The champion of timewasting is social media. Today, there are a lot of options when it comes to wasting your time and the time of others; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, SoundCloud, the list goes on. And whilst it's not remiss for people, groups and companies to have a presence on a bevy of social medias these days, sadly all are not created equal. Here are the five worst social networks and ones you should avoid ever visiting!
5. Snapchat
Image Credit: snapchat.com
Vanity is described as excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, abilities and achievements. It's one of the biblical Deadly Sins and is generally considered a less than desirable character trait. So why is it that Snapchat has allowed this attitude to become incredibly desirable and acceptable? Whilst it doesn't have the ability to share pictures and video with everyone on the internet instantly, much like Instagram, what it does do it introduce innocuous and juvenile features with a focus on sharing with friends and friendship groups. Filters are just stupid, only making the vanity of the app more childish. The location sharing feature is potentially dangerous, although it does offer the option to opt out. However, the attitude surround the objectification of people and the celebration of mundanity is the worst offences the app causes. Everything must be important and pretty and presented in nice little packages so people don't get bored by you. But be sure to hide who you really are behind a filter so you're more pleasing to look at. The subconscious things that the app says to and about its users really do kind of paint this network as just a tab bit evil.
That being said, I do use it occasionally knowing all this under full irony. So, I guess I am part of the problem and can't knowing put this a number one. I disgust myself.
That being said, I do use it occasionally knowing all this under full irony. So, I guess I am part of the problem and can't knowing put this a number one. I disgust myself.
4. Google+
Image Credit: searchengineland.com
Google+ was at one point a widely anticipated service... how times change. Google shows through this social network that they are very much Jack Of All Trades and Masters of None. The problem with this platform, though, was the forcing of its use upon existing Gmail and YouTube users. In an effort to unite all of their services, Google pushed the Google+ sign up process on everyone who owned an existing Google account, much to the chagrin of it's millions of users. There is nothing quite like having one of the biggest possible user-bases for a social network, with one of the lowest active user-bases. It still exists as a stain on Google reputation and a reminder that you cannot push people into loving something because of it's creator.
3. Musical.ly
Image Credit: amazon.com
If SnapChat is the personification of vanity, the Musical.ly is the concepts' logical conclusion. The site is essentially a service where lip sync videos are posted. And that's it. The sickening aspect of the sites appeal, though, is the overwhelmingly young user-base. This website is almost oddly fixated on using a young demographic to drive traffic. Think of it as the Justin Beiber effect, circa 2010. The harrowing part of this, though, is the feverish attitude surrounding these pre-teen 'stars' of the website, treated as sex symbols. Which is, may I remind you, EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE AND BORDERLINE PAEDOPHILIA. Frame it whichever way you want, but finding sexual attraction in conventionally attractive pre-teen children is a fast track to getting caught up in Operation Yewtree.
Also, lip syncing? Really? That shit was popular for like a week in 2006.
Also, lip syncing? Really? That shit was popular for like a week in 2006.
2. Ask.fm/Sarahah
Image Credit: ask.fm / sarahah.com
Yeah, I know, cheating cause now we technically have six entries, but these two websites are practically the same thing, so they get to share the blame for this mess.
Giving people anonymity on the internet is a very dangerous game. In some cases you get Omegle and in others you get 4Chan. Both Ask.fm and Sarahah offer users the ability to send anonymous messages to users who are publicly named. Essentially, it's Twitter without accountability. In other words, it's free license to abuse, harass and bully the users. And the dumb part is that people sign up to allow this to happen. So don't worry about feeling sorry for the people who receive anonymous abuse and threats from these websites, they literally signed up to a website that allows that to happen. Now I know what you're thinking: Mike, we should never normalise online harassment. And no, we shouldn't. In a perfect world, we wouldn't be dicks to anyone regardless of our difference of opinions. But, our world is clearly going off the fucking rails as it is, with people consistently clashing with each other over binary issues on such ugly and cruel scales, so why not just sit on the sidelines and watch the stupidity of unassuming idiots? I have genuinely seen people posting links to these accounts on Facebook and then ask who sent them messages. How is it possible to be that stupid to not understand the concept of the website and then get upset when the inevitable happens?! Whatever, anyone who has an account on these websites knows what they're signing up to, regardless of whatever "It will never happen to me" false-positive attitude they may have.
Giving people anonymity on the internet is a very dangerous game. In some cases you get Omegle and in others you get 4Chan. Both Ask.fm and Sarahah offer users the ability to send anonymous messages to users who are publicly named. Essentially, it's Twitter without accountability. In other words, it's free license to abuse, harass and bully the users. And the dumb part is that people sign up to allow this to happen. So don't worry about feeling sorry for the people who receive anonymous abuse and threats from these websites, they literally signed up to a website that allows that to happen. Now I know what you're thinking: Mike, we should never normalise online harassment. And no, we shouldn't. In a perfect world, we wouldn't be dicks to anyone regardless of our difference of opinions. But, our world is clearly going off the fucking rails as it is, with people consistently clashing with each other over binary issues on such ugly and cruel scales, so why not just sit on the sidelines and watch the stupidity of unassuming idiots? I have genuinely seen people posting links to these accounts on Facebook and then ask who sent them messages. How is it possible to be that stupid to not understand the concept of the website and then get upset when the inevitable happens?! Whatever, anyone who has an account on these websites knows what they're signing up to, regardless of whatever "It will never happen to me" false-positive attitude they may have.
1. Tumblr
Image Credit: imjustcreative.com
Who else but Tumblr could take this lists top spot? I've talked about why I hate this site before, and honestly every point of that still stands. Tumblr is a place where literal hate speech is considered progressive, revolutionary and liberal. It's a place where bullying is called empowering. It's a place where fandom means wishing death upon the unborn child of a famous actor because he didn't marry a fan of his show. It's a place where being 'triggered' is justifiable incitement to riot and have an innocent man removed from his job because you interperate his loving relationship with his girlfriend incorrectly. A place where openly calling for segregation of people by race and gender is openly celebrated as 'the way forward'. In a world where nazis and white supremacists are still a thing, Tumblr is the living reminder that the alternative can be just as bad. It's not only the worst social network out there, it's one of the worst websites on the internet, because in a cruel twist of fate, it's the primary enabler of everything it claims to fight against.
Plus, the layout sucks.
There we have it, five sites you should never waste your time on. I'm curious, are there worse sites out there? Let us know which ones you think are worse than Tumblr. Honestly, I can't see you finding something worse, but do give it a go!
Plus, the layout sucks.
There we have it, five sites you should never waste your time on. I'm curious, are there worse sites out there? Let us know which ones you think are worse than Tumblr. Honestly, I can't see you finding something worse, but do give it a go!
By Mike Owen
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games