger! Better! Shinier! Sexier!!! Yay! So, everyone climbed aboard. One big happy family.

Then…things began to get a little…weird…

Suddenly, FaceBook knew a lot about me. At the time I couldn’t understand why and how they knew where I was born, where I went to school and who my friends and family were. Now I know how, of course. Suckerburg sold us out to the Feds. Plain and simple. But, being somewhat naïve about the ways of the world, I just chalked it all up to the nature of the beast and ignored it all. What was the harm? I could keep in touch with friends, family and clients in the FaceBook environment and besides everyone was doing it, right?

Then the real weirdness started…

I made a “Fan Page” for my business. This would be great, I thought. Here is a place where I can reach out to all my clients and keep them informed and up to date on all the latest in the realms of Sleeping Gypsy! Soon I noticed, however, that my 1500+ “fans” were not getting info from me or my page. Only 3 to 5 individuals were seeing my posts in their feeds. What?! That just doesn’t seem good. Then I noticed that they wanted me to pay 100s of $$’s to reach those other folks thru the FaceBook platform. Ummm…no. That’s not gonna happen. Not in MY Faerie Tale world, it’s not.

Then came the “real name” flap. Someone – probably a competitor – “turned me in” for using a “fake name”. My business name to be exact. I could use that name if I jumped thru all sorts of procedural hoops to prove who I was for realz.  Now things seems to be getting more and more ridiculous. So, reluctantly and with great protest, I submit my real name. Now, it’s not like my real name is any secret or mystery. I am just of the old school thought that if someone wants to know my real name they should just ask me. Having grown up from an era that witnessed the birth of the internet starting from dial in 1200 baud modems running telnet and bulletin boards to the cesspool that is the world wide web of today, I am very reluctant to put my personal info out there for every weirdo and whack job to see. So, I cave in to the peer pressure thinking I am being old fashioned, a fuddy duddy…a stick in the mud. So, I acquiesce and cave in. I submit…against all of my better judgment. (Remember when I say “Always follow your first impressions? Listen to your intuition?” Duh……….

This is when the real “fun” begins…

I, like many, was bullied in school as a child and very young adult. The kids at my middle school in particular bullied me relentlessly. Physical, verbal, sexual, emotional assault was a common place thing for me and a challenge to my psyche not to mention my mental health and physical well being. I managed to survive – my parents were not really involved with my schooling or my life, for that matter, so I had to go it alone most of the time. Needless to say…I managed to get thru it and leave it behind for brighter days. At least after graduating high school I could set my sights for a real life with real friends and not be tortured by bullies. That is…until the bullies managed to tack me down using FaceBook. Now, all of a sudden – some 40 odd years later – here they were!  Stalking me and trying to make my life miserable once again. This is when FaceBook officially became FAKEBOOK in my paradigm. Sure, my blocked list is 10 miles long at least and so into the pile they went with the other trolls, monsters and demoniac rascals. But at some point one has to ask one’s self…why? Why does one bother with this crap just to be stalked, bullied and info farmed by big corporations and the Feds who don’t give a sh!t  about me or my life only just to add my ID number to the millions of other common, decent Americans (and others) who they have listed on their lists and compiled on their piles. Bleh. Peace…OUT.

I gave up on Myspace years ago. Twitter has been taken over by the snowflakes and bullies. I rarely use Twitter any more after being bullied there. Ello has not piqued my interest, really. But Gab.ai has been a good place to get not fake news and YouTube I view on a daily basis. Pinterest is fun for storing graphics and sharing creative ideas! But Google+ (or anything Google or Yahoo related, for that matter) is a no go.

So…here we are. I am just -> *this* <- close to deactivating my FAKEBOOK account (because mostly you simply cannot “delete” an account on FAKEBOOK…mostly.) Twatter and GAG-gle+ are not too far behind either.  I guess I am just putting this out there just in case there are any other lost souls out there who feel absolutely disgusted with social media and are thinking about bailing from them also. You are NOT ALONE, my friends. You are not alone. In fact you are in very good company!

In closing, if anyone needs or wants to keep up with me just look right here. My blog is up and will be until the interwebz goes flatline. Until then…stay thirsty, my friends…

Pepe says… F#%K it…