Reels – Another Annoyance

Many people have already left Facebook to venture over to other social media sites. This is due to censorship, “fact checking,” and so much more. I just can’t bring myself to leave Facebook. First of all, I have 12 years worth of memories on there. I have pictures, videos, and other random memories that I enjoy seeing. Second, many of my former radio and record friends are on there and it is one way I keep in touch with many of them. Next, many of my pastor friends, church friends, and people who share the same faith as me, are all on there. While I can watch many of their live streams on YouTube, I can also watch saved “live” sermons after they have been recorded on Facebook. I’m just not ready to leave it …

REELS

I don’t have a TikTok account, but almost everyone I know has one. Basically, it is a place for people to create stupid videos. It seems that Facebook and Instagram are trying to keep up with them, so they created their own “version” called “Reels.”

I hadn’t really noticed them when I am on Facebook from a laptop, however, when I am using the Facebook mobile app, they are very prominent in the news feed.

These stupid videos are much like the Snapchat “stories” I blogged about recently. Today’s reels included:

• A gal snapping her finger and every time she is in a different outfit
• A teenager lip synching to a bad rap song
• Some dude golfing
• Another dude golfing
• A dash cam video of a truck being tipped over by the wind on a bridge
• A large breasted model walking through a crowd of people while people took her picture
• A guy eating cereal while milk came out his nose
• A woman jumping up and down – and each time she hit the floor she had on a new pair of shoes
• A few wild football plays
• Animals caught on Ring doorbells
• Pranks (so called) where it is obviously set up and everyone is in on it
• People dancing to Brooks and Dunn’s Neon Moon

The above list was just from today’s occasional checks of Facebook. Some of the “reels” are actual TikTok videos.

I don’t get the appeal of these. My wife says that they are kind of addicting. I don’t know, every one I have actually watched was either boring or was a huge build up to …. nothing spectacular.

It is bad enough that when I scroll through my Facebook newsfeed, I rarely see anything from friends. There always seems to be some sponsored link to a product or story. Sometimes there is the “click bait” stories (“A man discovers something terrible in his closet,” “The last photo in this set will leave you in tears,” or “Chilling pictures from INSERT TRAGEDY HERE“) . All I want is to see what’s going on with my family and friends.

These Reels and Reel-y annoying!!