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Boomer comics complaining about the kids and their damn cell phones
- Thread starter Sun's Resting Place
- Start date
Help, I've fallen down the rabbit hole of awfulness!
The number of people in this thread saying this one is accurate is almost worrying. It's not even close to reality for most people. It's super dumb. If this is actually you, sort your shit out.
Yeah laughapalooza is definitely satire of the boomer image macros. I should have clarified, but I love the page so much, even if the absurdist humor can be lost on people sometimes.It's definitely satire, though an odd brand of it that doesn't work for me. I think the "loaded up with the latest screensavers" should, if nothing else, be the dead giveaway. I'm not sure how old you'd have to be, or who you'd have to be, to write that out in earnest.
I looked at that FB page, and all their posts are similar (including the frequent misspelling of words). For example, this:
I have boomers in my FB who legit share those "share if you survived..." things, ugh. That's killing me, lolYeah laughapalooza is definitely satire of the boomer image macros. I should have clarified, but I love the page so much, even if the absurdist humor can be lost on people sometimes.
People have lately been writing more and more about how app developers exploit some of the worst parts of human psychology to keep users in their ecosystems. This is especially true with those that provide free services, like Google and Facebook. Here's an example of one such article: https://amp.businessinsider.com/how-app-developers-keep-us-addicted-to-our-smartphones-2018-1
Of course, one could argue that human psychology has always been exploited for personal gain. (There's a reason why everything is $9.99 instead of $10, TV shows have cliffhangers, and food restaurants have red and yellow logos.) But it seems lately companies have become much more aggressive, especially as they have a more direct line into our lives through the Internet, and even dipping into unhealthy territory (e.g. gambling and addiction techniques).
Because pretty much everyone has a phone that's always near us, has all of our information, and is always connected to the Internet, it is unquestionably a prime target for exploitation. The two-way communication of the Internet makes it even worse because they can get a really good glimpse into our individual lives to target us further.
Things like targeted emails, the use of our real life friends and family to target us, giving us incentive to log in / play / use a service daily, random push notifications that have the same weight as an important email... A lot of FOMO (fear of missing out) is triggered in our brains that keep us looking at our devices. And relevant to the comic, there's lots more psychology beyond FOMO that's trying to keep us always looking at our phones, too.
A person who says "eh, I'm not affected by this" or "You just need to be strong-willed" is missing the point entirely. Companies aggressively exploit our psychology because we are human, we are not infallible, and we operate in a certain way. While that person says they're not affected, companies are trying to figure out what will finally get to them. So while you mentioned that the comic isn't close to reality for most people (which I can't say if that's true or not), the comic is definitely a look at what app developers and phone manufacturers are aiming for, and that's the real worrisome part.
(Not that I'm saying that comic is a smart and thoughtful piece about how companies are exploiting us... It's very clearly a "darn kids and their darn phones" thing, haha.)
Yeah.
I disable all notifications and use hiya to block all scammers.
My wife does the same thing but by ignoring dozens of push notifications.
To be entirely clear: I don't think checking your phone often is necessarily dangerous or bad and I don't necessarily think that the ways that companies leverage our engagement with technology is always unhealthy.
However. It's not healthy to literally feel like you are enslaved to your phone. I definitely didn't mean to suggest anything about people being weak-willed, not trying hard enough, or even that I am not impacted by aggressive marketing. I'm clinically obsessive compulsive. I know precisely how effectively companies exploit human psychology.
My point was that instead of some people saying over and over, "Haha, they sure got us, this is definitely the normal reality of how we all feel about our phones" over and over when talking about a comic that is very absurdist ridiculous hyperbole, they should maybe examine their shit. Because it is not healthy to actually feel like you are enslaved to your phone and is not the standard state of affairs for most people, I would think. If the way you're engaging with technology makes you feel less happy and less productive, that isn't just how things are now, that's something that should be looked into and modified as best as you can.
People are acting like it's a sad state of affairs that simply has to be accepted and that's surprising to me, to say the least, and doesn't align with reality as I see it at all. You can look at your phone a lot. That doesn't matter. But if you actually feel a compulsive need to check it that impacts your overall happiness, that is something you should try to change. That's just reality, coming from one obsessive compulsive to others.
The point of my comment was to say that "freeing" ourselves from our phones is unfortunately harder than people may think, and that it's hard by design. I apologize if my post sounded accusatory, I brought up the arguments about people being weak willed, etc. entirely on my own because those are common arguments that emphasize my point that we believe it's easy to beat psychological tricks, but it's harder than we think.
But of course, you are right that if you feel like you're enslaved to technology that you know makes you feel worse, you should do something about it.
I think Bill Amend is the only one who nailed gamers in comic strips with Foxtrot. He actually knew something about the subject.
Well, this one does have a valid point at least, attention economy and all.
Help, I've fallen down the rabbit hole of awfulness!
Edit: Oh, been discussed in great detail already. Nevermind!
Especially the implication that a woman shoved an entire newspaper into her womb.
From that very same artist...Topical.
And if you want to know more about him...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts...cartoon/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.aa4423b34820
And what does he have to say in response?
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Surprised they didn't go so far as to draw a stereotypical lesbianLooks like Boomer Comics found A New Low
Looks like Boomer Comics found A New Low
Seems the cartoonist is too chicken-shit to put his name on it. Pity.
That first comic is so typical of a boomer: none of them fought in WWII or Korea, maybe their parents did. They are not the greatest generation. They grew up in a great economy while the government showered them in socialism. Fucking pricks.
FUCKING BOOMERS DESTROYED THIS PLANET AND NOW THEY'RE TRYING TO DESTROY MY SANITY WITH THEIR FUCKING COMICS.
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Actually, that last one is pretty awesome. I'd love a cloning-on-demand service. I'm not seeing very many problems with that "future liberals want" they came up with to spook boomers.
Also god forbid gay people kiss in public.
I would die laughing if a small kid had that response to the balloon question.
I'm gonna write my master thesis about this.good luck figuring this one out
There is so much to unpack
But uhh they support the guy the Nazis like?good luck figuring this one out
if this had a crying statue of liberty I'd say it was intentionally ironic
more than willing to bet that the QoL here is significantly better. government subsidized organ cloning services for healthcare would greatly extend life expectancy
Actually, that last one is pretty awesome. I'd love a cloning-on-demand service. I'm not seeing very many problems with that "future liberals want" they came up with to spook boomers.
Also god forbid gay people kiss in public.
The audacity of driving around town with your sheep. Have you no shame sir.
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