Community Double Standards
On October 26th, 2020, the editor-in-chief for The Hard Times made a call for pitches in the Pitch Group Facebook Page for contributing writers. The call was in regards to the upcoming Presidential Election set to take place on November 3rd, and requested writers to pitch headlines about the election with a comedy/punk twist. The post got 36 comments, but only 35 showed. One comment was flagged as inappropriate, removed from the post, and an alert was sent to the author telling them that the post didn't follow Facebook's community standards. The contributor was me, and the comment was as follows:
“Comedic Genius Posts “Don’t Blame Me... I Voted for Kodos” on November 4th”
I know I know, comedy gold right there, folks. You can say all you want about a 25-year old Simpsons reference (rightfully so), but by the next morning, this comment got my account in "warning" status because it "didn't follow our Community Standards". The wise elders at Facebook recognized that it was my "first infraction" so it was just a warning for now; I hadn't lost any liking or posting privileges. When I saw the alert, I promptly clicked the button to dispute the decision. "Mistakes happen" Facebook assures you, so they would review my appeal and make a decision from there. As of today, May 11th, 2021, the comment is still in review.
Fast forward to yesterday, May 10th, 2020; nearly seven months after my first offense. A sports group I recently joined had the below Twitter screenshot posted in it about Tim Tebow.
Do you know how hard it was for me to resist the urge to make a second Simpson's reference here?
I commented on this post that the meme was a "Missed opportunity for Tim Teboe" to which the author of the post responded "Check the caption" and some hysterically laughing emojis. Apparently the caption said #Teboe and I missed it. So I commented "Reading is hard" to acknowledge my mistake and show that self-deprecation is always alive and well. After I commented that, someone else commented that the author of the post actually went back and edited the caption to say #Teboe after it had posted. A dastardly deed! He claimed that it was before he saw my comment (with some more laughing emojis), but the damage was done. I had to let him know that what he'd done was incomprehensible and irredeemable. I let him have it with my next comment: a vicious barb of epic proportions:
“You dirty dog!”
Just a devastating blow. I don't think he will ever recover from this haymaker. At least, he wouldn't if he ever saw it. You see, that comment right there got my account suspended for 24 hours. The decision was swift and came within minutes of posting the comment. The reason? "Your comment didn't follow our Community Standards on harassment and bullying."
Really? Harassment? For joking around and calling someone a "dirty dog?" Because this was my second post in a year's span that broke the rules, I got a full day in time out to sit and think about what I've done. Of course, I could appeal the decision again and plead my case; which of course I did. This time, however, after a prompt that told me to please be patient while they review the case as they are short-staffed due to Covid-19, the ruling came back in seven minutes. All it took was seven minutes for the powers that be to confirm that I indeed cyberbullied this innocent victim and needed to be taught a lesson.
Yeah, I'm done alright
This is where we are at, folks. I realize this whole blog may come off as a complete bitch-fest on my account, whining that I couldn't interact on social media for one whole Earth rotation. If that's the case, so be it; but there is a larger issue here that many people are already aware of: these social media companies being judge, jury, and executioner in terms of censorship. It's bad, getting worse, and in my estimation it's going to make all these sites and apps cannibalize themselves out of existence.
You may be asking "But what if people reported these comments, forcing Facebook's hand to take a look?" Zero percent chance. I mean absolutely not possible. In terms of the first scenario, the Hard Times Pitch Group is full of comedy writers. Everyone is very respectful, funny, and has thick skin. Also, I didn't target anybody. WAY worse things have been posted without issue. So how did that seemingly innocuous comment get flagged? Well, when I reached out to the admin of the page (the same editor-in-chief who posted the pitch call), he conveyed to me that Facebook's algorithm did not take too kindly to comments that had the date of November 4th in them. Any talk of the day after the election is off-limits. No matter what you say; even if it's a joke headline about a cartoon alien, you risk the ban hammer.
As for the filthy canine comment, I also reached out to the admins to see if I was reported. I got a response of "No, when that happens Facebook takes over" (along with a comment on how soft the site has become). The group is full of guys having fun, being dudes, busting balls and having laughs. Calling someone a dirty dog is not in the top 99% of offensive things uttered. Either the word "dirty" or the word "dog" triggered Facebook's algorithm, and the automated system did the rest. There is no way I can be convinced that an actual person reviewed the context of my comment and thought it was worth a ban.
I know the woke mob on the left likes to applaud when people they don't agree with get banned/canceled. But anything that can happen to someone you don't agree with can also happen to you. I also know the mob on the right end of the political spectrum likes to claim that "only one side is getting censored", but since I primarily lean left (and bullying and mean-ness don't have a political affiliation), I don't think that's the case either. The truth is these sites are too big and have too much influence. I didn't buy the whole election-rigging thing in 2016 because if you are dumb enough to vote one way based on something you read on Facebook, no amount of regulation is going to fix that. Does social media spread misinformation? Yes. I just don't believe that is why any election has gone one way or another.
I could go on and on about this subject, but I will save the incessant bitching for another time (see: my next ban). My 24 hours is almost up and I have to get back to doom scrolling.
