Social Media Hoaxes That Just Won’t Go Away

by Your Evil Auntie

I originally posted this to FarceBlört this morning (August 17, 2023). Both of the hoaxes noted in this post make the rounds every few months or so.

For the record, EvilOverlady (and the other sites I own) do NOT harvest any of your information for dissemination elsewhere, and I foot the bill for everything as a result.
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NO! Copying and sharing that stupid “can’t use my shit” notice (or the “copy and share to see more friends” notice) isn’t going to do anything magical for you.

In the first case, when you signed up for Facebook, you AGREED to let them aggregate whatever information they wanted on you and allow them to use your images/posts/whatever. It’s the agreement you make that allows you to use their otherwise FREE service. The same goes for any other social media platform. They’re not philanthropists. They’re in this to make all the money they can from their particular platform.

It’s how they pay their employees (however many they may have at this point) and keep the lights on.

I’ve long been a part of the IT industry, both directly and peripherally, and I personally know what it costs to run even a small social media site. I shudder to think what it costs to run something like FarceBlört, Xitter, BlueSky, etc.

If you don’t want to allow them to collect information on you, 
you might as well stop using the internet, because almost all sites of whatever sort are going to be doing the same thing.

In the second case, it’s just bullshit. Pure and simple. 

Copying and sharing a post ISN’T going to spread out your reach beyond “25” people.

When it all comes down to it, they are both HOAXES and seem to make the rounds once again every few months or so.

Listen to your Evil Auntie, kids. Don’t fall for that bullshit, because that’s what it is.

Bullshit.