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Because You Asked: Threads Is, Among Other Things, A Conundrum

/ Ally Bean / 224 Comments

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Boom! Yep, that’s my number.

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WHY ARE YOU ON THREADS, THEY ASK

A few people irl and online have asked me about my experiences on Threads so I’ll answer here. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Threads is Facebook/Meta’s version of Twitter/X.

I was there on Day One clocking in at 20,708,590 out of over 100 million people who joined worldwide on that day, July 6, 2023. Find me on Threads by clicking HERE.

And yes I know many friends and gentle readers think I’m loony, question my sanity, to have even joined in a new social media… but hear me out. I have my reasons.

I’m a curious person, a social scientist at heart, who saw an opportunity to be part of a social media from the beginning. Even though I’ve been on many social media over the decades* I’ve never had this option before so I jumped in.

Also, not to put too fine a point on it, I’m on Threads so you don’t have to be. Yes, I’m living the experience for all of us here in this little corner of blogland. You may thank me in the comments below!

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Social media active users indicating the most popular places to be †

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WHO IS THERE WITH YOU ON THREADS, THEY WONDER

This, of course, is a good question that I’ll field by first saying the following brief summary: a bunch of nice enough people**.

Then I’ll break down some specifics because that is what I believe people want to know. For me, after 7 months of checking in every few days and posting something when I am there as well as leaving wordy comments for others, I have a whopping 281 followers.

✅ One follower I know in real life.

✅ Six followers are current bloggers who like me are attempting to utilize Threads by showing up every so often and joining in. Click on the name to go to their Threads account, on their blog name to visit their blog:

✅ Some of my followers are current bloggers who are there in name only. OR, in a total surprise, a few former bloggers I knew a decade ago showed up, one even saying: “so you’re still here.” I do not know how to take that.

✅ Many, maybe most, of my followers are people who I’ve connected with on Instagram.

✅ I also have followers who are new-to-me and THAT makes me happy, giving me some hope for Threads.

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Information is my love language, but I my not be the norm †

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What Is The Purpose of Threads As You See It, They Inquire

Yes, again a good question that I will succinctly answer with my take and then add a famous quote that summarizes lyrically how I think about Threads.

My Take – Threads serves no discernible purpose beyond being a pleasant pretty distraction.

A Famous Quote – From John Lennon’s song Nobody Told Me: “There’s always something cooking and nothing in the pot.” 

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On Twitter by creating my own personal lists as seen here I was able to keep track of people, something I cannot do on Threads.

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And Finally Why Is Threads A Conundrum, Please Explain

I have three reasons why I believe Threads is a conundrum, a word that can mean a riddle, or a puzzle, or a poser even.

1) The thing about Threads is there is no center to it to draw people to a communal “What’s Happening” section or a Writing Prompt or a Weekly Topical Challenge. It’s all random all the time.

Hence, a riddle.

2) When you show up and look at your “Following” tab the algorithm shows you who it wants you to see and because, unlike Twitter, Threads doesn’t allow you create lists of who you follow, you cannot efficiently follow anyone. Thus the algorithm impedes connections.

Hence, a puzzle.

3) Threads is the only social media wherein I’ve seen so many people, so often, not reply even with a LIKE, to wordy comments left for them. Is Threads not notifying them that someone paid attention to them? That’s the only kind explanation*** I can think of which makes me question if Threads is really meant to be a viable social media at all.

Hence, a poser. 

~ THE END ~

* Since the late 1990s I’ve been involved in Geocities, Myspace, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Twitter, 43 Things, Tumblr, Mastodon, and now Threads. I’ve seen things, kids… oh yes I have. 😣

** The only sort of rude behavior I’ve encountered was a man who tried to start a fight with me because I said something to the effect of, and try not to be offended, that adults should behave like grown-ups when interacting with other adults rather than behaving like they were in a child/adult relationship. He took umbrage with that idea… perhaps forever wanting to be a child? 🤷‍♀️

*** A less kind explanation would be that I’m not wanted so I’ve been intentionally ignored in the hope that I’ll go away. Which could happen. 🤔

† Source: “As Facebook turns 20, politics is out; impersonal video feeds are in” via The Economist [probably not behind a paywall, but I can’t tell for sure]

Show And Tell: Where I’ve Been In My Lifetime & Where I Won’t Be This December

/ Ally Bean / 280 Comments

WHERE I’VE BEEN:

Who doesn’t like a visual representation about some aspect of their life?

To wit, in my online gadding about I came across a way to easily make a snazzy map of where you’ve travelled and/or lived in the US and territories. Thus I applied myself to the task, did as instructed, and created the above image.

As you can see I’ve been to 35 states + DC.  Based on the points tallied, I am on Level 137.  How that compares to anyone else I cannot say because I have no frame of reference, I just know that’s my level.

Go HERE to make your own personalized map of your experiences traveling &/or living in the US and territories. Please note there are a few different background colors for your map so if you’re saving yours, mess around until you find the perfect color for you.

WHERE I WON’T BE THIS DECEMBER:

I’m bugging out of blogland for the month of December.

It’s been a busy year for me here at The Spectacled Bean, writing longer than usual posts and managing, what I think of as, comment-palooza. I figure there’s no need to force myself to do something that is, for the most part, fun and is completely voluntary.

So I’m taking a break.

I will be popping into Instagram [HERE] and Threads [HERE] so I’ll be around social media a little bit, not entirely off the grid, but for the most part I’ll be laying low like the introvert I am during a hectic time of year.

You understand.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:

• So, my little gallivanters, how many US states and territories have you visited or lived in? If you made your own snazzy map using the link, what is your level?

• Having blogged since the days of dinosaurs, I know that it’s easy to find reasons to not keep a blog, BUT it is more difficult to find a reason to put yourself out there and keep a blog going. If you have a personal blog, what is your reason for writing it?

• What are you looking forward to doing, or not doing, in December?

~🎄~

Happy Holidays, Everyone

Do Good. Have Fun. Take Joy.

See you next year!

~ ~🎄~ ~

 

Positivity Got You Down? Let Me Suggest Something

/ Ally Bean / 273 Comments

Not everyone grooves on uplifting thoughts all the time.

I understand this.

In fact when I was in college there were no Gratitude Journals, that wasn’t a thing like it is today.

Instead we kept what we called Bitch Books. They were nothing special to look at, just spiral notebooks with a theme, however it sounded better to refer to them as Bitch Books.

So we did.

To clarify, we called them this not because we thought of ourselves as bitches, even if we might have been, but because we needed a place to write about our issues, all the wrongs that we felt we’d suffered.

Oy vey!

Granted we also discussed our issues in lengthy conversations with a few people who would now be called your negativity friends [HERE], but often there were hurts that could only be expressed adequately, with the proper amount of collegiate drama, by writing about them ad nauseam in our Bitch Books.

We hid our books from our nosy roommates and unenlightened boyfriends because they could never know what we were really thinking. Heaven forbid there’d be open authentic communication.

We knew that our profs would never see the crap we’d written about them, so many pages of my book were filled with deets of professorial incompetence, stupidity, and hypocrisy. No surprise, huh?

I’d not thought about Bitch Books in decades, and probably wouldn’t have thought about them again, if it weren’t for an advertisement that shows up, unsolicited, on my Instagram feed*.

This intrusive ad confirms that everything old is new again. To wit, let me share a link to today’s version of a Bitch Book.

It’s stylish, something that’s now called a Grievance Journal [HERE], described by Boardwalk Gifts, the purveyor of it, as a “the perfect repository for all your existential angst and daily gripes!” 

Which no doubt it is.

And here’s the dealio, which is really where I’m going with this post. For a mere $28.00 you, my little bitches gentle readers, can purchase your very own Grievance Journal in which you, if you feel the need, can write about all the crap that happens to you.

OR, and this is just a thought, you could replicate what we did back in the day and write your angsty unhappiness in an 1 Subject College Ruled Spiral Notebook [HERE] currently available for $3.39 at Target.

It’s your money and your life, of course.

Obviously I don’t know how much bitching you need to do, so please, I encourage you, do what you feel suits you best.

* I’m on Instagram as thespectacledbean [HERE]

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Have you ever heard of an old-school Bitch Book or a new-fangled Grievance Journal?

Have you written one? Why or why not?

Did you once have, or do you now have, negativity friends?

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You Decide: Behaving Hypocritically Or Showing Sound Judgment

/ Ally Bean / 235 Comments

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I CAN SEE WHAT HAPPENED FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES 

On the one hand I believe people can change and that’s a defining characteristic of humanity.  As we gain experience and knowledge we are able to change, preferably for the better, as we go along.

But on the other hand I like to keep my distance from people who have demonstrated they’re irony-impaired and don’t have the sense God gave a goose, regardless of whether they may have changed or not.

Judge me as you will.

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I WAS ON INSTAGRAM WHEN IT MADE A SUGGESTION ABOUT WHO I SHOULD FOLLOW  

When I saw the name I recognized it immediately and shouted “HELL NO.”

Literally.

Shouted those words out loud.

Then I started laughing because I hadn’t thought about this woman, Zelda, in years.

I met Zelda, an author wannabe, through a mutual acquaintance who knew that Zelda was creating her author’s platform which was to include a personal blog.

Our mutual acquaintance thought that I might be able to answer some of Zelda’s questions about writing a personal blog. And I did.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

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YOU SEE, ZELDA WAS GOING TO WRITE HER MEMOIR

It was to be about what she’d learned about how to get along with people while living on four continents.

She had stories to tell about her experiences while overcoming language barriers and adapting to the idiosyncrasies of the cultures around her.

There was a charming “Kum Ba Yah“ hippy vibe to her thinking and Zelda was a wordy girl, of that I have no doubt.  She could talk up a storm about the book she had yet to write.

The thesis statement for her proposed memoir was something to the effect of: by taking time to listen and understand people you can connect on a deeper level regardless of your background. It just takes effort.

Being proactive, she’d started a blog for her author’s platform.

Oh yes she had.

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BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM

She couldn’t figure out how to attract readers.  She knew that as an author-to-be she’d need to be able prove to a literary agent that she had a loyal online following.

This was something that had not happened despite the time she was pouring into her blog;  she was clueless as to why this was so.

In an attempt to get to gain perspective on her problem I asked her which blogs she followed and commented on. She seemed baffled, genuinely confused.

She replied, you mean I’m supposed to pay attention to other blogs?  

I said, yes, that’s the deal. That’s how you connect in the blogosphere. You pay attention to other bloggers, leave thoughtful comments, then those people become your readers. 

To which she said, why would I do that? I don’t care about those people. All I want is for them to pay attention to me so I can sell my book.

And therein was the crux of the problem for this author wannabe/newbie blogger who wanted to tell YOU what to do, but had no intention of making any effort to do so herself.

Go figure, huh?

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NOW I GRANT YOU ZELDA COULD HAVE CHANGED

It’s been years since I met her, but looking at her IG account I saw no evidence that she’d written her memoir or that she had a public personal blog.

Instead I saw an Instagram feed with selfies– and not much else.

Knowing what you do now, would you want to follow her on social media? Hmmm? 

Am I being hypocritical by not allowing her the opportunity to show me that she has changed OR am I protecting my personal boundaries/sanity by not following her?

Discuss.