Back in the year 2016, I came across the story of Sparky the Buffalo. Poor Sparky was unlucky enough to have been hit by lightning, but lucky enough to have survived the strike [though not for long.]
I found the story intriguing and took to Facebook to make a crack about Sparky's luck. I also posted the picture above along with my comment because Sparky's facial expression made the joke even funnier.
Now I have a tame Facebook account, I don't post every day and the content I do post is usually fairly random. You're already screaming at me to cancel my Facebook account? Listen, what do you want from me? Other than Facebook, I'm not on any other social media platforms. Beacon of Speech barely exists on Facebook and only uses YouTube for video output. At a later date that could change, but that's how things stand right now.
Last night I got my first warning since I've been on Facebook. They said my image of Sparky didn't violate community standards, but they wanted to put a cover over his image. Supposedly some consumers were alarmed by the graphic content of Sparky.
Five years after the fact.
I allowed Facebook to put the cover on Sparky, I just wanted to go to bed. If I wanted to fight their decision, I could have, apparently there's some Facebook arbitrator I could have submitted my case to, but it's just a picture of a buffalo.
That's been hit by lightning....
In 2016.
This morning I was disappointed in myself that I didn't fight for my photograph of Sparky, but what would have been my end game? Freedom to post wildlife photos? I don't care enough to move this specific fight to an arbitrator.
"Oh, Fred thinks a mutilated buffalo is funny. I always thought that guy was a jerk." Maybe that's what 99% of you think.
I don't think you're seeing the big picture. It's about who controls the mechanisms of speech-
What the hell is going on at CNN now? To be continued.....