Facebook's Reach

 I get off work today and check my phone's notifications only to learn that Facebook was down.  Now, this typically wouldn't be a problem, except that I use Facebook for a lot of my phone log-ins, but that is not what I wished to harp about, at least not entirely.

See, I realized as I had to relog into a vast number of my apps, despite having them linked to my Google account, that a vast majority of the ones I logged into through Facebook were because it was easier at the time, so now I'm having to try to find ways to make certain that I'm not out of those particular apps if Facebook ever goes down again, because let's face it: Facebook will go down again.  It could be 25 years from now or it could be tomorrow, but it will happen.

Despite that, I still find myself relying on my Facebook login because for me it's a habit.  It's a habit that I'm beyond comfortable with and that is what makes this so much worse.  I couldn't play Pokemon Go! because I couldn't remember my Trainer Club log-in credentials and my Google account is linked to a different Go! account from the days when you couldn't just link the accounts together, and I've been too lazy to deal with it.  On top of that, I feared access to other media accounts would be either restricted or not possible, but of the ones I use fairly regularly, none were affected. 

Thank you to who- or whatever took down Facebook for not affecting Discord, my main socializing platform!  Also, a lot of fandom reliant sites were unaffected, which is really great for those who use them, so just a reminder despite everything, that there are always alternatives to when lemons are the only fruit you seem to have.  

Writing Analysis

Alright, so what may have been the start of the LANZ campaign didn't actually start and until we do, I won't have an update.

For all who participated in Camp NaNoWriMo July 2015: Congrats on at least participating!  If you met you're goal, like I did...Double CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!  In my case, my goal was only 15K, and I only barely managed to hit the goal early on the final morning(like 1:30 a. m., talk about worrying!  I managed over 5K in those final 2 days as I worked on a fanfiction that seemed to grip me at the moment.)

Now, today on Facebook in a friend's news feed she got a link to something called Personality Insights.  She happened to share it with me and I decided to test it.  First I used the latest chapter that I managed to type up for Camp NaNo.  Then I tried a part from a different fanfiction that is sitting on my computer waiting for me to return to it.  They both received the same analysis:

You are boisterous and social.

You are unconcerned with art: you are less concerned with artistic or creative activities than most people who participated in our surveys. You are assertive: you tend to speak up and take charge of situations, and you are comfortable leading groups. And you are laid-back: you appreciate a relaxed pace in life.

Your choices are driven by a desire for well-being.

You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you. You are relatively unconcerned with taking pleasure in life: you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment.

Now, this is the funny thing.  The closest thing to artistic that I have is my writing.  Other folks find other ways to vent when they get mad, but I tend to bottle it up because my brain runs rampant with ideas.  I love all forms of art but feel that I'm not able to put what my brain presents into any artistic form.  I have to find others who have managed to portray exactly what my imagination managed to create.  Most times, when I find them, it's close enough that my brain accepts it as what my imagination was aiming for.

While I can and have been in charge of varying groups and used to not have any qualms about trying to take over, there was a memorable moment when I was child that I am still bitter over.  We were put into groups that had to research the environments.  I had grabbed my notebook, even back in grade school, I felt a need to take notes and have paper and pencil in hand at all times.  No one else in the group had grabbed theirs and one of the others in our group wanting to take control over my notebook and pencil.  I refused, obviously.  We didn't do too well on the project because they couldn't put the essay/speaking portion into a feasible format of sentences.  The first sentence I read was actually a run-on that was followed by a fragment.  The entirety of the paragraph was about one individual fact, as well.

I felt the entirety of the project and what had occurred at the time was unfair.  I resented my classmate trying to take my supplies and then not being able to actually put together a decent project.  I resolved even then that my projects would be done to a level of competence that sat well with me, even if they were never appreciated.

I do try to be rather laid-back.  Rushing all the time and not taking the time to enjoy life is annoying.  In fact, that's part of what's been bothering me lately.  I've got way to many things going on to just take a walk and relax while watching the clouds.

I do like helping others, though.  I like to cook for large groups and if it were easier for me to help others, I would easily be volunteering.  I will freely admit to advocating both recycling and conservation efforts before I turned five.  I tried to help others, but when your voice gets overlooked and you can't seem to find support, you give up, or at least I did.

As for the last sentence...I gave up doing anything for myself a long time ago.  Kind of hard to be able to freely enjoy life when you have four siblings that are more boisterous than you.

I will admit that while I like a bit of socializing, I'm just as happy disappearing for years at a time.

Next I used a portion of an original fiction piece that I had started working on way back in high school.  It's analysis went as follows:

You are social, boisterous and can be perceived as shortsighted.

You are assertive: you tend to speak up and take charge of situations, and you are comfortable leading groups. You are unconcerned with art: you are less concerned with artistic or creative activities than most people who participated in our surveys. And you are confident: you are hard to embarrass and are self-confident most of the time.

Your choices are driven by a desire for well-being.

You are relatively unconcerned with both independence and taking pleasure in life. You welcome when others direct your activities for you. And you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment.

The only difference was the being hard to embarrass and the self-confidence.  It's not that I'm hard to embarrass or mostly self-confident.  It's more that I read so much that in the realm of words, things were completely different than real-life.  I was able to convince myself that what claimed I was and wanted was truly me and my likes and dislikes.  It no longer is true.  I am hard to embarrass because most people try to with sexual innuendos which I freely bandied with my friends and even now banter with my husband.  I am now self-confident in the fact that if someone doesn't like who I am, they can disappear from my life or learn to deal with it.  It's not on me that you can't interact with me in a way that makes you happy.

After that I decided to analyze my first blog post from Jun 1, 2014:

You are a bit compulsive and sentimental.

You are unconcerned with art: you are less concerned with artistic or creative activities than most people who participated in our surveys. You are content: you are content with your level of accomplishment and do not feel the need to set ambitious goals. And you are empathetic: you feel what others feel and are compassionate towards them.

Your choices are driven by a desire for well-being.

You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you. You are relatively unconcerned with independence: you welcome when others direct your activities for you.

Compulsive?  Yes, I am.   Sentimental?  Most definitely have those moments even if I'm only 28.  Content with where I am?  Yes, and wish others would realize that as well.  Empathetic?  I don't know.  Unconcerned with independence?  I like having choices.  Yes, I'd rather be as one of my neighbors put it a "domestic engineer" or rather a housewife, but the world isn't giving me that option at the moment.  Do I want to be told what to do?  No.  Do I like knowing what the expectations for me by others are?  Perhaps in certain areas of my life, but unconcerned with independence?  Not bloody likely(great, been reading too many Harry Potter fanfics again!)

I also had the blog post for the LANZ campaign analyzed as it was the last post before this one:

You are inner-directed and skeptical.

You are unconcerned with art: you are less concerned with artistic or creative activities than most people who participated in our surveys. You are deliberate: you carefully think through decisions before making them. And you are proud: you hold yourself in high regard, satisfied with who you are.

Experiences that give a sense of connectedness hold some appeal to you.

You are relatively unconcerned with taking pleasure in life: you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment. You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you.

Yes, I am completely satisfied with who I am, even if I still couldn't explain it to others.  I only think through some of my decisions before making them.  Most of the time I think it through after I've already made it.  What does a "sense of connectedness" even mean?  I can't comment for or against something I just don't understand.

Finally, I decided to analyze this post:

You are sentimental.

You are empathetic: you feel what others feel and are compassionate towards them. You are assertive: you tend to speak up and take charge of situations, and you are comfortable leading groups. And you are intermittent: you have a hard time sticking with difficult tasks for a long period of time.

Your choices are driven by a desire for well-being.

You are relatively unconcerned with tradition: you care more about making your own path than following what others have done. You consider helping others to guide a large part of what you do: you think it is important to take care of the people around you.

Definitely, have a hard time sticking with difficult tasks for long periods of time.  It's why I have a hard time at winning NaNoWriMo and so few of my stories are actually completed!

When it comes to traditions it's more I lack the memory and experience with them.  While some of them, yes, I don't really see a point, others I just don't want to worry.  There were so few traditions when I was growing up, that the few I wish to have I have to do myself.  My husband is just as unconcerned with traditions as I am.  We have traditions, but we leave leeway for our own changes to said traditions as well.  Why shouldn't we wish to blaze our own trail in the traditions department?

Facebook Friends, Requests, and Games

A friend of mine has had her Facebook account for several years now.  She opened one after receiving requests from other friends to join them.  She also had a MySpace account at the time.  Mind you, she wasn't on either regularly back then because she found other things more interesting than playing some random game or poking friends.

Yes, Facebook got its start as a gaming platform.  All those friend requests to play one game or another?  That was how Facebook began.  Between Vampires vs. Werewolves, before Twilight and Pirates vs. Ninjas to Vampire Wars and Farm Town, some members have been playing their games and sending said requests to friends since before they were able to leave more than short messages on a friend's wall.

Why did I start ranting about this particular subject?   My friend regularly plays certain games.  She also regularly ignores her notifications and game requests unless she decides she wants the headache of trying to deal with thousands of requests.  Some games are easier to keep from sending requests to friends who don't play the game than others, but it's actually relatively easy to keep from seeing said requests...It's called Hide All Posts From [enter name of game here.]

She just happened to be going through her wall posts, something she rarely does or ever really did.  One of her friends wrote a post "threatening" to remove friends who keep sending her game requests.  She then asked if said friend forgot that Facebook started out as games, not a media outlet for the depressing shit that keeps appearing on walls or for fandoms to reach out globally to each other.

While it started out as a gaming platform, it has changed.  Events and news stories are commonly pushing aside the games and it seems as though even though the games want to try to keep relevant they demand too many friends that play the same game and expect players to spend a majority of time playing the game.  If someone spends more time removing friends because of game requests than taking the time to remove said game from their accepted notifications list, then perhaps they aren't spending enough time in the real world catching up on other things.

What do you think?  Should someone be removed from a friends list just because ssaid friend is receiving game requests from them?