This is so awful, I'm glad I've never been on Instagram. I just deactivated my Facebook account yesterday so I'm off social media, it was driving me crazy. I'd felt my anger building for a while and the last straw was when my best friend's husband who is terrified of the vaccine, because of all the misinformation he's been absorbing, wrote a post talking about his frustrations with the Auckland lockdown and then went on to compare the vaccine passports to oppressive regimes such as Nazi Germany (of course!). I responded after about 30 minutes when I'd calmed down to say that it is disrespectful and offensive to use that comparison and it wasn't ok. Then some stupid friend of his (who I don't know) responded to my comment with "Open your eyes and turn off the TV, you'll change your opinion". Well, let's just say I lost it and responded with this: "Holy shit! I didn't realise Facebook and Youtube were such reliable sources of information. I stand corrected. Fuck all of those scientists that spend years studying their specialised subject, what do they know?! Why should we trust them when there are so many experts who've attended Google University? Thank you for opening my eyes." I don't even know if he responded because I deactivated my account pretty soon after that. I need a break from seeing friends fall for this bullshit.
Your contempt and outrage here are both completely warranted but also somewhat hilarious.
Honestly I've never understood "influencers" (I think I'm a bit too old for it), but I'm now a little mad that I didn't make any money off my vaccine side effects, which I've alluded to on here before. I had 5 days of an untouchable migraine unlike any headache I've experienced, as well as 10-14 days of altered mental status. I remember almost nothing from those two weeks. So I'm a little bummed that I'm so anti-capitalist that it didn't even occur to me to make money off that shit. Damn.
Anyway, the thing about the vaccine side effects is that they're just *symptoms.* There's no disease actually destroying your body; it's simply an immune reaction that will resolve itself within days, usually.
I saw that Newsweek magazine has a cover this week with a photo of a sad child and it says "would you give this child a vaccine?" Which reminded me that I once injected a newborn who was literally less than 24 hours old with the hep B vaccine. To protect his life. This fear-mongering bullshit in the msm had got to stop. It's absolutely unethical.
I might be an idiot but I just don't understand all this panic (genuine people on the street not the shills just trying to cash in, they're pretty obvious) about the vaccine! Even if you do feel a bit shit after your vaccines at least you're not STRUGGLING TO BREATHE OR BASICALLY LIVING ON A VENTILATOR WITH A 50/50 CHANCE OF DEATH IN A HOSPITAL. A ventilator doesn't just help you breathe more oxygen! It literally bypasses your bodies natural respiratory functions to breathe for you! Scarring and pneumonia are potential complications from being on a ventilator. Sorry for yelling but, I was pretty scared of getting covid (even though I live in qld and the risk was pretty low) so I worked quite hard to get my jabs. My partner is vulnerable and my best friend is immunocompromised so I also wanted the added protection for them (they got their jabs early)
So I understand fear... Of a horrible disease, not of a VACCINE TO POTENTIALLY SCUPPER SAID DISEASE. Aaaaand I'm yelling again.
This is unrelentingly awful. And I have no doubts that these people are grifters. But here’s what I keep thinking: the nocebo effect is real.
Everyone on social media that has become exploited by this shit is now bombarded by these stories of symptoms.
These stories aren’t real but the nocebo effect is. I’m not surprised that people might get crazy symptoms after a vaccine. They’d get it from a saline shot too.
It’s not Pfizer making people sick, it’s Zuckerberg. Mass hysteria, snake-eating -it’s-own-tail, dystopian nightmare.
And of course there are profits to made. To quote the ‘You’re Wrong About’ podcast, it was capitalism all along.
What a slap in the face to the medical system as well. I have a friend who experienced a 1 in a few million chance side effect and was treated with nothing but the utmost care and caution from the medical system here in NZ. They'll be thankful my friend is a trained scientist and thus understood the rarity and how it likely means they would be super at risk of covid itself. Also this stuff seems scarily common https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-57928647 David, did you manage to uncover if these women were being paid for their bullshit?
The endless pursuit of money has lead humans as a species to this apogee of awesomeness: making insane shit up and or overplaying mild symptoms to get money. I mean the whole constantly documenting your #bestlife (filters can’t fix hollow smiles below soulless eyes) is in itself sad and pointless symptom of hyper capitalism driven by techbros overly simplistic lens of social interaction with the aim of scraping data and monestising every single interaction.
I think you’ve done it David. I think you’ve broken me.
This is the kind of shit that is making some people in my family have breakdowns. Wanting spouse to quit his job instead of getting vaxxed, and looking genuinely unwell due to the stress of people saying she needs to get vaccinated. She’s petrified and almost impossible to talk to without her flipping out.
Hi! I know I am mighty late to this conversation but seeing such an intelligent and helpful comment section and community here, I thought some others may have some insight to help me.
I did some serious exploring down the rabbit hole recently (ADHD hyperfocus for the win) as I think part of me really, REALLY wants to understand how so many people I care about have got lost in the anti vaxx/ conspiracy mess. A lot of what I have seen recently has been in regards to “mY rIgHts hAvE bEeN iNfrInGed” and screenshots of NZBORA etc. As a lawyer, quite frankly it has pissed me off. I even emailed a rant to David about some of the shoddy legal advice going around. That people are lapping up. Yes, we have got to a place where people are taking legal advice from FB.
ANYWAY. After reading one too many comment sections and researching alternative points of view, I emerged more confused and quite frankly really sad. My mental health has taken a beating. So here are the things I do and don’t understand and wondered if anyone has some answers/ resources/ psychological understanding.
Points of view I do see merit in;
- In any other situation, except, I don’t know a global pandemic, the lockdown orders would be seen as arbitrary, and a rights infringement. Same as the vaccine being needed for employment.
- There will undoubtedly be some people who have received some adverse effects to the vaccine.
- The emergency legislation and the power of the government in these circumstances is something we haven’t seen used like this before. The NZBORA has the same status as any other law, and judges don’t have the ability to strike down legislation- like say, Canada. Parliament does have a lot of power in NZ.
- I understand uncertainty and fear. I also understand the distrust of big pharma (although this has always been an issue).
- The changes in the pandemic - and delta- then the subsequent move from elimination to suppression has meant that the government has gone back on statements said last year etc etc re. govt response.
Keeping all that in mind/ this is what I can’t for the LIFE OF ME UNDERSTAND:
- How have those who have gone from being hesitant about the vaccine, gone so quickly to the radical side of believing our government is corrupt, communist and part of a global conspiracy.
- If rights infringement is a genuine concern, how is a protest whilst in lockdown going to help? Shouldn’t it mean that we all do our bit, protect each other, get out of lockdown, and then make some proper submissions. Or rather vote differently?
- How come every person that identifies any vaccine/ media/ rights infringement issues (that i’ve seen) isn’t able to provide a better alternative. If the government is the problem-then perhaps another political party would have done better, however ALL believe that national wouldn’t have handled this well.
- How the hell is it so damn easy for some to go from avid supporters of our covid response last year to being certain of government corruption/ Jacinda’s evil agenda. Isn’t the virus the problem? Many still believe that Covid doesn’t exist. I just…
- Why is there such a cult mentality? Anti vaxx seem to be always engaging in argument, connecting personally with those that believe the same, and are utterly consumed by it? It reminds me of MLMs. I don’t spend my whole day chatting with my friends about vaccinations, bonding over it , trying to find more vaccinated friends.
Sorry, I know this was long. But I have been so desperate to see sense in the way that others think as I don’t want to believe that people I care about are stupid/ ignorant/ selfish and that susceptible to radical views. It’s hurting my brain and soul.
I’ve come to comments section a few times since reading todays post and each time I’ve left again as I simply don’t know how to say how disgusted I am with these people and their fake, like-driven lives. I’ve read the post twice (with a long bout of staring out the window in between). So I guess that’s what I’m here to say - I don’t understand these influencers, and I find the actions of those in your examples totally inhuman. I really appreciate you writing this David, and I can see from the comments that I’m not alone in my thinking (or yours), so I’d consider myself the one who is “blessed” on that basis alone.
I've never seen so much bullshit in one influencers post (however I'm not on Instagram to protect myself from bullshit)! I'm no medical expert but having the ability to call an ambulance while having a 1.5hr seizure, being sent home from hospital after having a seizure for 45 mins, partner sitting there watching a seizure for over an hour and not getting help, staying calm while having lock jaw and heart palpitations. God those details made me laugh and I call lies of the most nefarious kind.
Just when you think people can't go any lower, boom there it is, some 'natural' MLM shite they are peddling.
Must get myself some pine bark elixir for next time one of those pesky heart attacks wakes me at night. 🤯
Im off social media at the moment cause I just couldn't deal with the anti Vax stuff showing up more on insta and seeing people constantly breaking the rules, (Vic, Australia) and feeling like I'm judging everyone for it.
Also have family members who are anti vax and it's so disheartening to see them go down this rabbit hole deeper and deeper to the point were there "mission" is more important than everything else. Missing out on important family events (christening/baptism thing) because they have a weekly anti Vax meeting.
Also after hearing my husband had the second vax he was told they have something he could take to detox from it. FFS.
Anyway I appreciate your newsletter but I might start skipping the covid related ones as it's all bumming me out.
The bio under the first person, Valerie’s account says “blessed” which shows how ridiculous social media and the use of that term has become. Reminds me of my quasi nephew in law. He would go into Taco Bell and take a photo of his meal, post it on Instagram with “#blessed” as a way to mock what that term has become.
The influencer thing is just bonkers. Valerie and her fellow influencers don’t have that many followers because they haven’t bothered to pay for them. There’s a great documentary, Fake Famous (it streams on HBO here in the US), about the absurdity of influencers and social media. Bots and fake followers are bought and oftentimes the comments they produce have nothing to do with the posts themselves. There’s a great scene that shows how people fake flying on a jet to some exotic locale. They stand in front of a tv with footage of the locale, place a toilet seat behind their head (it looks like an airplane window) and have their photo taken. Voilà, people think that they’re flying to Tahiti.
So I wonder, are these photos of these anti vaxxers in the hospital staged? If they’re influencers they always have their camera phones ready to document the smallest event in their lives. Why weren’t they documenting the actual 1.5 hour fit, etc? 🤔
Question, why do so many people consider Insta a 'nicer place' than Facebook? My take, platforms may be engineered for engagement, but it is who you choose to engage with that makes the real difference.
This is so awful, I'm glad I've never been on Instagram. I just deactivated my Facebook account yesterday so I'm off social media, it was driving me crazy. I'd felt my anger building for a while and the last straw was when my best friend's husband who is terrified of the vaccine, because of all the misinformation he's been absorbing, wrote a post talking about his frustrations with the Auckland lockdown and then went on to compare the vaccine passports to oppressive regimes such as Nazi Germany (of course!). I responded after about 30 minutes when I'd calmed down to say that it is disrespectful and offensive to use that comparison and it wasn't ok. Then some stupid friend of his (who I don't know) responded to my comment with "Open your eyes and turn off the TV, you'll change your opinion". Well, let's just say I lost it and responded with this: "Holy shit! I didn't realise Facebook and Youtube were such reliable sources of information. I stand corrected. Fuck all of those scientists that spend years studying their specialised subject, what do they know?! Why should we trust them when there are so many experts who've attended Google University? Thank you for opening my eyes." I don't even know if he responded because I deactivated my account pretty soon after that. I need a break from seeing friends fall for this bullshit.
Your contempt and outrage here are both completely warranted but also somewhat hilarious.
Honestly I've never understood "influencers" (I think I'm a bit too old for it), but I'm now a little mad that I didn't make any money off my vaccine side effects, which I've alluded to on here before. I had 5 days of an untouchable migraine unlike any headache I've experienced, as well as 10-14 days of altered mental status. I remember almost nothing from those two weeks. So I'm a little bummed that I'm so anti-capitalist that it didn't even occur to me to make money off that shit. Damn.
Anyway, the thing about the vaccine side effects is that they're just *symptoms.* There's no disease actually destroying your body; it's simply an immune reaction that will resolve itself within days, usually.
I saw that Newsweek magazine has a cover this week with a photo of a sad child and it says "would you give this child a vaccine?" Which reminded me that I once injected a newborn who was literally less than 24 hours old with the hep B vaccine. To protect his life. This fear-mongering bullshit in the msm had got to stop. It's absolutely unethical.
I might be an idiot but I just don't understand all this panic (genuine people on the street not the shills just trying to cash in, they're pretty obvious) about the vaccine! Even if you do feel a bit shit after your vaccines at least you're not STRUGGLING TO BREATHE OR BASICALLY LIVING ON A VENTILATOR WITH A 50/50 CHANCE OF DEATH IN A HOSPITAL. A ventilator doesn't just help you breathe more oxygen! It literally bypasses your bodies natural respiratory functions to breathe for you! Scarring and pneumonia are potential complications from being on a ventilator. Sorry for yelling but, I was pretty scared of getting covid (even though I live in qld and the risk was pretty low) so I worked quite hard to get my jabs. My partner is vulnerable and my best friend is immunocompromised so I also wanted the added protection for them (they got their jabs early)
So I understand fear... Of a horrible disease, not of a VACCINE TO POTENTIALLY SCUPPER SAID DISEASE. Aaaaand I'm yelling again.
This is unrelentingly awful. And I have no doubts that these people are grifters. But here’s what I keep thinking: the nocebo effect is real.
Everyone on social media that has become exploited by this shit is now bombarded by these stories of symptoms.
These stories aren’t real but the nocebo effect is. I’m not surprised that people might get crazy symptoms after a vaccine. They’d get it from a saline shot too.
It’s not Pfizer making people sick, it’s Zuckerberg. Mass hysteria, snake-eating -it’s-own-tail, dystopian nightmare.
And of course there are profits to made. To quote the ‘You’re Wrong About’ podcast, it was capitalism all along.
What a slap in the face to the medical system as well. I have a friend who experienced a 1 in a few million chance side effect and was treated with nothing but the utmost care and caution from the medical system here in NZ. They'll be thankful my friend is a trained scientist and thus understood the rarity and how it likely means they would be super at risk of covid itself. Also this stuff seems scarily common https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-57928647 David, did you manage to uncover if these women were being paid for their bullshit?
Repeat after me: capitalism 👏 is 👏 bad.
The endless pursuit of money has lead humans as a species to this apogee of awesomeness: making insane shit up and or overplaying mild symptoms to get money. I mean the whole constantly documenting your #bestlife (filters can’t fix hollow smiles below soulless eyes) is in itself sad and pointless symptom of hyper capitalism driven by techbros overly simplistic lens of social interaction with the aim of scraping data and monestising every single interaction.
I think you’ve done it David. I think you’ve broken me.
24h after I started using Instagram I experienced a clammy heart, periperi sores and lockbrain. Look at my chest!
This is the kind of shit that is making some people in my family have breakdowns. Wanting spouse to quit his job instead of getting vaxxed, and looking genuinely unwell due to the stress of people saying she needs to get vaccinated. She’s petrified and almost impossible to talk to without her flipping out.
Hi! I know I am mighty late to this conversation but seeing such an intelligent and helpful comment section and community here, I thought some others may have some insight to help me.
I did some serious exploring down the rabbit hole recently (ADHD hyperfocus for the win) as I think part of me really, REALLY wants to understand how so many people I care about have got lost in the anti vaxx/ conspiracy mess. A lot of what I have seen recently has been in regards to “mY rIgHts hAvE bEeN iNfrInGed” and screenshots of NZBORA etc. As a lawyer, quite frankly it has pissed me off. I even emailed a rant to David about some of the shoddy legal advice going around. That people are lapping up. Yes, we have got to a place where people are taking legal advice from FB.
ANYWAY. After reading one too many comment sections and researching alternative points of view, I emerged more confused and quite frankly really sad. My mental health has taken a beating. So here are the things I do and don’t understand and wondered if anyone has some answers/ resources/ psychological understanding.
Points of view I do see merit in;
- In any other situation, except, I don’t know a global pandemic, the lockdown orders would be seen as arbitrary, and a rights infringement. Same as the vaccine being needed for employment.
- There will undoubtedly be some people who have received some adverse effects to the vaccine.
- The emergency legislation and the power of the government in these circumstances is something we haven’t seen used like this before. The NZBORA has the same status as any other law, and judges don’t have the ability to strike down legislation- like say, Canada. Parliament does have a lot of power in NZ.
- I understand uncertainty and fear. I also understand the distrust of big pharma (although this has always been an issue).
- The changes in the pandemic - and delta- then the subsequent move from elimination to suppression has meant that the government has gone back on statements said last year etc etc re. govt response.
Keeping all that in mind/ this is what I can’t for the LIFE OF ME UNDERSTAND:
- How have those who have gone from being hesitant about the vaccine, gone so quickly to the radical side of believing our government is corrupt, communist and part of a global conspiracy.
- If rights infringement is a genuine concern, how is a protest whilst in lockdown going to help? Shouldn’t it mean that we all do our bit, protect each other, get out of lockdown, and then make some proper submissions. Or rather vote differently?
- How come every person that identifies any vaccine/ media/ rights infringement issues (that i’ve seen) isn’t able to provide a better alternative. If the government is the problem-then perhaps another political party would have done better, however ALL believe that national wouldn’t have handled this well.
- How the hell is it so damn easy for some to go from avid supporters of our covid response last year to being certain of government corruption/ Jacinda’s evil agenda. Isn’t the virus the problem? Many still believe that Covid doesn’t exist. I just…
- Why is there such a cult mentality? Anti vaxx seem to be always engaging in argument, connecting personally with those that believe the same, and are utterly consumed by it? It reminds me of MLMs. I don’t spend my whole day chatting with my friends about vaccinations, bonding over it , trying to find more vaccinated friends.
Sorry, I know this was long. But I have been so desperate to see sense in the way that others think as I don’t want to believe that people I care about are stupid/ ignorant/ selfish and that susceptible to radical views. It’s hurting my brain and soul.
I’ve come to comments section a few times since reading todays post and each time I’ve left again as I simply don’t know how to say how disgusted I am with these people and their fake, like-driven lives. I’ve read the post twice (with a long bout of staring out the window in between). So I guess that’s what I’m here to say - I don’t understand these influencers, and I find the actions of those in your examples totally inhuman. I really appreciate you writing this David, and I can see from the comments that I’m not alone in my thinking (or yours), so I’d consider myself the one who is “blessed” on that basis alone.
I've never seen so much bullshit in one influencers post (however I'm not on Instagram to protect myself from bullshit)! I'm no medical expert but having the ability to call an ambulance while having a 1.5hr seizure, being sent home from hospital after having a seizure for 45 mins, partner sitting there watching a seizure for over an hour and not getting help, staying calm while having lock jaw and heart palpitations. God those details made me laugh and I call lies of the most nefarious kind.
Just when you think people can't go any lower, boom there it is, some 'natural' MLM shite they are peddling.
Must get myself some pine bark elixir for next time one of those pesky heart attacks wakes me at night. 🤯
Man this sucks. People suck.
Im off social media at the moment cause I just couldn't deal with the anti Vax stuff showing up more on insta and seeing people constantly breaking the rules, (Vic, Australia) and feeling like I'm judging everyone for it.
Also have family members who are anti vax and it's so disheartening to see them go down this rabbit hole deeper and deeper to the point were there "mission" is more important than everything else. Missing out on important family events (christening/baptism thing) because they have a weekly anti Vax meeting.
Also after hearing my husband had the second vax he was told they have something he could take to detox from it. FFS.
Anyway I appreciate your newsletter but I might start skipping the covid related ones as it's all bumming me out.
The bio under the first person, Valerie’s account says “blessed” which shows how ridiculous social media and the use of that term has become. Reminds me of my quasi nephew in law. He would go into Taco Bell and take a photo of his meal, post it on Instagram with “#blessed” as a way to mock what that term has become.
The influencer thing is just bonkers. Valerie and her fellow influencers don’t have that many followers because they haven’t bothered to pay for them. There’s a great documentary, Fake Famous (it streams on HBO here in the US), about the absurdity of influencers and social media. Bots and fake followers are bought and oftentimes the comments they produce have nothing to do with the posts themselves. There’s a great scene that shows how people fake flying on a jet to some exotic locale. They stand in front of a tv with footage of the locale, place a toilet seat behind their head (it looks like an airplane window) and have their photo taken. Voilà, people think that they’re flying to Tahiti.
So I wonder, are these photos of these anti vaxxers in the hospital staged? If they’re influencers they always have their camera phones ready to document the smallest event in their lives. Why weren’t they documenting the actual 1.5 hour fit, etc? 🤔
Question, why do so many people consider Insta a 'nicer place' than Facebook? My take, platforms may be engineered for engagement, but it is who you choose to engage with that makes the real difference.
I suffer Instafluencer Trauma. Can I get an exemption for this?
David you're so strong, thank you for your brave voice ❤. This one at least made me lol despite the incredulous frustration at this kind of shit.