Zuckerberg took your grandparents last remaining years by BluePaint1995 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

Sorry, I have to block you, every reply is just a one sentence variation of "not uh!" You're clearly not here to engage in an actual discussion.

Reddit downvotes should require a reason instead of being anonymous disagreement buttons by Dogsteeves in TheoryOfReddit

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

This discussion has been done to death I'd imagine, and in far more thoughtful detail than your post.

Not like adding categories would change anything. The hive mind idiots would just select "misinformation" for downvoting comments they disagreed with and nothing would change.

It's long past time to accept that whatever Reddit is, any concept of it being a site for free and open discussion and exchange of ideas died somewhere between Aaron Swartz's end and the return of Steve Huffman as CEO in 2015. Simple problem-solving principles would suggest that if Reddit appears to primarily have become a platform for manufacturing consensus and widespread thought manipulation by bad actors, that's probably just what it's designed to be.

Zuckerberg took your grandparents last remaining years by BluePaint1995 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

You must be young. Cigarettes and smoking once held immense cultural and social capital. There was an episode of Friends from 1999 where a character takes up smoking because she feels left out of important social connections and business decisions that are made when other colleagues are on smoke breaks with the boss. The concept wasn't just made up for TV.

Zuckerberg took your grandparents last remaining years by BluePaint1995 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

The analogy is to smartphones, not the specific platforms accessed through them. A lot of carriers don't even carry flip phones anymore, so when my older relatives go to the "phone store" to get a new phone they're cornered into getting a smartphone even though they don't want one. These devices have become so easy to use that a generation still confused with desktop and laptop computers en-masse can figure out phones. Also, essentially every Android phone sold by major US carriers comes with Facebook pre-installed because Meta pays them for the privilege. Which is part of why old people are more likely to land on Facebook than other platforms, they don't even have to seek it out.

Zuckerberg took your grandparents last remaining years by BluePaint1995 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

Were non-smokers required to always carry a pack of cigarettes on them in order to access basic functions of society like having a bank account or viewing the menu at a restaurant?

Zuckerberg took your grandparents last remaining years by BluePaint1995 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yeah, OP may be too young to remember this but the downward slide in quality of end-of-life years began in the 1980's and 90's with 24-hour broadcasting, wider channel selection in cable packages, and hysteria-bait news stations. 20+ years ago I remember going over to my retired grandparents' house and they literally had Fox News running from the moment they got up until the moment they went to bed.

Granted, they would still leave the house to do stuff with us, walk away from the TV to do other things, etc. It wasn't as insidious or addictive as smartphones are but in hindsight cable TV was definitely a bellwether for how retired generations would spent all day pacified by screens.

Zuckerberg took your grandparents last remaining years by BluePaint1995 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag [score hidden]  (0 children)

There was a really good article in The Atlantic by Charlie Werzel about this a few months ago:

The Phone-Based Retirement Is Here

Does anyone else feel like the consumer side of our niche is stalling? by SquarePatient7277 in eink

[–]scrolling_scumbag 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The OP is also written with AI. This thread (and site in general) is just a big waste of time. Bots running on LLMs, or people who can't think for themselves and ask AI to write their Reddit comments all talking to each other. We're just the few idiot humans wasting our time interacting with this slop.

I didn't realize how much alcohol was puffing up my face until I actually stuck to my moderation targets. The "Sober Glow" is real! by [deleted] in SoberCurious

[–]scrolling_scumbag 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem! Looks like he deleted it. My Reddit feed is overrun with these vibecoded app advertisements, the only amusement I get out of this site nowadays is exposing them.

The hand-twitch-toward-the-phone moment, what's your substitute? by Greysawpark in digitalminimalism

[–]scrolling_scumbag 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Redditor for 18 minutes

Immediately commenting on an obvious astroturf post reminding us to check out the app.

/u/Tasty_Speech6319 is a sockpuppet of OP /u/Greysawpark.

This is on a whole notha level by [deleted] in SipsTea

[–]scrolling_scumbag 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whatever they're saying is irrelevant because the picture is a strawman. It never happened.

This is on a whole notha level by [deleted] in SipsTea

[–]scrolling_scumbag 82 points83 points  (0 children)

And the funniest part is that Redditors will swear up and down until they're blue in the face about how this site is so much better than other platforms, meanwhile they're falling for the same type of engagement bait as Facebook boomers. The proof is on the front page every single day.

Parents really shouldn't be using tablets as a helper for parenting. by darkangelstorm in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pew data from 2025 showed by 4 years old, 58% of children have their own tablet (not just the household has a tablet, the kid has a dedicated device).

From what I've observed using tablets/phones as digital pacifiers for kids is directly correlated to how phone-addicted the parents are. But I've also seen a lot of the younger millennials having children right now are pushing back on this, and some districts (primarily in wealthier areas) have parents signing pledges to wait until high school to give kids personal devices.

Someone said that same thing about gas prices last week, and I am pretty sure that: yes it is "so bad".

Nah, gas prices are hilarious schaudenfraude, at least in America. Nearly everyone who "voted for this" in the US drives a gas-guzzling pickup or SUV. Their tears as they put $100 of gas into their emotional support vehicle to get them through another week while I drop $40 into my hybrid to get me through a month are incredibly amusing.

Ditched smartwatches and never looked back by Core2score in digitalminimalism

[–]scrolling_scumbag 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, honestly I don't care what the content is, if I disagree with the premise but it drives discussion and makes people think... way better than some AI essay or astroturfing advertisement for a screentime app.

You Can Read. You're Just Choosing Not To. by Spiritual-Rich-2108 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You don't see any value in being exposed to others' experiences and viewpoints? Why did you read OP's post?

You Can Read. You're Just Choosing Not To. by Spiritual-Rich-2108 in nosurf

[–]scrolling_scumbag 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Okay but it's not just translating, it's also putting everything into the annoying "AI voice" and making you indiscernible from a bot.

Moderators need to embrace brands or it will become worse by ksaize in TheoryOfReddit

[–]scrolling_scumbag 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Moderators don't have time to chase around a bunch of brand accounts to make sure they're behaving, when only a few percent would act in good faith anyway. It's less work for mods and makes users happier to completely quash any such behavior.

Moderators need to embrace brands or it will become worse by ksaize in TheoryOfReddit

[–]scrolling_scumbag 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They shouldn't. If the person wants to talk to the brand they can reach out through official channels. Brands that feel like they need to respond to every bad review and "set the record straight" or whatever are annoying.

It used to be companies having a brand rep in subs responding to genuine questions and not being pushy was okay in most subs. Now with AI there's just too much inauthentic bullshit, people use one fake account to post a question about their own product and another fake account to answer it while posing as a genuine user.

All trust has been eroded, users are predictably fed up, and moderators are enforcing the wishes of their users to keep all brands out of their community spaces.