The OFFICIAL Cornfield Library lounge area thread. Off topic posts are allowed! 15 15

[Math Teacher]

It took me quite some time to get involved in social media. I do remember the beginning of social media, such as Friendster and MySpace, but I stayed away as I thought these were only for kids. Then Facebook became popular, but I stayed away because I read horror stories about teachers getting in trouble for things that were posted. Next came Twitter (now known as X), and I stayed away because I didn't think it was necessary for everyone in the world to know what I was doing at any given time. Then came Instagram, and I stayed away from that for a while. I then learned that you could buy and sell comics on IG, so I dipped my toe into the water. I now use Instagram for two main reasons: 1) to buy and sell comics, and 2) to post pictures of my comics, our family, and our vacations. Before you could say "Jack Robinson," SnapChat and TikTok came along. I stayed away because I was getting all I needed from IG.

About a week or so ago, I noticed this new window that would show up on IG called Threads. Threads is now the Meta version of Twitter. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to take a look. I enjoyed reading other people's posts, but I soon noticed that were a significant number of posts whose sole purpose was to bash Caitlin Clark. I'm from Iowa, and my wife and I have watched her since the middle of her sophomore year, so, yes, I am a fan of Caitlin Clark. Many people were upset about a variety of things about her; there are too may for me to address here. Most of my time was spent responding to the people who were criticizing her.

But today, a user made a post about her employer not knowing that today was Juneteenth. In fact, the employer made the comment, "Shouldn't it be on a Monday like a lot of other holidays?" The poster went on to relate how upset this made her. I then made a comment where I said, "I don't think it is unreasonable for someone to be unaware that Juneteenth had to be on a specific day, like the Fourth of July. We have multiple holidays that have been moved to a Monday so that federal workers can have a three-day weekend."

My comment brought about a firestorm of criticism. I was insensitive, I was a racist, and on and on. It got so bad that I just deleted my Threads account, and I have no intention of ever using that service again. In fact, I'm even considering leaving IG, because I don't want to have that type of experience ever again.

I have a very simple saying that I try to live by: "If that's the worst thing that happens to me today, then I've had a pretty good day." I also live by this saying, "At my age, I'm lucky if I can remember what I had for breakfast today." I didn't remember off the top of my head that today was Juneteenth. In fact, I had to stop and think before I could remember what day of the week it was. When you are not working, that is more common than you might think.

I think that too many people go around in life looking for things to get upset about. I posted what I thought was an innocuous statement, and people came at me like a bunch of rabid dogs. If this is going to be the future of discourse in our country, it is indeed a sad day.

I just thought I would share my experience with you, if for no other reason than to warn you about what might happen to you if you start using Threads. I tried to make this non-political, but I don't know if I was successful in that regard. I guess I will find out soon enough.

Edited June 20 by Math Teacher

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

[The humble Watcher lurking]

These have been coming up in my YouTube shorts. Think they are cool.

 

[The humble Watcher lurking]