Tag Archives: Facebook

Never Stop Thinking

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I think of an experiment to test a theory.

As I age, I find that my mind often wanders into different directions, normally unbidden. I think it’s because I have very little in the way of distractions in my home: I live alone and I don’t have a TV going all the time. This gives me time to think — and sometimes I think about unusual things.

The Science of Hot Coffee

This morning, I thought about why it was so important for me to warm my coffee cup before brewing coffee into it and why it was equally important to get the metal teaspoon I use to add sugar and stir out of that cup as quickly as possible. It all has to do with temperature: keeping that coffee hot as long as possible so I could enjoy it at my own pace before it got cold.

The warmed coffee cup is pretty obvious — we’ve all had the experience of putting a salad on a dish still hot from the dishwasher. The salad touching the plate isn’t as cold as the salad that isn’t. This is why they chill salad plates (and forks) at good restaurants. It follows that putting something hot into a cold vessel will do the same. I guarantee you’ve experienced this yourself. I know only one other person who takes the time to warm his coffee cup before putting coffee in it.

(And yes, I know a lot of folks don’t give a damn about what they likely consider a minuscule temperature change. But I do.)

But the spoon? Why is it so important for me to remove the spoon quickly?

This morning I thought a little about that. I’d always assumed that the stainless steel teaspoon would act as a heat sink. One end is in the hot coffee and the other is in the relatively cool kitchen. The heat from the coffee would heat up the spoon, which was made of metal — an excellent conductor of heat — and that heat would travel up the spoon handle to its end. The handle, which was constantly being warmed by the coffee would be constantly cooled by room temperature. That heat energy that is lost would have to come from somewhere: the coffee.

This is something I’ve always assumed. It makes sense to me. But this morning, for some reason, I wondered if I was right. And then I came up with an experiment to test my theory.

The Scientific Method


Scientific Method diagram by Wikipedia user Efbrazil used via CC 4.0 license.

I was in fifth grade when I learned about the scientific method. That was a long time ago and, not being a scientist or in any way involved in lab work my entire life, you’d think I’d forget it. But some things just stick with me. I think the scientific method stuck with me because it made sense logically — and I’m definitely a logical thinker.

Don’t worry — I won’t go into the scientific method in detail here. I’ll just focus on this diagram, which shows all steps to the method. The important concept to take away from this is that it starts with a question you might want answered and then goes through the process of coming up with a possible answer (hypothesis) and testing that answer (experiment). If the results (analyzed data) support the hypothesis, you might be done; if they don’t, then you’re definitely not done. In either case, you’d likely explore other hypotheses, going through the process again (and again and again, if necessary) until you either couldn’t get an answer — i.e., the experiment results simply do not support any hypothesis — or you were confident that one of your hypotheses was correct.

When I thought up an experiment to test my theory about a stainless steel teaspoon as a heat sink, I realized I was using the scientific method. In real life — not in a lab, not as a scientist. It was a great example about how some of the stuff we learn in school that we don’t think we’ll ever use in life does become relevant every once in a while.

Want to see the process for my experiment? Here are the first four steps:

  1. Observation/Question – More of a question: does coffee get cold faster if you leave a teaspoon in it?
  2. Research Topic Area – Well, understanding what a heat sink is is probably important to forming a hypothesis.
  3. Hypothesis – Yes, coffee does get cold faster if I leave a stainless steel teaspoon in it than if I don’t. (This would not apply to a plastic teaspoon since plastic is a poorer conductor of heat than metal.)
  4. Experiment – Take two identical cups. Add an equal amount of boiling water to each cup. Put a room temperature teaspoon inside one cup. Take temperature readings every 5 to 10 minutes to see if the one with the teaspoon gets cold faster. (You could expand the experiment to include three cups and put a plastic teaspoon in the third to test the hypotheses that plastic teaspoons would not have an effect.)

That’s as far as I got. I thought up the experiment but I didn’t do it. It simply isn’t that important to me to know, one way or the other, if I’m right. But it might make a nice at-home experiment for home-schooled kids if you happen to know any. Science is important — and heat sinks are a part of our every day life — they’re inside every computer we own.

Why Blog about It?

Why am I blogging about this? Well, I think I surprised myself this morning by my train of thought and where it led me. I wanted to share that with other folks who might find themselves consumed with things that prevent them from thinking for themselves.

All for clicks and likes

Let me take a moment to mention how outside pressures, especially from social media, get people to do things just for clicks and likes. Just this morning, I read another gender reveal tragedy story — too many gender reveals exist solely to impress others with their outrageousness. People are dying because a blog post that went viral has convinced people to make their own viral moment centered around the gender of their unborn child. Are we really that dumb? That 15 minutes of fame can put lives at risk?

This is an extreme, of course, but think about the not-so-smart things you’ve done to impress your friends and others over the years. Those “watch this” moments. Ever think of why you were really doing them? Or what the consequences could have been if what you did backfired? Is it really that important to impress others?

How about impressing yourself instead?

Every day, we’re faced with a barrage of inputs from family, friends, strangers, advertisers, and the news media. Direct conversation, text, and email; social media posts by people with their own agenda; print, audio, and video advertisements on billboards, in magazines, and everywhere online and on television; network and cable news broadcasters. Too much of that input is trying to fill your head with someone else’s thoughts and ideas and manipulate your opinions. If you follow politics at all, you know exactly what I mean. It’s hard to have a moment to yourself, a time to just think based on verifiable facts and to form your own ideas and opinions.

I do this a lot. Yes, I spend a lot too much time on Twitter but that’s the only social media I allow access to my brain. (Seriously folks, #DeleteFacebook.) And even then, I’m careful about who I follow. I don’t want a diet of political nonsense from either side so I tend to avoid accounts that post just politics. Instead, I try to get tweets from fellow thinkers — or at least from folks who have a life that doesn’t revolve around cable news and the latest political/celebrity scandal. And when I’m not on Twitter — which really is most of the time — I keep active and work on ways to make my life fulfilling.

I think therefore I am. If you can’t think for yourself, do you really exist?

Anyway, does leaving a stainless steel teaspoon in your coffee make it cool faster? If you do the experiment, let me know.

Three Social Media Tips in the Time of Coronavirus

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Dial it down, for your sanity and the sanity of others.

Okay, I get it. You’re stuck mostly at home, possibly with a spouse and/or kids. Your routine has been upended and you have gaps in your day that you need to fill with something. So maybe you’re checking in on social media a little more than usual. Seeing what’s new with friends on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or some other social networking platform I’m either too old or too young to be connected with.

I’m with you. Although my “routine” hasn’t changed much, as I discussed in my previous post, I have definitely been checking in on Twitter a lot more than usual. (I pretty much dumped Facebook about three years ago, although you will still find a half-dead account there for me.) And based on the increased number of new tweets coming in every minute or so, I have to assume that many of the folks I follow there have also ramped up their access. I suspect it’s the same on all social media platforms. You’re bored, you’re lonely, you’re stressed, you’re starved for information — for whatever reason, you’re online more, reading more posts, and sharing the posts you want everyone in the world to see.

Whoa. Take a step back and look hard about how it’s making you feel. That’s what I did about a week ago. I realized that all coronavirus/COVID-19 and all finger-pointing politics all the time was making me depressed and angry. And that’s not what I use social media for.

That said, I’d like to offer three tips for social media during the time of coronavirus.

General Tips for Keeping Your Sanity on Twitter

On March 4, I posted a Twitter thread with some advice for folks who were getting frustrated by the anger and hate being shared on Twitter. Here it is in its entirety; tweet by tweet:

As someone who has been on Twitter for nearly 13 years and has authored numerous training materials/articles about it, can I share some advice for folks frustrated by the anger and hate being shared here? (1/13)

First of all, don’t feed the trolls. If someone replies to you or someone else with nasty, hateful comments, do one of the following (1) ignore them, (2) mute them so you don’t need to see any more of their crap, … (2/13)

… or (3) block them so you don’t have to worry about them seeing/interacting with your tweets. I usually block because life’s too short to deal with assholes. (3/13)

If someone on Twitter is spewing hate against a group of people or otherwise violating the Twitter Terms of Service (TOS), report them and (optionally but recommended) block them. I consider it my duty to report these accounts. (4/13)

If you think an account is fake — remember, we’ve been warned that foreign actors are screwing with US elections — report and block it. It’s quick and easy. (5/13)

Don’t make things worse by trolling people you don’t agree with using nasty or offensive comments. Remember what they say about honey vs vinegar. (Google it.) 6/13)

Don’t believe ANYTHING you read on Twitter unless it’s from a reputable source or you’ve read it elsewhere on an independent reputable source. Related: anyone can cook up a chart or graph or “poll results” to fool you. Ditto for photos these days. (7/13)

Related: just because you agree with something and WANT it to be true doesn’t mean it IS true. (8/13)

Don’t share information you have any reason to believe might not be true. (See above.) There’s enough bad information out there — don’t add to it! (9/13)

Follow folks who tweet about the things that interest you most. If you’re sick of politics, unfollow folks who tweet/retweet political things. You can always follow them again later. And don’t be offended if people unfollow you. (10/13)

Understand that I’m not telling you to close your mind to other ideas. I’m telling you to keep things civil in your discourse, share (and believe) factual things, and be aware that foreign operators are actively trying to disrupt our elections. Don’t let them suck you in! (11/13)

And finally, remember that Twitter is what you make it. Follow only the accounts that really interest you and stick to viewing “latest tweets” instead of “top tweets” to ensure that YOU are the one curating your Twitter feed. Block the bad actors. (12/13)

Social media is not real life. Remember that, whether you’re on Twitter, Facebook, or any other platform. When it stresses you out, take a break.

See you online. (13/13)

1. Curate your newsfeed.

On Twitter, if you have settings adjusted just right, you should see only three kinds of tweets:

  • Tweets posted by the accounts you follow. You have absolute control over this. If you don’t like what someone tweets, don’t follow them.
  • Tweets retweeted by the accounts you follow. You have some control over this, too. If you don’t like what someone retweets, you can turn off retweets for that account. If there’s one particular account that a Twitter friend retweets that you really don’t want to see, you can mute that account.
  • Ads. Unfortunately, you don’t have much control over that. (But cut Twitter some slack since they really do need to make money somehow.)

This is Twitter. Facebook is a whole different animal, one I’m very glad that I no longer deal with. But you do have some control on Facebook, too. Unfriend people or simply don’t include their posts in your newsfeed. Ditto for Instagram and others.

On Twitter, you can further curate your newsfeed by muting tweets that contain certain words, phrases, or hashtags. This comes in really handy if you don’t want to see any tweets about, say, #COVID19 or #coronavirus.

(For instructions on doing any of these things, consult the Help feature of the social media platform you’re dealing with. Don’t ask me. I don’t do technical support anymore.)

Last week, I started unfollowing a lot of Twitter accounts that post primarily about politics and/or coronavirus. I didn’t mute any terms; I just stopped following accounts that were posting stuff that was making me stressed or angry. This includes highly respected journalists and politicians who I can count on to provide accurate information. The trouble is, I was sick of reading about the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. (Widely shared opinion, backed up by facts: The Trump administration fucked up and continues to do so in a variety of new and anger-inducing ways. I get it already.) I also stopped following accounts that were posting content from unreliable sources, much of it written to stoke emotions or mislead. (See sidebar.)

But yeah: I stopped following accounts which, in many cases, were following me. Sorry folks, but I’m on Twitter for me, not you, and I’ve already voiced my opinions on the popularity contest.

The ones I didn’t want to stop following — most of them real friends who I know personally — were closely examined for what they retweeted. If I found that they kept retweeting the same political pundit over an over, I simply muted that pundit’s account. This way, when they retweeted without comment, I wouldn’t even see the tweet.

I also started following other accounts that tweeted more upbeat content, much of which has nothing to do with these difficult times. I’ve embraced Twitter’s pilot community and even attended a video conference virtual fly-in with pilots from the US, Canada, and UK. And who doesn’t love pictures of baby goats?

The result: my Twitter feed is a much less stressful place.

2. Don’t share crap.

Ah, crap. It’s the word I apply to any content that is obvious click-bait (see sidebar), is written to generate a (usually negative) emotional response, and/or contains fallacies or half-truths that mislead. Basically anything from the far left or far right news media is probably crap, although I can’t limit it to those sources.

When you share these things, you spread the crap around. Think about that literally for a moment: having some sort of shovel or spatula and using it to spread crap where it’s under everyone’s nose. Do you really want to do that?

How can you tell if something is crap? You can’t always. I usually refer people to the Media Bias Chart, which displays the logos of media outlets on a chart to indicate overall reliability and political bias. Basically, if you’re getting your information from one of the sources in the green box, it shouldn’t be crap. Although that chart is updated often and you can view it online, you have to pay to download it. Here’s a taste of version 5.1; I urge you to follow the link to see the full chart and use it to evaluate your favorite sources:

Media Bias Chart Green Box
Here’s a tiny piece of the Media Bias Chart v5.1. If your favorite news source isn’t in the green box, you’re probably not getting real news.

For the record, I get my news from NPR, the Washington Post, BBC News, and the Guardian (which doesn’t appear to be listed). I occasionally read the New York Times, but they piss me off more often then not.

3. Share upbeat or useful stuff.

What has truly amazed me is the quantity of (usually) non-political content that’s poking fun at our dire situation in a way that makes it palatable. Yeah, life sucks right now and it’s likely to get worse here in the US before it gets any better. And with the economic ramifications, we’re likely to be feeling it for a long time to come. But hey! We’re all in the same boat! Let’s look on the bright side of things.

Many of my Twitter friends have been tweeting or retweeting videos that make me laugh — or at least smile. They show off the creativity and resourcefulness of strangers in the world around us. There’s no hate, no anger. There’s just fun. That’s the kind of stuff you should be sharing with your social media friends. Don’t share hate, anger, frustration, and finger pointing. Share entertaining or enlightening content that makes people happy.

You might also consider sharing useful information. I ran across a video last week that explained how to create masks that could be used (and reused) by local hospitals. Guess what? They can also be used by you when you go out and do your grocery shopping. If you have a sewing machine and some fabric and elastic, you can whip up a mask — or enough for your family — in no time. And if your local hospital has a mask shortage, contact them and see if you can make masks for them, too.

Similarly, I’ve also seen posts about food storage and recipes. New family games. Home schooling. Video conferencing. Working from home. Staying in touch with family or friends. Keeping your sanity. That’s the kind of content we should be sharing now. The kind of content that can improve our world and, possibly, bring people together.

We’re all in the same boat. Why would you want to poke holes in it with divisive or hateful content?

Above All, Remain Calm and Carry On

Lily and Rosie
Rosie (top) and Lily lounging on my bed. They’re calm; you should be, too.

The situation sucks — you don’t have to tell me. It’ll get worse here — that’s a given. But we can get through this together. Do your part and I’ll do mine.

Now enjoy this photo of my two puppies and relax.

Another (Brief) Facebook Rant

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This might be enough to get me to completely pull the plug.

I’ll admit it: the only reason I haven’t completely pulled the plug on my Facebook account is because I use it to promote two businesses: Flying M Air and ML Jewelry Designs.

Flying M Air has been on my Facebook account for years. For a while, I tried hard to use Facebook to share information about what the company is doing through events, offers, galleries, and plain old posts. I was checking in daily to stay on top of messages. Flying M Air’s website has an annoying pop-up window that invites visitors to like us on Facebook. (I’m still trying to figure out how to turn that off.) The only thing I didn’t do was pay money to promote a Facebook post.

And here’s the rub. Flying M Air’s Facebook page has over 1000 likes. That means that over 1000 Facebook users have indicated that they want to see new content. I don’t post much anymore — heck, there are only five or six new posts since July — so it isn’t as if I’m bombarding page followers with content. It doesn’t matter, though. Facebook isn’t showing this content to the people who want to see it. Indeed, one of my posts from last summer “reached” only seven people.

Yeah. Seven out of over 1000.

Facebook Post
This post came out two days ago, yet was shown to only ONE person. For all I know, it could be me.

Against my better judgement, I set ML Jewelry Designs up on Facebook, too. I figured: why not? But rather than put a lot of energy into keeping its page up-to-date with new content, I set up new posts on its WordPress-based website to automatically post to the ML Jewelry Designs page on Facebook. This means the page gets new content just about every day. (I schedule posts so no more than one new item appears each day.) Now the page is less than a month old and has only 20 followers. But I’m getting the same ridiculous low reach numbers I get with Flying M Air.

So here’s the situation. Facebook users have indicated that they want to see the content posted on certain pages. But the Facebook algorithm has decides what they should and shouldn’t seen. My two business pages don’t pay for “promotion” so they’re pretty far down on the list of what gets shown. As a result, my content doesn’t appear for anywhere near the number of people who have indicated they want to see it.

So why bother posting it?

And what about the people who like a page because they want to see all of its new content? How many of them think there just isn’t anything new because it doesn’t appear in their newsfeed?

Can you see why I’m just so done with Facebook?