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My favorite thing about social media is the people who blabber publicly about their problems, then when other people comment, they get upset and tell them to “Mind your own [explicative] business!”

Well, not really.  But here are some of my favoriate examples of this hypocracy.

Several years ago one of my friends announced on social media that her husband needed a kidney transplant, and as such a proceedure is quite expensive, they had set up a fundraiser at GoFundMe and on several occassions asked everybody to donate.

I made a donation, even though my own finances were tight.

About a month later, my friend posted a photo of her and her husband's new tattoos.  The month after that, she posted photos of another new tattoo.  They were large, nice tattoos.  Not the cheap kind.  They probably spent at least a few hundred dollars.  You would think somebody facing certain death in the face of a financial obstacle would make better efforts to save money and cut frivolous expenses like another tattoo, but no, it's one more excessive expendature then wondering why there's no money left at the end of the month.

I was not happy that I had just paid for some nice tattoos instead of a life-saving kidney transplant, but I never said a word.  I simply silently vowed to not fund any more tattoos.

A few years later, my friend's husband finally got his new kidney.  If they had done their homework, like most people in need of a life-saving yet far-off operation should, they would have known that the surgery would be followed by a period of anti-transplant-rejection medication, and that it's not cheap.  They clearly had not done their homework, as they announced on social media their plans to go see a stand-up comedian and take a vacation in Hawaii, then started asking for donations to pay for the medications.

I never spoke a word of criticism or asked why they needed money when they seemed to have plenty for entertainment and travel, but several of their other friends did.  Their reponse was to justify the tickets on the grounds that they had been purchased before the operation and were non-refundable, then tell everybody to “mind your own f---ing business.”

This reminded me of that episode of Beverly Hills Teens (1987) in which Pierce's rich father will give him an awesome new car if he manages to save $100 from his allowance, but he almost blows it because he keeps spending money on party plans to celebrate the new car he hasn't yet earned.  (In the end, he manages by the skin of his teeth to save the money and gets the car, but then ruins the car by accidentally causing it to drive into a pool.)

This unintentionally became a lecture on financial responsibility, but the point is this:  My friend and her husband were pissed that people paid attention and responded to the matters they had made public on social media.

Another friend shared a meme about weight loss, asking whether people really diet for their health or because of social pressure to be slim.  I commented on how important the health aspect is because outwardly observable obesity is a sympton of several underlying issues such as heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes.  I pointed out that the standard American diet is extremely unhealthy—even for skinny people—and shared some ideals about healthy eating that my wife and I have embraced.

I was then told to “mind [my] own damn business.”  She was pissed that I had responded to an open-ended question she had posted.

When y'all post things publically, what do you expect, an echo chamber that affirms your bad choices?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The things I mentioned above happened about half a decade ago, but in the year 2023, the answer to that question would seem to resoundingly be, “Yes!” screamed at full volume.  Well, the best response to this behavior has been South Park's Season 26 Episode 2, The Woldwide Privacy Tour, which approriately pokes fun at a couple of public figures who have been publicly airing their dirty laundry then complaining about all the attention they've been getting.