I'm one of those smug types who is quick to note that he has never had a Facebook account... back in the 90s, I worked as a private investigator (mainly investigating sketchy automobile insurance claims, with an occasional foray into litigation preparation), so I quickly became appalled at the amount of information about people was available. We had to hunt down information using subscription index services, it was our job. There was no way I would voluntarily put down personal information under my own name. "Filed a workers' compensation claim for a bad back? Then what's this photo of you doing kegstands all about?" Besides, did I really need to know that a guy I worked with twenty years ago hates Jews?
The worst thing about Facebook is how it has become a dangerous vector for disinformation, though The Zuck deflected a question about the role of his monster in the anti-vax movement. It's not just Russian troll farms or right-wing scam organizations that are the perpetrators, sometimes it's just some random bro with brain poisoning...
I admit to feeling Schadenfreude when I read of anti-vax-and-mask superspreaders dying of COVID, and I confess that I peruse the Sorry Antivaxxer website and the Twitter feed of The Herman Cain Awards, but there are some people I can't bring myself to dunk on, such as this victim of disinformation whose story seems to have broken even the HCA feed proprietor (who hasn't posted since):
Melissa thought she was potentially high-risk, and was worried about catching COVID-19. She turned to Facebook for answers. Melissa is no longer with us.
— The Herman Cain Awards (@HermanCainAward) September 20, 2021
Don't be like Melissa. Get vaccinated!
🏆 We honor Melissa Hedge with a #HermanCainAward. pic.twitter.com/ucgG4IBd79
THAT is just plain depressing, depressing and infuriating. Here is an ignorant girl with underlying conditions who didn't have the resources to hunt down sound information, instead relying on advice from this guy:
— bullcityVA (@BullCityVA) September 20, 2021
She had comorbidities, she even knew enough to take them into account when asking for advice, but she still took the advice of some bro who probably doesn't even feel any remorse for her death. I'm reminded of a line from the film Animal House:
This bro probably doesn't care that his bad advice got her killed, and Zuckerberg certainly doesn't care. Disinformation peddlers are murderers, and Facebook is, perhaps, their greatest weapon.
I think of them as murderers, given the sort of people being turned away by ER's, surgeries and procedures delayed etc.
ReplyDeleteI am normally opposed to the death penalty, but I make an exception for fools qualifying for Herman Cain awards.
Per the Uniform Code of Military Justice, that needs to be burned ...
ReplyDeletePreferably with him in it.
I am normally opposed to the death penalty, but I make an exception for fools qualifying for Herman Cain awards.
It's amazing how these creeps have eroded our empathy. I'm comfortable with them dying, and that makes me uncomfortable.
Bro is probably glad and secretly proud to have gotten her killed. Like the assholes who used to trick people into putting their cell phone in the microwave, bro probably thinks that this makes him smarter than her. There's an ugly strain of this attitude in our country and bro has a lot of company.
ReplyDeleteA couple weeks back, Marjorie Taylor Green was asked if she felt any responsibility for the negative effects of people believing her COVID lies. She gleefully giggled and laughed that she believed in personal responsibility. Another nutter thinking she can lie all she wants and if you accept her lies, that's totally on you.
ReplyDelete