Things I find a tad exasperating v.3

[El Barto]

You might be flagged from some of those circumstances.

My understanding is it's incredibly difficult if not sometimes impossible to recover stolen accounts.  I think Eddie Trunk was publicly dealing with a stolen Facebook account and got no where (at least for awhile, I'm not sure what ended up happening since I dont use FB all that much, his bitching was on twitter).

He could probably get a lawyer involved and they'd take care of it. The thing is, every bit of their forward facing support is fake. There are no real people, and automated support solutions only work for the simplest of problems. I've been seeing more and more of this. I mentioned UPS a while back. It's simply not possible to talk to a real person there, via phone, email, or chat. They all pretend to work, but in reality they're just dead ends. That's the nature of business in the US now.

And my account was suspended for a specific reason unrelated to the account details. In fact it almost certainly was hacked, or at least somebody attempted to hack it.

[jingle.boy]

I tried to check it out yesterday only to find that my account had been suspended for "circumventing community standards," which is to say creating a new account after one had been banned. None of this ever happened. Fine. Click appeal. Their two factor authentication does not work. The code they send won't work. I report suspicious activity on my account, and that leads to a different wall. Now it won't even let me use my own email address for confirmation. And even if it would, they'll want a photo ID

This exact thing happened to mrs.jingle last week, but on Insta (which is Meta anyway).  And it's the second time this year it's happened to her.  She appealed, and got her account re-opened the next day. 

Meta's algorithms are dumb af.  There's no discernible reason she did anything that "violated community standards".

[Stadler]

The truth is I don't give a damn about Facebook. There's zero identifiable information about me on there. It's monomyomous using only my first name. It was set up from Indonesia. The profile pic was the Japanese soldier from Gilligan's Island. It used a burner email account and a burner number. No App. I only followed about 10 people. I never posted anything. All of the details were fake. I'm not worried about anything on there.

No sarcasm or hyperbole at all:  I love how much enthusiasm you put into that work.  It's like art.  The Japanese soldier from Gillian's Island.  Excellent attention to detail.

[cramx3]

Meta's algorithms are dumb af.  There's no discernible reason she did anything that "violated community standards".

I'm no expert, but I think sometimes all it takes is one asshole to report something (anything, not even necessarily offensive) and you might get slapped.

I'm experiencing a "shadow ban" I believe on tiktok.  Getting basically little (sometimes even 0) views and I saw that tiktok did flag one of my videos for violating their standards, but the video was just me playing halo with my gf.  Not even cursing. Now all my tiktoks get little views since then.

Just makes me use the app less.  I did the same thing with Facebook, just slowly stopped using it once it became more of a hindrance, but now that tiktok is on my bad side I've been on Facebook a bit more 

[King Postwhore]

The last time I was suspended on Facebook, it took2 weeks to get myself unsuspended for saying about playing the Rush pinball machine for the 1st time, "It's like Viagra", with a picture of the pinball machine.

They said I was promoting drugs.  LOL

[hefdaddy42]

The last time I was suspended on Facebook

I have never had to utter this phrase.

[King Postwhore]

I have never had to utter this phrase.

Only once should I have been suspended. 

[Adami]

I was recently, and briefly, suspended from FB. Said I violated community standards. Quite confusing as I hadn't posted anything or done anything other than scroll in weeks. I contested it and it was promptly lifted. Was never told what I had actually done or what was wrong.

[jingle.boy]

I was recently, and briefly, suspended from FB. Said I violated community standards. Quite confusing as I hadn't posted anything or done anything other than scroll in weeks. I contested it and it was promptly lifted. Was never told what I had actually done or what was wrong.

Seems to be an ongoing thing.  The only thing mrs.jingle did was post pictures of our dogs in costumes.  Maybe that was deemed animal abuse?

[TAC]

I have never had to utter this phrase.

#metoo!

[emtee]

Violated community standards? Does acknowledgement of collusion with Uncle Sam on censorship across the entire platform qualify as well?

Zuck him.

[wolfking]

What's a Face Book?

[TAC]

Violated community standards? Does acknowledgement of collusion with Uncle Sam on censorship across the entire platform qualify as well?

Zuck him.

Can I ask a question though? Isn't Facebook a private company, and can't they censor allow whatever the hell they want?

[King Postwhore]

Tim well that may be true at least they can moderate it better when they ban you for something you're not truly saying and you can't get a human being to say looking that's not the intent.

[TAC]

Tim well that may be true at least they can moderate it better when they ban you for something you're not truly saying and you can't get a human being to say looking that's not the intent.

OK, but Facebook is a club that you looked to join. I'm sure it's frustrating though.

[King Postwhore]

OK, but Facebook is a club that you looked to join. I'm sure it's frustrating though.

I get that but they need a human element with the suspensions.

[TAC]

I get that but they need a human element with the suspensions.

The lack of human element when trying to reach any company is frustrating as all hell.

[King Postwhore]

For sure.  I hate bot calls.

[Chino]

The lack of human element when trying to reach any company is frustrating as all hell.

One of the primary reasons I pay a premium to stick with brick and mortar banks and insurers is because I can literally just walk into their locations in town and deal with someone when I need to. I do it a few times a year.

[El Barto]

One of the primary reasons I pay a premium to stick with brick and mortar banks and insurers is because I can literally just walk into their locations in town and deal with someone when I need to. I do it a few times a year.

For 5% APY I'm willing to put up with a certain amount of bot frustration. I keep operating cash in a brick and mortar bank, but I've moved my savings off to the ether. And in truth, when I did want to talk to somebody there it was actually pretty easy. Hell, I think they may even have been American.

[El Barto]

Can I ask a question though? Isn't Facebook a private company, and can't they censor allow whatever the hell they want?

This is a whole lot more complicated, though.

The reality is that platforms like these would prefer to not have to censor or moderate anything. It's a pain in the ass and it's very hard to do well. That was the original point of Section 230, which was the safe harbor provision of the DMCA. It said that platforms weren't legally responsible for the content that people posted. Politicians have been at war with it ever since they passed the thing, though, and at times LEO just ignores it all together. This forced the platforms to have to start moderating/censoring.

Then there's the angle that emtee is on about, which is that Facebook had given the federal government a direct line to streamline their moderation of bogus information regarding COVID. It wasn't access to the content, but more like a phone number that got government agencies immediately in touch with somebody that mattered at Facebook. That bothered some people, and because the false information tended to be spread by people on the extremes of the spectrum it became a partisan issue. When Trump's unhinged rants finally got him kicked off of social media platforms it became direct government censorship. I don't really buy into that theory, but I don't think it's an unreasonable one, either. From a certain point of view it looks exactly like what they're concerned about.

If you really want to understand content moderation on the scale that Facebook and Twitter are dealing with, this was both funny and insanely accurate:

https://www.techdirt.com/2022/11/02/hey-elon-let-me-help-you-speed-run-the-content-moderation-learning-curve/

[TAC]

This is a whole lot more complicated, though.

The reality is that platforms like these would prefer to not have to censor or moderate anything. It's a pain in the ass and it's very hard to do well. That was the original point of Section 230, which was the safe harbor provision of the DMCA. It said that platforms weren't legally responsible for the content that people posted. Politicians have been at war with it ever since they passed the thing, though, and at times LEO just ignores it all together. This forced the platforms to have to start moderating/censoring.

Then there's the angle that emtee is on about, which is that Facebook had given the federal government a direct line to streamline their moderation of bogus information regarding COVID. It wasn't access to the content, but more like a phone number that got government agencies immediately in touch with somebody that mattered at Facebook. That bothered some people, and because the false information tended to be spread by people on the extremes of the spectrum it became a partisan issue. When Trump's unhinged rants finally got him kicked off of social media platforms it became direct government censorship. I don't really buy into that theory, but I don't think it's an unreasonable one, either. From a certain point of view it looks exactly like what they're concerned about.

If you really want to understand content moderation on the scale that Facebook and Twitter are dealing with, this was both funny and insanely accurate:

https://www.techdirt.com/2022/11/02/hey-elon-let-me-help-you-speed-run-the-content-moderation-learning-curve/

Oh, I'm sure it's complicated. Very.

My knee jerk reaction is to ask, why the fuck are we on FB in the first place, but that's me. I guess you're susceptible to its messaging, like all other media outlets. I guess as long as you know it ahead of time, that's all you can ask. If you're getting false or misleading messaging, then change the channel.

I will say that it does indeed suck that all of these entities are doing such a number on people, constantly dividing.


I'll check the link in a bit.

[Stadler]

For 5% APY I'm willing to put up with a certain amount of bot frustration. I keep operating cash in a brick and mortar bank, but I've moved my savings off to the ether. And in truth, when I did want to talk to somebody there it was actually pretty easy. Hell, I think they may even have been American.

We have an online bank, and I don't experience any of the problems that you all are talking about.  The ONLY thing that moves our OLB from a 10 out of 10 for me is that I can't deposit cash there, for the three times a year I have actual cash to deposit. For that, my wife has a brick and mortar,  and I have some legacy local credit unions that I still have accounts with that I can use.

I will say this, unless forced, I'm almost ALWAYS using a local credit union before I'm using one of the national (or international) banks. 

[Cool Chris]

I am not trying to pick on anyone here but what are y'all doing at the bank or an insurance office? I haven't been in either in 10+ years.

[hefdaddy42]

We bank at a local credit union.  Love it.

[Stadler]

I am not trying to pick on anyone here but what are y'all doing at the bank or an insurance office? I haven't been in either in 10+ years.

Three times a year more or less, I have to deposit cash. 

[Adami]

Three times a year more or less, I have to deposit cash. 

I can provide you an amazing place to deposit cash.

You'll never see it again, mind you, but I will definitely benefit from all of it. Let me know if you're interested!

[El Barto]

I am not trying to pick on anyone here but what are y'all doing at the bank or an insurance office? I haven't been in either in 10+ years.

Last time I was at mine was to deposit cash to buy a car. Other than that it's the very infrequent cash deposit.

[TAC]

My mother handed my brother a check the other day, and he deposited it by snapping some pictures. Boom. Done. I can see why that's better than "Gee I have to go to the bank tomorrow", but it's still something that I can't wrap my head around.

[hefdaddy42]

I am not trying to pick on anyone here but what are y'all doing at the bank or an insurance office? I haven't been in either in 10+ years.

Couple years ago, we did a refi on our mortgage.  Couple months ago, we took out a mortgage on a second property.

I guess you could do that kind of thing online, but I just don't want to.  We made phone calls to initiate the process, then talked to people in person to finalize everything.

Occasionally other things come up that cause me to visit a local branch.  Most recently it was as simple as I wanted to withdraw an amount of cash that wasn't a multiple of 20, so not feasible at one of their ATMs, so I went inside and did a manual withdrawal with a teller.

Insurance is a little different, I can handle most things that come up either online or over the phone, but I would still go with a "name" insurance company that actually has an office.  These internet-based fly-by-night insurance companies that no one has ever heard of that many people go with to save a little money are often worthless when it's time for them to actually pay a claim.

[El Barto]

My mother handed my brother a check the other day, and he deposited it by snapping some pictures. Boom. Done. I can see why that's better than "Gee I have to go to the bank tomorrow", but it's still something that I can't wrap my head around.

Been doing it for years myself, and I can't wrap my head around people who won't. I tried explaining to a woman I work with that security is the bank's problem, and she's taking on risk simply by driving to the bank to deposit it. Not only the risk of being in an accident, but the risk of being inside when somebody decides to rob the place. While the latter is certainly unlikely, it's necessarily higher than had she simply snapped two pictures of it. Although, in fairness, she is an idiot. She also insists on writing cheques and buying money order to pay her bills. Bank deposits and bill pays take me a grand total of 5 minutes.

[TAC]

Been doing it for years myself, and I can't wrap my head around people who won't. I tried explaining to a woman I work with that security is the bank's problem, and she's taking on risk simply by driving to the bank to deposit it. Not only the risk of being in an accident, but the risk of being inside when somebody decides to rob the place. While the latter is certainly unlikely, it's necessarily higher than had she simply snapped two pictures of it. Although, in fairness, she is an idiot. She also insists on writing cheques and buying money order to pay her bills. Bank deposits and bill pays take me a grand total of 5 minutes.

That all makes perfect sense, and I can't argue with any of it. Like pretty much everything in my life, it's a ME problem.

I mean, I RARELY go to the bank. We direct deposit both checks and do online bill pay each month.

[El Barto]

That all makes perfect sense, and I can't argue with any of it. Like pretty much everything in my life, it's a ME problem.

I mean, I RARELY go to the bank. We direct deposit both checks and do online bill pay each month.

See, that's interesting. I wouldn't do direct deposit, myself. I want to have a paper cheque. I want the instant notification that it was accepted within seconds of me initiating the deposit. Like you, that's probably a Me thing, and I'm sure something I could work around it, but I could see myself discovering a problem weeks later when I'm trying to pay bills and having a rough time sorting it out because the whole transaction was invisible to me.

[Chino]

For 5% APY I'm willing to put up with a certain amount of bot frustration. I keep operating cash in a brick and mortar bank, but I've moved my savings off to the ether. And in truth, when I did want to talk to somebody there it was actually pretty easy. Hell, I think they may even have been American.

I hear you. Luckily my bank has given me a CD at 5%+ for the last 3 go-arounds, and their savings account pays out 2.8%. I can't complain too much there.

I am not trying to pick on anyone here but what are y'all doing at the bank or an insurance office? I haven't been in either in 10+ years.

In the last 12 months:
Bank (Webster):
- Opened a CD
- Opened a joint savings with the wife
- Took out a HELOC
- Needed two things notarized
- Needed certified bank checks for wedding stuff
- My account was breached and I was able to go in and handle it.
- I hold onto 5-8 paychecks at a time from my weekend job and manually deposit them in the ATM I pass on my daily lunch walk (I could take or leave this one).

Insurance (State Farm):
- Didn't have my monthly premium taken from my account, and then the following month was billed six times in one day. Their customer support line got me nowhere, so I just drove down and walked into the guy's office unannounced. I was in and out in 20 minutes.
- I've only been to the office in person a few times in the decade I've owned my house, but if some shit ever hit the fan and I needed to make a serious claim, I want the peace of mind of having that physical location I can go to.

[cramx3]

Taking pictures of a check has been around a really long time though, that's not new tech.  I'm shocked some people haven't adopted yet.

I had to go inside my bank recently to get a bunch of cash since there's a limit at an ATM.  That was my first time speaking to a teller in maybe 11 years since I last needed a certified check. The problem, I can't predict when I'll need the in person service again, so it's good to have.

Like El Barto, most of my cash is in a HYSA on an app/online. I keep a small amount and my direct deposit from work in a normal checking/savings account for my daily usage.  It's free, so there's no point in closing it when I still occassionally find usefulness of it. Transfer anything I want to put into savings into the other account.

I don't use a local credit union, just one of the big banks because it's super convenient in this part of the country as Chase is literally everywhere.  I don't use it for my mortgage or any other loans, maybe I'd rather use local if I went that route in the future.