You know what really frosts my flakes? Social media companies punishing people for breaking rules they refuse to explain.
This nonsense happens all the time. You write a post, share a meme or leave a comment. Next thing you know, a message pops up saying, “You have violated our community standards.”
Oh really? Which one? Did I sneeze wrong? Blink too aggressively? They never say.
You can still log in and look around. But, you cannot post or make comments.
You are officially in adult timeout. Go sit in the corner and think about what you did. Except, they never tell you what you did.
Instead, they hand you a link, which leads to another page with dozens of other links. Each one opens a page that reads like a legal document written by a bored attorney with a word count goal.
Somewhere between 1,500 and 4,000 words per section, and you are supposed to figure out which invisible rule you broke. Good luck with that.
So now you are sitting there like a kid who got grounded, trying to guess what made Mom mad. Was it the tone? Was it the joke? Was it Tuesday?
And here is the best part. There is no human to talk to. No phone number. No email. No “Hey, can you explain this to me like I am an adult?”
Just robots. Cold, silent, unblinking robots.
A few years ago, I got suspended every time I posted anything faith related. My own thoughts on my own page were apparently considered dangerous to society.
After the second time, I tried to reach out. After the third time, I tried again. After about the 12th time, I gave up on modern communication and sent an actual letter through express mail. Because nothing says “please help me” like paying extra to be ignored faster.
And what did I get back? Nothing. Not a letter, email or even a lousy automated response.
The problem just magically went away a few months later, like a ghost which got bored and left the house.
Now tell me this. How are people supposed to fix bad behavior when nobody tells them what they did wrong?
Police cannot do that. Courts cannot do that. You cannot walk into a courtroom and hear, “You are guilty of something. We are not telling you what. But you better not do it again or you will really get in bigger trouble.”
But, somehow, these social media giants get to play judge, jury and moody babysitter. They treat grown adults like toddlers with a smartphone.
“No posting for you. Go think about your life choices.”
What choices? What rule? What standard? Nobody knows.
I am Grandpa Grumpy, and I am always one rant away from getting put in timeout myself.
You might want to head over to grandpagrumpy.com and get on the email list. Because, at this rate, one more wrong word and my screen goes dark.