No. One. Cares.
Posted by Don Packett under Current Affairs , Rants , Web/Tech on October 24 2012 at 9:28 AMEvery so often I jump on my “I hate social media” train and abandon them for real life. It’s quite nice, actually. I don’t post content, I don’t check feeds or streams, it’s utter bliss. Some sabbaticals last for 2 or 3 days, some for 15 (my longest stint yet).
Why do I do it?
Because it’s shit. All of it. Well, most of it. But it’s the “most” that kills it for me.
Common sense seems like a simple premise when deciding what your next Facebook post should be. Unfortunately, not everyone has this ability when rushing blindly into the virtual world. I don’t care if you’re tired and falling asleep at your desk. I don’t care how long it is until your birthday/wedding/childbirth. I equally don’t care that you’re CrossFitting, cycling, running, skipping or chasing frogs. Okay, maybe I do care if you’re chasing frogs. That shit is fun, let’s be honest. All I ask for is an invite.
In the depths of my soul, though, I want to believe that I’m not the only person who feels that posting mind-numbing, non-important, non-educational content is a waste of everyone’s time. That when you post “OMG I’m so tired I hope my boss leaves soon so I can nap… giggle giggle” I’m not the single person reading it wanting to give you a stick of dynamite, some matches and tell you it’s your birthday candle. Because I think you’d believe it was your birthday, and you’d light it. Really. That’s where my respect for your intelligence lies.
At this point, dear friends, I feel we are starting to spiral downwards in the intelligence area of our existence. Oh yes, it’s true, because other people actually entertain those who post such rot. I know, right!? Which leads me to believe that when people share stupid things that no-one really cares about, and some pretend to care and actually comment on those posts, we’re slowly but surely making the human race more pathetic, and we should just give up now. Kool-Aid anyone?
So, I urge you, that when your Facebook friends post ridiculously mundane information that would not have altered your life or educated you in the least had you not been privy to it, to comment a short, polite “No. One. Cares.”
Hell, I’ll make it easier for you, let’s shorten it to “NOC”. The more people see “NOC” on their posts, we’ll hopefully start to brighten up our online world by making people THINK before posting stupid shit.
Help me, help you. Because…
NOC.
October 24th, 2012 at 10:03 am
The post I wish I’d written. My unfollow / unfriend / block button has been working overtime recently. Nice one Don.
October 24th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Dear Mr Packett,
Firstly I am a great fan of yours and rather enjoy your sense of humour and whit. This post however is probably one of the first that I have not enjoyed and one that I find rather self indulgent and arrogant. The reason that I have chosen to create an alias rather than use my real name is in the interest of avoiding an unnecessary argument and I can remain a follower of your future ramblings
Now while I agree that there is a lot of senseless dribble posted on Facebook, a lot of it which I do not care about, that does not entitle me to presume that no one else care’s about it. Such a thought would be ridiculously arrogant, narrow minded and shows a bigger lack of intelligence than most of the “mundane” posts that you speak of. I know that intelligence is not one of your shortfalls so perhaps you are just suffering from a bout of arrogance.
I happen to be one of those people who posts about their children and numerous pictures of their children. I do so with pride and endearment.
I also happen to have started crossfit about 3 months ago and boy oh boy do I love posting about my workouts and about anything to do with crossfit whatsoever. It’s been something revolutionary in my life and it brings me joy to post about it.
NOC you say? Well on what authority do you make such a statement. Regarding my child, my friends and family overseas certainly do. But more importantly I do.
With regards to my new found love of crossfit NOC? Well actually all the people that I train with seem to care, just as I care about what they have to say about their training. You speak of Kool-Aid, man that shit is rife in the crossfit world but that’s ok. I care and they care.
The bottom line is No One Really Cares Whether or Not You Care. If you don’t like what is posted
a) ignore
b) unsubscribe
c) unfriend
Pretty simple for a techno-savvy individual such as yourself.
I’m sure you will have some smart retort regarding my thoughts and that’s one of the things I appreciate about you. So fire away,but just keep in mind, No One Really Cares Whether or Not You Care
October 24th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Hahaha, and NOC is already defined on Urban Dictionary, so the clueless can Google and feel truth’s keen sting.
Nice post, Don.
October 24th, 2012 at 10:38 am
I want to agree with you… I really do. I think it comes down to this – you shouldn’t dictate what others post but you sure as fuck can unfollow/block/mute them to your heart’s content.
October 24th, 2012 at 11:01 am
@Notas Arrogant – I 100% agree that No One Cares Whether Or Not I Care. In fact, it’s great, because that just fuels my argument. The stuff that people share (much like this post) that concern only them, is for some, and not for others. I wouldn’t necessarily say “arrogant” concerning content, it just really is that I don’t care, and neither do a lot of others (family abroad excluded), hence NOC. It’s sweeping, of course, but have a look at your news feed and please, being very honest, have a look and see if there are any posts that are begging for a “NOC”. If not, I want your friend list.
@Motheo I do. A lot. It’s awfully satisfying. All I want is to educate. I’m nice like that.
October 24th, 2012 at 11:11 am
@Don alas you win, the first post was about the need to find a name for their new dog???? Unfollowed!!!
October 24th, 2012 at 11:19 am
@Notas Arrogant – Haha, I took a chance there, glad it panned out. “Unsubscribe” is a liberating experience.
October 24th, 2012 at 11:20 am
I’m going to be THAT guy and paraphrase John Keating:
It doesn’t matter if your content has a simple theme, sometimes the best content can be about something simple, like a cat or a flower or rain. Just don’t let your content be ordinary.
Trivial nonsense, such as, “OMG, how’s this rain?”, or “Argh, traffic is such a disaster” or anything that has already been said by a countless number of people on a countless number of occasions, that fails to entertain or differentiate itself from the noise – that has to stop, because it’s just that, noise.
October 24th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
My high school principal used to walk away from mundane conversations on these grounds. Whenever someone would say something like “It’s cold today” or “It’s raining”, he would just walk away. Why waste your time on trivial conversations.
I feel by commenting NOC is feeding the attention seekers and fueling the fire, more than it might be educating people unfortunately. Never feed the trolls.
But I do agree that social media has the potential to serve a higher purpose rather than a weather report or count down to ones wedding. Again that being said, I would like to know if someone is getting married just not everyday.
Everything in moderation might be the key.
October 24th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
While I mostly agree with your points above around the mundane and completely banal trivia that we face every-flipping-day, I don’t agree with your seemingly arrogant view on NOC.
I don’t think anyone else has the right to choose what can and can’t be said, and to call out that person publicly, merely because you aren’t interested. Seems a bit like bullying to me- the cool kids say I shouldn’t do this, and if I do, I will be named and shamed.
Freedom of speech- whether it lies within government’s proposal of POPI or just on a Social network, applies to every person’s right to post, share and bore with whatever content they deem suitable.
Whether their post be on babies, cats, weddings or even “There’s something pretty awesome (albeit very hippy) about fertilising the fruit and veggies you’ve planted in your garden with the worm wee from your worm farm and rain water caught in buckets after a storm. Ok more hippy than anything else” posts… if you’re not interested, walk away, block, unsubscribe. Life is happier if we live and let live (Now that’s a hippy saying
)
Keep up with the funny stuff- I’m a keen supporter of yours and I’ve always enjoyed your views.
PS. I post pictures of my cats.
October 24th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
I’m surprised no one commented NOC here, for a post filed under Rants…
October 24th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
@TequilaandTears – Nice, you’ve done your homework. Well played. To be fair, I still think the post you referenced is somewhat educational, as in sharing the goodness of trying to live a “greener” lifestyle, and hoping people follow suit. That was my intention at least. If it worked: Awesome. If not: Oh well. <– That applies to the content of this post too.
Again, though, my feeling is that content should affect the lives of your followers/friends somehow. Whether educational, enriching, inspiring, that sort of thing. No?
October 24th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Absolutely- I really couldn’t agree more that people should only post content that is at least valuable in some small way. My point though, is that you, or no one else, can be the judge of that ‘value.’ Some people find value in things that you might not- just like I don’t particularly find value in worm wee, and you don’t find it on Crossfit. And I particularly despise the 1000th pic of a friend’s new born rug rat, but the other doting cooing mothers do.
In essence, I agree with your points. Just not in the NOC… because someone, somewhere does.
October 24th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Totally agree! I’m so annoyed I want to unsubscribe from Facebook or at least get it off my phone.
October 25th, 2012 at 7:15 am
@TequilaandTears – I know *some* do care about babies and CrossFit, for sure. I’m convinced though that *most* don’t. And there’s a line, of course, and it’s those who tap-dance on the other side of it (loudly atop steel drums) that get unsubscribed from.
October 25th, 2012 at 7:29 am
@TequilaandTears – As an aside, I also believe that content should also spark engagement and be conversation-worthy (whether positive or negative) – the larger reason for this post