Tag Archives: Facebook

It’s the Little Things

Posted in Lifestyle by

Living in such a fast-paced, busy world, it’s bound to happen that the small things that make your life so much better will go unnoticed. An alarm, for example, is a lifesaver – if it weren’t for that annoying sound constantly going off until you whack the button to tell it to shutup, I would guess that 98% of people in the world would have lost their job ages ago.

Because really, how good is toothpaste!

Because really, how good is toothpaste!

I’m quite hippy in the fact that I like to take the time out of my day to stop and appreciate the small things in my life that make it so breezy; I don’t do it as often as one should, but I’m only human with a much busier schedule than I’m used to.

This one instance I always refer back to was one day when I woke up – as usual – took a shower – as usual – and then went to brush my teeth. I had a different toothpaste than what I’m used to so, without too much thinking, I used it. Can I just say that it was the most amazing toothpaste that I have ever used? It had those little breath strip things within the toothpaste and it just done its job so well and much, much more. The usage of this amazing toothpaste literally made my day so much better than it would have been if I had used my normal, boring toothpaste.

Without spending too much time writing about the intricacies of toothpaste, instead of pondering about these little things, I decided to write something about it and name a few inventions and other tidbits that make my life so fantastical.

Drive-thru
I was getting Maccas the other night for dinner because I couldn’t be arsed to cook myself anything, and I was sitting in the drive-thru line which was pretty packed. I could see in my rear view mirror that the person behind me was getting rather impatient and here I was sitting there quite calm and reserved. Why? Imagine if there was no such thing as drive-thru and you had to get out of your car to get your fast food just to get back into the car and drive back home. Like, who has the time for that? Drive-thru is also handy for people like me who tend to drive half-naked so it saves you from getting out of the car. I get that I am praising an invention that was designed to make lazy people even lazier, but still, it’s handy, no?

Skype and other video call technologies
My brother, sister-in-law and nephew live in Brisbane, my oldest sister lives in New Zealand and one of my best friends is currently touring Europe by herself. While phone calls, Facebook messages and other forms of textual communication come in handy, there is nothing better than hearing them speak whilst having visual images to support that. I for one am so glad that Skype was invented so I get to see how big my nephew is getting without him actually being there and the opportunity to chat to my sister about pointless things.

Car phone chargers
I depend on my smartphone as much as everyone else does, maybe even more. So when I went to Hunter Valley for CMC Rocks for 3 days – which was absolutely amazing, by the way – I had to face the dilemma of ‘how exactly was I going to keep my phone charged, in a camp site, with no apparent method of charging’. The solution was simple once I thought about it – I sat in my car with the engine turned on to charge my phone. While I looked anti-social and somewhat materialistic, at least I had a way of documenting my time at CMC Rocks with pictures, notes and phone calls to my family.

Da Police
One thing I am absolutely sick of are people complaining about the police. Yes, there are some shady police workers out there, but there are shady workers in every work industry. It’s bound to happen. Human beings aren’t perfect. So when I see people complain about the efforts of police or the ethics of police, I sit there and think ‘Sure, that’s all fine and dandy, but if you have a teenage daughter who comes running to you saying that she was raped, who are you going to go to for help?’ Unless you’re Batman, you’re going to go the police you just damned for eating donuts on their well deserved break.

Clothes hangers
No one necessarily cares about clothes hangers… until you need them. Nekk minnit, you’re running around like a headless chook looking for spare hangers. As a compulsive shopper with an overflowing wardrobe, one can never have too many clothes hangers. Unless you’re perfectly fine with leaving your nicely ironed clothes on the floor in a messy-folded heap.

I could go on and on and point out more little tidbits in life that make the world a better place, but you’d be here for days. I implore you SolSat readers to stop and smell the daisies, for lack of a better phrase. It may even make your outlook in life way more positive.

– by The Black Widow

Solstice Unsatisfied: Fame or Foolery?

Posted in Opinion by

Now introducing a new portion of Solstice Satisfaction, curiously titled “Solstice Unsatisfied”. I hope the title has your minds in question, because it’s simple: in Solstice Unsatisfied, I (and sometimes others) will be commenting on and expressing our opinions on topics that I feel strongly about, or topics I am “unsatisfied” with. See what I did there? Now, as these will be opinion pieces, it is germane to note that these opinions expressed solely belong to those who express them and not to anyone else. As always, if you have an opposing opinion and would like to comment, feel free to use the comment section or alternatively use the Feedback page.

Today’s topic is one that I feel either people strongly support or strongly disagree with: the use of YouTube and/or other forms of social media to gain worldwide fame by humiliating yourself. A common example of this would be one posting a video of themselves on YouTube singing despite the fact that they have absolutely no singing ability whatsoever.

YouTube hosts a lot of humiliating videos that have shot the entertainer to worldwide fame, but at what cost?

YouTube hosts a lot of humiliating videos that have shot the entertainer to worldwide fame, but at what cost?

As a decent human being – at least I’d like to think I am – I completely support being yourself and expression and all of that. In saying that, there are some things you were just born not to do. I love to sing and loudly sing whilst in the shower and even when I’m just casually walking around the house; I sometimes even sing my greetings to people. In saying that, I am tone deaf and have the worst pitch and could not decently sing a song to save my life so I keep the singing to myself and to my family and close friends. I know my limits when it comes to my singing ability or lack thereof.

So why do I see people putting videos of themselves up on YouTube singing when they are completely flat, are just as tone deaf as I am and sometimes even scream out in anger when they can’t hit a certain note? (I hope everyone understood that reference) These people tend to use replies “F*** the haters” and “Haters are my motivators” as an excuse to defend what they may or may not believe is actual talent and because everyone and their dog chime up and watch these videos and leave comments on them, their video views skyrocket and their “fame” goes through the roof – but all for the wrong reasons. These people don’t hate you, they think you’re a terrible singer and don’t want to subject themselves to such aural torture.

It literally infuriates me that these people make themselves targets for the cruel Internet trolls out there by uploading such idiocy and do absolutely nothing about it because they truly believe that they are talented when it is clear that they aren’t Celine or Mariah. What they are doing is basically asking to be trolled and then when they are, they complain about being bullied. Yes, some of the things that trolls these days say are completely out of line and should be monitored by YouTube, but to stop them in the first place, these people should keep their un-talent off a public viewing forum like YouTube.

A good example of this is Rebecca Black and her song “Friday”. The song gained an enormous amount of attention: the music video on YouTube garnered a large of views and the term “Rebecca Black” was trending worldwide on Twitter for well over a week. Her song Friday shot her to fame, yes? That may be the case, but it made her look like a downright fool with lyrical curiosities like “Party and party and yeah! Fun, fun, fun, fun.” Black faced a colossal amount of backlash from trolls and critics alike who blasted her for her attempt at music making. While I do not support trolls comments even in the slightest, I can’t help but think that Black may have subjected herself to such harsh criticism by publicly posting the video despite its terrible lyrics and off-pitch singing. If you can’t sing and you have the absolute worst lyrics known to mankind, then you should probably keep video evidence of these things off of YouTube.

Another instance with which I will absolutely not hold back on is Giovanna Plowman, AKA “The Girl who Ate her Own Tampon”. Words cannot express how much I detest this girl, and professional jealousy has absolutely nothing to do with it. I would much rather be a nobody and sail on through life as a nobody than be famous for doing something as stupid as eating your own tampon. This foolish act has shot Plowman to fame where she has made outlandish comments saying that people are jealous of how famous she is and that she has her own agent and other barbaric crap. Miss Plowman, are you REALLY that proud of yourself? You’re only famous because people are laughing at how filthy you are and will raise their children to be everything that you aren’t. No one will know her as Giovanna Plowman – I literally had to Google “what was the name of the girl who ate her own tampon” just to get her name – they will know her as just that. The feral girl who ate her own tampon. Life as a nobody sure seems tempting.

I will admit a small tinge of jealousy to those who have put awful singing videos of themselves up on YouTube which made them famous and in turn has made them a celebrity of sorts, like Rebecca Black who has been seen hanging out with celebrities and featured on other celebrity medias like Katy Perry’s “T.G.I.F” music video. But other than that, I do not support the initial act in the slightest. I think it’s an absolutely pathetic way to get attention for a person who is so starved for said attention that they are willing to humiliate themselves on a worldwide media outlet.

My suggestion? If you want public attention and want fame, put yourself out there exhibiting a talent that you actually have. I believe I have a talent in writing and alas, here I am writing on SolSat. Don’t make yourself the butt of everyone else’s joke just for the sake of a million video views or a few thousand likes on Facebook. Your dignity and your pride is much more important than that. Don’t sell your soul to the devil that is fame.

Comments are welcome.

– by The Black Widow

Facebook Pet Peeves

Posted in Lifestyle by
(What you may type into this box may affect how other people view you. SOURCE: Facebook)

(What you may type into this box may affect how other people view you. SOURCE: Facebook)

“People who whinge on Facebook suck.” – Kial Malone, 20 years old

Facebook whiners. Excessive selfie takers. The sympathy seekers.

These are just a few of the people who have committed a heinous crime. Not an actual legal crime, just a crime of the Facebook kind. We all know what we want to see on our personal Facebook newsfeed and what we don’t want to see; more specifically, what people do on Facebook which gets on our last nerve. This jovial journalist took to the young adults on Facebook to find out what was their biggest Facebook pet peeve.

Facebook Whiners
Symptoms

  • Pessimism – it is usually those who are negative that feel the need to whine
  • Status abusers, those who update a status at will every half hour. SEE: Status Abuser
  • Supposed low self-esteem

“To me, the most annoying thing on Facebook would be the statuses complaining about life. If you aren’t happy with a certain aspect of your life, do something to make the change. Don’t bitch about it to people who don’t care.” – Simon Wagstaff, 18 years old.

We’ve all seen this. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I wouldn’t really have to explain or define what a “Facebook whiner” is. A well known sub-genre of the Facebook whiner is the “Sympathy Seeker”. These are the types of people who will publish a status update with something usually unnecessarily negative with the conscious goal of gaining sympathy and/or attention from others. Eg: “Just had the WORST day ever!! 😦 FML :(” Yeah, I’m sure missing a train to work constitutes to having the absolute worst day ever despite the fact that most trains come every 10 – 20 minutes. I’d even guess that putting a Whiner in the shoes, or lack thereof, of a parentless child in a third-world country would be an absolute breeze for Whiner because they’re used to having the WORST days ever.

“When people post a depressing woe is me status for attention then refuse to elaborate once they receive the attention.” – Cara Hawkins, 20 years old

As suggested by the lovely Miss Hawkins, sometimes Facebook whiners go that extra mile to decline any attention or sympathy despite actually wanting it, therefore making their “terrible situation” look even worse. Of course, if you decide to personally message a Whiner and ask them if they are okay, they will either take the high road and tell you their problems and look for advice or, alternatively, they could continue down the dark road they’re on and reply with two simple letters – “dw”. Unless that stands for “Don’tmovebecauseI’mgoingtothrowabrickatyour Whinerface” then I have no interest.

“I hate it when people post their problems on Facebook which leading [sic] to more problems and does nothing about that problem. It’s more like people look for attention or sympathy… face your problems not Facebook them!” – Brendan Leatau, 20 years old

As most of the whining is done on a Facebook status, it is a nice segue into the next kind of Facebook criminal.

Status Abusers
Symptoms

  • One who is rather opinionated
  • One who is rather bitter

“When mothers post judgmental statuses about other mothers instead of supporting them, or instead talking to the mother in person and encouraging them.” – Amanda Kowalczyk, 21 years old

A close related cousin to the Whiner is the Status Abuser, one who abuses the right of posting status updates on a Facebook newsfeed to either bitch, whine or a bit of both, as suggested by the young mother previously quoted. Admittedly, there is a good kind of Status Abuser, insomuch that I would not consider them a Status Abuser in the first place – those who post on Facebook their well-researched opinion on a certain topic. I’m all for freedom of expression and opinion and welcome that to the old newsfeed. In saying that, the Status Abuser will write several irrelevant and unresearched statuses to either spark a fight or to indirectly vent their issues out in a public forum.

“When people use Facebook as a diary, airing their dirty laundry, then tell people to mind their own business.” – Alexia Levave, 21 years old

Constantly using the status option to bitch about other people is not only a childish way of sorting out a problem or venting an issue, it is also annoying to those who have to read it and have absolutely nothing to do with the argument between the two parties. A common trait between cousins Status Abuser and Whiner are that they usually want people to mind their own business, despite having put it on a public forum. An example of a Status Abuser’s finest work: “Wish that someone would have the guts to say it to my face!!” and then 10 minutes later, “I’m so sick of backstabbers!! Where are all the true friends?!” Requesting someone say something to your face via a Facebook status is not only stupid, it’s hypocritical. Nobody likes a hypo!

NOTE: undercover Status Abusers come out of their shell during a certain important series of rugby league games previously covered on Solstice Satisfaction.

Excessive Selfie Takers
Symptoms

  • Ownership of a smartphone
  • Usage of the “duckface”
  • Too much spare time

“When people post an album… of practically the same selfie.” – Matthew Winter, 17 years old

We all enjoy taking the occasional selfie or two for our own different reasons; whether that be for fun or you feel the need to update an outdated profile picture. But then there are the people who take it too far and tend to upload several pictures of just themselves, generally in the exact same pose or with the exact same face. The distant cousin of the Whiner and Status Abuser, the Excessive Selfie Taker tends to have several narcissistic traits which grants them the desire to constantly post pictures of themselves pouting their lips. The only relation they have to the Whiner and Status Abuser is the desired outcome – attention.

“The most annoying thing someone can do is constantly post the exact same selfie over and over again.” – Manuel Alavanos, 20 years old

The need for attention is strong within the Excessive Selfie Taker, and their thirst for attention will not be quenched unless that attention is given to them. There are those who look for people to tell them how attractive they are, while there are those who want people to tell them how not-fat they are despite captioning the selfie with “I’m so fat :(“. The majority of Excessive Selfie Takers tend to be of the younger teen demographic, commonly referred to as “twelvies”, but there are some in their late teens or early twenties that still abuse their smartphone camera for no apparent reason.

Criminal Likers
Symptoms

  • A desire to make others think they’re a decent person
  • Twisted view on how to “help”
  • Very little common sense

“I loathe people who like pictures of abused children or pets – what purpose does this serve but make my insides churn at what society is capable of. You’re not putting a stop to child abuse or making any difference.” – Lara McKenzie, 21 years old

As a staunch animal rights activist and general decent person, the Criminal Liker is high on my hit-list of Facebook criminals. What is a Criminal Liker, you say? Have you ever seen a ghastly image of a dead or unconscious animal or child just magically appear on your newsfeed with the caption “Like to save this dog” or “1 like = 1 dollar to save this baby”. Common sense would suggest that liking a picture of that caliber will do absolutely nothing of the sort in the saving of the poor animal or child presented in the picture.

“One of the most annoying things I see on Facebook is the pic with children from Africa saying “1 like = 1 pray” and “1 comment = $1.” – Matthew Duffus, 24 years old

If you really want to go out and help, host a fundraiser and donate the earnings to a charity of your choice; save up money and go on a mission trip to a third-world country to help those in need; or simply give up meat and become a vegetarian or vegan as a small way of standing up for those who can’t speak for themselves. The Criminal Liker doesn’t see it this way, however; they think if they publicise the fact that they have a “desire” to help, people will think that they are an angelic human being. No. In the end, the only thing that the Criminal Like has accomplished is successfully proving to everyone that their IQ is as low as my respect for them.

“My pet peeve is sharing a ‘one like = one prayer’ for bullshit causes! Get a grip people, get off Facebook and go help the homeless if you really care!” – Jacob Anwyl, 18 years old

Those on Facebook have spoken. If you have read this, realised you may have some of the symptoms suggested in the description of the archetype Facebook criminal, you may want to have a good sit down with yourself and think how your actions may affect others. I never suggest someone to change themselves for the sake of others because I am all for being yourself; however, a simple change of attitude on life and how you approach it may just be the Get out of Jail Free card for you to be released from your Facebook criminal days.

– by The Black Widow