this will probably be long. I (24F) and my best friend (23M) have been best friends for 6 or 7 years now. a few things for context:

1. my best friend (I’ll call them B) has always struggled with relationships. they didn’t get into their first relationship until they were 21. and I didn’t like her because she was very self-centered and rude towards me, and because she drained B’s bank account and made him pay for everything and buy her gifts daily. but I was very vocal about how I thought she was rude and was using him. they ended up breaking up but my dislike for their ex has stuck with B.
   
2. B used to smoke weed (legal in our state) and vape in high school. back then, I was pretty close-minded and pretty anti-all drugs; this is because my brother struggled with addiction and it is a sensitive topic for me. B knew this; they stopped vaping but continued to occasionally smoke weed socially in college. since then however I’ve grown as a person, I think some drugs are OK in moderation and I’ll even rarely eat a medicinal THC gummy to help me sleep or with my anxiety. but I know this is hypocritical given my previous stance.
   
3. just so no one says it, I am not and have never been romantically interested in B. that has nothing to do with my dislike for their partner and I’m in a long term committed relationship myself.
   

so onto their partner.
about a month ago, B told me they had started dating someone (24F). I didn’t even know they were looking for a relationship at the time. they showed me a picture and told me a little about them. I was happy since I know B had been previously looking for a partner with no luck.
a few weeks later (last weekend) I met their partner, I’ll call them Sam. we went with a group of our friends to a restaurant we all like, and then my boyfriend and I, B and their partner, and one of our friends all went to a bar we frequent. so far their partner seemed normal. they were very talkative and sometimes interrupted us but I chalked it up to excitement or nerves. however, while on the way to the restaurant, Sam started talking about different drugs they have tried. they were very vague and just hinted at trying a lot of things without naming anything.
this raised a red flag for me. about a week before this, B disclosed to me that he had started smoking weed again. It didn’t really bother me since I don’t have harsh opinions anymore, and they’re an adult so I trust them to be safe.
everything is pretty normal until we get to the bar. eventually, one of Sam’s friends shows up, and Sam starts telling us we should have them join us. B mentioned that their friend would be there, but said we didn’t have to invite them to join if we didn’t want to since we’re all pretty anxious around new people, particularly me. but Sam kept insisting “They’re cool, you’ll like them, it’s fine.” Sam ended up leaving to hang out with their friend when we didn’t budge.
a while later Sam comes back. I’m pretty sure (I was getting drunk when this happened but my sober boyfriend said he heard the same thing) I heard B tell Sam “don’t tell them you did that.” Sam then laughed it off and said “B told me not to tell you but I did some drugs. it was just Ketamine though.”
at the time I shrugged it off. I didn’t want to rant about anything when drunk and upon first meeting. but the next morning I talked about it with my boyfriend and we’re in agreement that that was kind of absurd.
Ketamine as far as I know is pretty addictive and pretty intense. and doing it when you first meet someone on top of that made me feel uncomfortable. Sam then said “I’m a party girl I only do party drugs.” it really rubbed me the wrong way. I talked with our other friend who was there and others who met Sam before me, and we are all in agreement that Sam doing ketamine is a concern.
is it really wrong to not want my best friend to date someone that does drugs like Ketamine? I don’t want to be judgmental but Sam also made it seem like they do a lot more than that. in addition, B started smoking weed again around the time that they started dating, and the incident with Sam’s friend felt peer pressure-y in the sense that they really tried pushing us to let their friend join us even though we were uncomfortable.
I don’t know how to approach this since I’ve been vocal about disliking B’s previous partner, which I know upset them. they even brought up how they wanted me to like Sam due to me not liking their last relationship. but I’m afraid Sam will pressure them into trying harder drugs, and knowing B I would not be surprised if they do try something with enough pressure or influence just to experiment. I’m going to see B this weekend, and their partner should not be there, but everyone thinks I should be the one to bring it up since I’ve known B the longest and we’re the closest, so they will listen to me more than anyone else.

AM I WRONG? my GF went nuts with my card so I temporarily shut off my card (M26)(F21)
My gf and I have been together for 3 years. She moved in with me. She doesn’t work so yeah she obviously doesn’t pay for anything. She goes to college full time. Which is fine I do provide her with basic essentials but I told her not to spend my money carelessly on stupid things. Just things she needs for school or food or household things. Her parents also send her an additional $200 a month
Whenever we get in an argument, she goes nuts with my credit card. I got a bunch of charges from Victoria Secret, Bath and body works, Lululemon, Target, and a bunch of other shopping centers. She gets really mad whenever we have an argument and she acts like a child and she feels better by spending my money on a bunch of stupid things. She returned half of the useless things she got that afternoon
This is literally how she blows off steam. Spends other peoples money. She told me when she was in high school she ordered $200 worth of Sephora items when she was mad at her parents. I told her to never do that to me and she said she wouldn’t but she did it anyways
I also got sick of this pattern so I temporarily closed the credit card that she had access to and that started a fight when she tried to buy Einstein’s on her campus. She told me that I’m being unreasonable and unfair for cutting her off and I’m being abusive because I closed my credit card which is under my own name. I warned her so many times to stop using my card on senseless purchases especially when she is upset with me and she didn’t stop so I felt like I had no other choice, but to temporarily close my card
I don’t think i’m overreacting. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable especially when I warned her about misusing my money. I don’t think I’m wrong. I’m also posting this on a throwaway and on other relevant subs so I can get a second opinion. I’m deleting my account later today I kind of just want to get this issue sorted out and at this point IDK how to talk to my girlfriend without her getting upset all the time

I have been with my boyfriend now for a year. He is great, and we are very happy together. I do love him and believe he loves me too.
I don’t understand why but for some reason when I am not with him I find myself feeling pretty depressed. I am a uni student so have a LOT of free time and i see my boyfriend several times a week, but whenever i’m not with him I feel quite low and don’t really know what to do with myself. I keep myself busy with hobbies etc but find nothing brings me genuine happiness. I don’t think I actually genuinely even want to see my boyfriend more than we already do, so I don’t understand why I feel this way. I hate it. I find myself constantly worrying that he doesn’t actually want to see me, or is getting tired of me and wants to see me less. This worrying is so intense that I sometimes think about if I should break up with him and find someone else who will be super obsessed with me and want to see me all the time. But i don’t want to do that and like i’ve said, I don’t want to see him all the time, but I do like the idea of him wanting to see me all the time.
I wondered if maybe this is an attachment issue? For background info, I have two amazing parents who are both great. My mum did cheat on my dad and leave us when I was around 13 and I felt pretty abandoned at the time, but this didn’t last long and I know she is a good person who simply made a mistake. My relationship with my ex boyfriend wasn’t great either, I was not in love with him although I thought I was at the time, he cheated on me and basically throughout the relationship just never really liked me at all. He never wanted to see me and just clearly really didn’t like me, and for some reason this really triggered something in me and I spent the whole relationship riddled with anxiety constantly clinging onto this man. I look back and don’t understand why I didn’t just leave, so this all has made me think maybe I have an attachment issue?
My current boyfriend has also broken up with me once during an argument as I am his first gf and I think he got overwhelmed by the intensity and commitment of the relationship. We quickly got back together and he is amazing to me and very reassuring too. But maybe this has triggered something in me and broken my trust a little? I don’t know.
I’m just looking for some advice, I dont want to be like this, I want to be happy when I’m not with my boyfriend and I want to feel like i’d be okay without him. At the moment it feels like if he left me I would have no life and I would be so depressed, because he is currently the only thing that brings me genuine happiness. How do i fix this? Thank you :)

If you read this, thank you in advance.
I'm the third one of 5 siblings. I've been taking care of both my parents since 2016 till my dad passed away at 90 y.o. during the pandemic. A year before it, my older sister also passed away, which was a big blow for my parents. Now it's mom and me. Younger brother lives close, but won't even call mom to check how she's doing. Younger sister lives in another country and tries to be in touch through video calls, but most of the times mom is not in the mood or something happens. My older brother takes care of all the paperwork and makes sure all bills get paid and tries to come see her after work a couple of times during the week. Since January, after my mom needed surgery (colostomy), I have a live-in nurse, 5 days a week.
The main thing is that I never got along very well with my mom. I realized life was getting harder for my parents, some kind of accident was bound to happen any day (kettle on the fire, open gas, falls, you name it) so as I was single, I decided to move in with them. I was renting at that time, but between my job (+12 hours/day Tuesday thru Sunday, plus every other Monday) and getting groceries, cooking and keeping company to my parents, I barely spent time in my place. It was like a big and expensive storage unit.
For a while it was ok. I wasn't home a lot, they had someone who "helped" with the house chores (and managed to steal a lot of stuff in the meantime) and they didn't need assistance to walk, bathe and we're pretty independent. That was till they discovered the "help" was stealing and she resigned (after blaming me for stealing?).
Then the pandemic had us all locked up at home and my dad started to decline fast. So basically, it was just mom and me watching him going down at a very fast pace. He would come and go to and from the hospital several times during that process and once he didn't return.
The next day of my dad's passing, I was called back to go to work. And that's when this all started. My mom (about to turn 92 now) started calling me on the phone several times a day, asking me to return home, which I couldn't till my shift was over. That went on for about a year. I had the chance to retire with 30 years of service and at the (sort of) young age of 51. All was good for a couple of months. But my mom has always been a bit controlling and she demands that I tell her everything I'm doing. She sees me walking into the kitchen and she asks Where are you going? I go to the bathroom? She wants to know what for. I admit sometimes I don't answer properly. What am I supposed to say when she asks me what I'm going to do in the bathroom?
If I tell her I'll go get some groceries, when I return, she's pissed off because I took too long. The shop is around the corner, so the longest it takes me is 15 minutes, if it's crowded. My social interactions are when I go out for groceries or meds. If I went out for a coffee (God forbid!) she wanted to know where I'd be, with whom, how long it'd take... Maddening!! I told her that after being on this planet for more than half a century, I deserved some space for myself, without needing my mom's permission to breathe. She went on pestering me, so I stopped going out almost completely.
But that's not the problem. Like I said, we never got along very well. So when I didn't live with her 24/7/365, I could tolerate her criticism. I would laugh it off and leave. But now it seems that she's determined to break me. Nothing I do is good enough, everything could be improved. She keeps finding new ways to humiliate me and make me feel stupid. Some days I don't mind, but others I just can't take it and blow out. She's mean on purpose. She says nasty things and keeps going till I leave the room. Then she's satisfied and joyfully says: "Oh! That bothered you? Come on! I was joking!". Why is she doing that? Jealousy. Because she thinks I took better care of my dad. But he was almost blind, almost deaf, bedridden and had trouble swallowing, so all his meals needed to be prepared very carefully.
Except for the colostomy, mom's health is better than mine. She has no dietary restrictions, her heart works great, no lung issues, nothing. Before the colostomy she was independent. Now she refuses to walk. And yes, she can do it when she wants. It's just that she doesn't want to get better. She said that if she does, she won't have the attention she's getting now.
She knows I had plans for my retirement years, but she told me she's entitled to my company since " You don't have a life like your siblings". I know, for some people the only life worth living is if you have a family. I chose to be alone. But I don't think I should be punished for my life choices.
Anyway, despite her being so judgemental, I don't neglect her. Each time I go out, I get her something she'd like. Chocolates, sweets, pastries, whatever I know she enjoys. She says she'd like to have something, before the week is gone, she gets whatever she asks for and she's happy, at least for a few moments... But of course, once she has it, she doesn't want it anymore. And wants something else. I cook whatever she asks me to prepare. I thonestly try my best to have her happy. But I feel it's useless. She always finds something to complain.
Having to clean her and change the colostomy bag doesn't bother me. I did it for my dad, so it's fine. Anyway it's only a couple of days a week now. I'm ok with it. What drives me nuts is the neverending nagging. I told her that if she keeps bothering me, I'll leave and she knows that my brothers won't give up their lives to come live with her and she'll end up in a nursing home. I've talked to my brothers and they tell me to be "more!" patient and to brush off what she says. Yeah! Easy when they don't have to deal with it 24/7. They don't come and stay with her for a few hours when they're free. They just make a short visit and leave. And I just want to scream when I hear them telling me to "be more patient".
I'm absolutely worn out, depressed, overwhelmed, angry and defeated. Why do I stay? Because the other option is a nursing home and she won't last long there.
Sometimes I think that I should just pack my bags and let things happen.
I know I made a mistake when I moved back with them. But I was spending so much time here, that it seemed the natural thing to do. Wrong! I'm a loner. I've always been independent. If I wanted to travel, I would just pack and leave. I enjoy being by myself and not talking to anyone for several days, and having to live with someone permanently and taking care of their needs is like Hell.
Now I feel like I'm stuck here and there's not much I can do without jeopardizing my mom's last years. But I don't know how long I'll be able to live like this. Each day I feel more drained and hopeless.
Sorry, it's too long, but I needed to get this out. Thanks for reading.

Like don't get me wrong, I know VPN cool and all that stuff but I mean, I wanna transfer all my things to this new account, how can I do it without targetting myself? I have a lot of currency and rares, I don't wanna lose them but I don't want to keep this account, I talked to way too many users already to keep it, it's getting me anxious 😭

I have just found this subreddit after watching a character on “the boys” and I am so relieved there’s other people like me.
However just a warning, there will be discussion of shame/regret, brief mention of self-harm (historic and non descriptive) and very graphic descriptions about the lengths I have gone to, in order to fulfil my desire (for lack of a better word) - compulsion maybe, and addictive behaviours.
I pull from every area of my body except my scalp and armpits. I am deeply ashamed about this behaviour and I have tried just about everything, Vaseline, gloves, plasters, keeping myself occupied, sewing, pulling things out or other things etc. fidget toys, watching those videos - they only seem to make me more frustrated. I can’t shave because feeling the hairs grow back and get itchy make it so I go into my skin, I then pick my skin. Moving tweezers doesn’t help because I use my fingers. The only thing I can think of is wearing clothes to cover everything up all the time - ski mask included with the three holes.
Nothing soothes me unless I actually physically pull my hair out and analyse it, rolling it inbetween my fingers, observing for bulbs, thickness and texture. Before that I can spend a long time just running my hands all over my body finding every bump and imperfection and taking note, looking for ingrowns, thick, wiry, different texture and those ones with multiple out of the same pore. This can be done while I am zoned out, but for the actual pulling itself I must be devoted to the action, alone, lit up, scouring, craned over, I contort into unimaginable positions just to get that hair, just for that brief moment of pleasure/relief. I give myself headaches, body aches and sprains. I have also given myself scars, I even at times, have dug into scars and scabs because there was a hair in it, this usually happens along my eyebrow and my snailtrail/landing strip/happy trail. But at times it has happened in my groin and legs. Recently, I haven’t been able to stop even if I am bleeding and it is causing me pain.
It started off with my eyebrows after a particularly stressful and depressive period in my life. I had also self harmed during this period and sought out alternatives. It worked, kind of, I stopped self harming and just started pulling my eyebrows out, along with other addictive substances, nothing illegal, just alcohol and nicotine. I balanced it between those three vices, I got a handle on the alcohol and nicotine. This happened around lockdown era, so I had no one telling me how weird or rough I looked.
Then came the dreaded lockdown lift. All of a sudden I was filled with fear and regret, one that was akin to the fear of people finding out I had self-harmed. People close and dear to me looked at me like I was a freak, would just snap at me to stop it and when I told them or tried to explain it, how it felt and why I couldn’t, I was just stared at as if I was a creature beyond their understanding. I then moved to more “secret areas” the groin, happy trail, legs. My eyebrows grew back and everyone seems to think I’ve kicked it.
When in reality it all has gone unchecked, leaving me with even deeper shame, that has only worsened since scarring began to happen, just close to two years ago. It has affected my relationships, because I do not want them to see me like this, doing this so I shut myself away to get my fix, I refuse intimacy when it gets too close out of fear of them seeing my body. I have also started to go back to my eyebrows because my legs aren’t “good enough” and my pubic area is bald and my snail trail is all scarred. Right from the waistline to just inbetween my chest. I fear that I am starting to move onto picking my skin, the scabs, the scars, spots or perceived imperfections.
I am at my rock bottom. I am deeply ashamed yet it is all I can think about, it is beginning to consume me, I am constantly scouring, constantly thinking about it. I am literally unable to sit still without the electric feeling running through me, in all my spots and fingers. I do it without thinking and I don’t like it when I do that, because I have to be aware of it to fully enjoy it. I am frustrated and ashamed all the time, I need relief, tapping isn’t working I genuinely am so desperate. Am I going to have to go to the doctor and get put onto something? I am worried that the extent I go to may push the doctor to do some more extreme measures like a mental asylum of some sort.
This is also on a throwaway account. But advice is needed. Long read, but thank you for reading.

Pardon formatting, I’m on my mobile device. Also this is a bit of a long one.
Like the title says, I’m trying to find out if I’m totally out of touch and expecting too much from my husband or if my expectations are reasonable. I’ll try to explain this the best I can.
So this week my mother asked for help moving things to a new storage locker. At first she just assumed my husband would help and didn’t properly ask him, to which he was irritated. He said he doesn’t like anyone to assume his help without asking, and that a majority of time he won’t do anything unless it’s on his time. Which I can somewhat understand. However in my family growing up I was just expected to help family when they need it. So he did say he would help, mostly because he didn’t want me being stuck doing all that.
Small details to add are that my mom has been unmarried and alone for most of my life. We are close-nit. And sometimes she has projects she’s doing that are kind of spur of the moment and spontaneous. To which I have gotten used to and I don’t mind jumping up and helping her when she needs it. So for the storage locker issue she had a time constraint to get all of her stuff out of the old one and into the new one as soon as possible.
So this week my husband and I said we’d help her yesterday, to which we ended up not being able to due to rain and poor weather conditions. So she didn’t reschedule but I figured she’d be asking for help again this week. To which she did this morning. I of course said yes. And it was spontaneous of her I’ll admit, but my husband was planning to spend the day with me today so I woke up and texted him that I was going to be helping my mom today and asked if he was still able to help her out? Well he slept in late and I couldn’t get ahold of him (we aren’t currently living together but trying to work on our marriage), so my mom had promised us a free meal if we helped her. Since I couldn’t get ahold of him and expected him to sleep a long time and my mom needed to get this done, we went ahead and went to the restaurant to eat. He woke up and messaged me while I was there and I asked him if he was going to help and if there was something I could order for him. He said he’d be on his way in 30 minutes, but then he was like “so what, I’m helping out for cold food?”. Super rude and entitled and I called him to get more details because I thought maybe we were miscommunicating. He basically said “we were supposed to do that yesterday and now you want me to do it on my time and I don’t even get a meal out of it now” and hung up on me. I didn’t call back nor did he nor have I received an apology for how he spoke to me.
He hasn’t said anything to me all day. So I guess I’m wondering if this is normally how men treat their wives? Even if it’s something they absolutely loath to do and it isn’t on their schedule (oh another side note is he in not employed right now and hasn’t been for about 2 months) wouldn’t a husband that loves his wife want to do heavy lifting for her if he had the chance? I would do it for my partner even if it was kind of a somewhat last minute thing.
I feel a little let down and like he doesn’t care about me. Am I overreacting? Asking for too much? I can’t help but think a real MAN would jump at the opportunity to make his wife’s life easier.
If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading!

Hey all, this is just me venting.
Growing up, I had absolutely no privacy in my house.. all my journals were read and my secrets threatened to be exposed to others. And my whole family would laugh as they read my deepest feelings, but that's the least of things.
So i grew up secretive, and i dont tell my parents ANYTHING more than surface things. And i can't let them know i have emotions.. ever.. but that comes from other things that i won't get into.
When i was young, i used my mom's email address to create my fb account bc i didn't have my own at the time. It's always bothered me that it was linked to her email but i don't think i can change it without deleting my account.
But today, she says she accidentally reset my password as she was trying to log into her "own account" (that is not associated with that email address) and i actually do believe her that it was a mistake, but i just KNOW she read my messages with my boyfriend (she's very nosy) and i want to throw up bc i tell him everything, all my deepest insecurities and emotions and we also engage in BDSM type talk and knowing that she probably read all of that... oh god
Like gosh i feel like ripping my skin off.. how do i get over this ??

TLDR - I'm unhappy and feel numb, what are my options. What would you do?
I've been with my wife for nearly 10 years to the day. We've been married for nearly 5 years.
When we met, I thought I'd met my soul mate. She was what I needed ioin my life, an extrovert to my introvert. Very sexual and satisfied me. A loving caring mother (she has two daughters).
I'm an aspie/ mildly autistic male with communication issues but try my best. Although this to be fair often involves just not talking when things get too difficult and bottling up my emotions.
I'm the breadwinner (is that even a term anymore?) but she earns a significant salary. However, my wife's money management frustrates me. We don't pool our finances, instead opting to contribute equally to utility bills, mortgage, food and household maintenance etc. She rarely has much money left at the end of the month, no savings, is in debt and she wastes her money on her fingernails, hair, botox treatment and ridiculous amounts of clothes and shoes. I'm no angel, I spend on my own interests but I'm never on a position where I can't afford to pay bills etc.
She has a company car (Tesla) which I pay half the payments for and I get to use it when she's not using it. I have my own transport too (a campervan which we all get to use and go away in) but she doesn't contribute to it.
She is a messy person. The tesla is a shit tip. She leaves half eaten food, wrappers, bottles and God knows what else in it. It irks the fuck out of me. I'm a fairly tidy person and one thing I can't stand is a messy dirty car. Even worse when it's a messy dirty 65k car that we don't even own and belongs to a lease company.
I mentioned she has two daughters. They're both teenagers now and completely disrespect and disregard my boundaries and rules (that's to be expected from teenagers, we've all been there). However, when I try and put my foot down, my wife rarely has my back and instead makes me out to be the bad guy. If I say no, she'll say yes.
The house is often a mess and I feel like I'm the secret tidier who goes around cleaning after everybody. However, she makes a big issue whenever she decides to grab the mop and start cleaning - making out like it's only her who ever cleans the house. I'll also add that I'm the person who cooks, does all the laundry and pretty much keeps the house as I clean as can without losing my sanity.
Over the years, her libido has totally disappeared. She's satisfied with sex once per month. Anything more is very unusual. I've got to the point where I can no longer tolerate the rejection so I just don't bother even trying to initiate it any more. Sex is the glue that holds a relationship together. Without it, you're just friends (or housemates) who share a bed.
We'd been together about a year when I bought my first apartment on my own. When we met I explained I needed my own space and time to recharge so we agreed to see each 3 or 4 times per week. She lived in a rented apartment at the time after divorcing her ex husband but couldn't afford the rent so she moved in with her mother. About 2 years after moving into the flat, and with her and her kids spending more and more time at my place (and the fact she hated living with her mother) I decided to ask her if she and the kids would like to move in with me. I basically felt sorry for her.
Fast forward a few years and she says that I asked her to move in because I needed her financial contribution to cover the bills (I was debt free at the time, really didn't need her money and had a large disposable income).
A few years later, after realising the apartment was just too small, we started looking for a house. We found one and my grandmother offered to gift a significant amount of money to me to help us purchase the house. This, along with the sale of my apartment enabled me to buy the house. At no point in any of this did she contribute anything. She had no money to offer. She does pay half the mortgage and half the bills etc.
Basically, I've fallen out of love with her. I love her as person but that's about it. I'm numb to her. If I found out she was having an affair, I really wouldn't give a shit and it'd be a great reason to break up and move.
She controls me, she's always overly interested in my phone, if I'm typing she wants to know 'who I'm texting' (this is a woman who basically can't put her phone down, glued to her hands).
I recently had my 40th birthday. I asked her not to arrange any surprise gatherings because I'm really not a social person and get really overwhelmed, even when it's family. Anyway, she arranged a surprise party. I hated it. I loved seeing my family but I just neglected them all as I couldn't talk to them all and the whole thing just felt really awkward. I was expecting a night out with a few friends, where I could relax and have a few drinks. Instead I turn up to a surprise party completely sober and socially awkward. I feel ungrateful but she's known me 10 years and knows how much social situations stress me out, especially without alcohol to 'grease' the gears.
Given the house was bought prior to marriage and the mortgage is in my name, can I buy her out based on the total mortgage payemnts etc she's made or is it a case of splitting everything down the middle? Neither of us will be broke of we split. The kids aren't mine. I'm rambling now because I've had a few drinks, I'm upset and it's late. I don't know what to do. I don't want to be stuck in this sexless boring mundane marriage any more but don't want to lose the house that she's barely contributed to. In terms of mortgage payemnts, it's 12.5k in the last 5 years or so that she's contributed, vs 60k of my own contributions and 45k of the money gifted by my grandmother.
Do I lose it all? What do I do? What would you do?

Greetings,
I would like to share my story, as it seems many are unaware of insecurities and how deeply impact our relationships and eventually our mental health.
I have met a very beautiful girl through dating app and i was fell in love from the very first sight. I was so excited of having such a beautiful girl, and as i know she was excited too. We loved eachother with all heart. She was my girl of my life! Our sex life was more than great, too much passion and for the very first time, i never got bored even after one year of daily sex. It lasted one year!
We started having a lot of time together, although there were some initial signs, which then i found them flattering but in the run, they were devastating:
1)In a party with my friends, i have asked to come with her friends. While she was on the party she got mad, because my friends were dancing with other girls than their wives, so she got offended. She left the party and i was like wtf! From that moment and every meet with my friends, she was not talking to them, and she was accusing them to me, of being unfaithful and not moral ones. I was always saying to her, that i dont care what other people do in their lives, i just only care about her!
2)When we were out together she was always thinking that i stare to other girls, which i never did the way she thought, if i was staring. I explained her, that i may look to anyone who is passing in front of me, even if he is a male or female, ugly or beautiful, tall or short and im not doing that because i dont care about her or i leave her for the stranger that passes by. This was a common reaction of her, every time we went out!
3)I once got her an expensive present for her birthday, which took me about a month trying to find and buy it. Once i gave it to her, she refused to accept it because it was too expensive as she said and also told me that i took that present for her so as to sexually exploit her!
4)She was checking my facebook account and got mad, when i Loved a photo of a female friend of mine. She told me that she didnt want to like or love any photo because in her code if she loves a photo it means that you like erotic someone a lot. I respected that although i explained that she was always a friend and i never loved any photo of anyone. Guess what... she was loving facebook photos of men and her ex and when i told her about it she got mad again trying to underestimate it.
5)she even was jealous of her dog because she thought that dog loved me more than her which it didnt. Also she told me that even a plants leaves were towards me because it liked me!!
I could write so many similar incidents but would take too much time. Point is that i think she had insecurities leading to overthinking and getting to negative oriented results only
In the first days, i was jealous too but not overeacting like above. She like to dance latin and almost twice per week was going to parties where she could dance like with 10 guys in a night. I once went to see her and i couldnt handle the sight, so i told her that i dont want to go out with her in such parties. I never asked her to stop dancing, and after 2months i wasnt even jealous about it, as it made her happy and i was happy too.
Also the part that i do think that i was absolutely wrong was the incident which i was so wrong. All the above incidents were before the incident i describe downwards
I had an ex girlfriend, 10 years ago, which lasted our relationship for like a year and she was still communicating with me. She told me that she had cancer and needed my advice and help as she had no other to ask help for. We met and i told her that everything would be ok and she shouldnt be afraid as she was young and she could overcome it.
I told my girlfriend that i have a friend with cancer and she needed my help BUT i never told her that she was my ex like 10 years ago, because i didnt want any tension to arise. Also i dint tell my ex that i was in a relationship. I thought ill make her sad although I admit that this was my very bad mistake and i shouldnt have lied (white lied?) to my girlfriend and her. I knwo it looks like that i wanted to have contact with both, but im the one who can tell trully if that was the issue. I only wanted my girlfriend. My girlfriend eventually sniped my phone, when i have told her that she loved a facebook photo of his ex, and she learned that she was an ex that was also trying to get me back. She also read that i never in these texts i was even a bit emotionally with my ex, i was trying only to comfort her with her illness. She was accusing me i was cheating her
The day she sniped my phone, was when i told her that i would like to have family with her and keep the baby as she was pregnant 4 weeks. She told me that it was the happiest day of her life and then sniped. That made her mad. She started sending me youtube videos that our baby has a lot chances being born with problems and i was so badly mentally abused. I told her that the decision to keep or not the baby will be respected and supported whatever it was. After a week she decided not to have the baby and eventually after 2 months we broke up. All this time we tried even with a councelor to overcome this but with no luck.
I was devastated and started to search info to explain what happened
She told me that she dont want to experience ever smth similar and to have no contact at all.
8 months later i still think of her every single day and for many hours/day, i tried two times to talk to her again with no response.
She also told me that i need a psychologist because i always stare at women etc..
I started doubting about me but i made a lot of research and learned about anxiety attachement style and insecurities with or without projection.
Im not sure if insecurities can be treated. I do although love her and wish her the best in her life! I wish she could find a guy who will be better than me and make her feel safe! I wish i could have helped her better! I know im not perfect but a decent guy...

It's been 2 days, so I think it's time for part 2- it's gonna be short. Don't wanna ruin my sleep schedule It's messed up already as it is, but we won't mention that.
I wanna take a moment to thank all of you reading this, I was honestly surprised at how well this was received. So thank you!
Lastly, all love to for having made such an amazing universe.
===---===
Memory Transcription Subject: Alan Voor-hein, UN Secretary-General.
Date [Standardized Human Time]: January 1st, 2300, 12:00
It's 12:00, and the meeting is about to begin. I had only arrived like 30 minutes ago, and took the remainder of my time to grab a quick bite (as I was unable too back home in my rush) and to freshen myself up a little. I only had gotten into my seat just a mere 10 minutes ago- and over the course of those 10 minutes, I was joined by various Diplomatic and Military advisors.
I was seated across the room from the door, having a chair at the far-middle-end of the circular table. Above me, as usual, was the symbol of the UN. The Symbol of the peacekeepers, the symbol of hope and peace. Underneath it, there was a smaller symbol, that smaller symbol replaced Earth with a Star symbol. This was done in order to placate the Colonies we have sprinkled around the Solar System. After all, the UN was now no longer just an Earth bound organization- hasn't been for a while now. So it felt fitting to slowly move over towards a newer and more relevant Symbol. On Earth we still use the Earth having logo, while on our colonies we use the Star having one.
To my right was the seat for General (John) Remau, an elderly French descending man at 60 years old. Short prickly grey hair, and a mustache to accompany him. Blue eyes. His experience is mostly based on Counter-Terror actions. But by the Gods, he is good at his job. He is the "tough yet caring" father type of guy, even the men he used to command gave him he nickname of "Father John".
To my left is the seat of Minister (Ayumi) Kamura, a younger Japanese lass, 27 years old. One of the youngest people in the room, and yet one of the most capable in her duties as Minister of Diplomatic Affairs. Long flowing black hair. Brown eyes. She started as an Intern roughly a year and a half ago, under me. Shy at first, but she quickly managed to move up thanks to her charm and intellect, and I offered her the job of MDA. And she has been killing it ever since.
These 2 are my most trusted advisors in their own field of expertise. There are many more seated in the room now, but these 2 are the ones I am on a first-name basis with.
And now.... time for the meeting.
...
There was a slight chaos among the entourage of advisors. None of them had any idea why this meeting was called, only my two trusted seconds had gotten messages with the most relevant details about all of the happenings surrounding the discovery. Gotta love the quick work of AI. Once everyone had sat down on their allocated seats, I stood up, all eyes glued to me, and began speaking.
"All of you may be wondering why I called you all here today. Earlier today, in the early morning hours, the drone we had ordered to be sent into the void...-" I took a second to think on how to actually bring this news to the others, but I knew there was no dancing around the issue. "- The drone has encountered Alien life."
The second those words left my mouth, the room erupted into whispering murmurs, some thinking it was a lie, other's in a show of disbelieve.
I began speaking again, not giving them anytime to start asking questions. "The drone arrived onto this new star system at 10:15, and it initiated it's automated surveying. It already detected something "grey-ish" above a tidally locked planet. At 10:35, the drone went into it's Warning signal mode, the drone went into Cloak and began sending details about it's discovery. The drone had laid it's eyes on an orbiting space-station."
While I was speaking, John, our General, was having his own conversation over the phone with- who I assume, is one of his goons. John said something along the lines of, "Alright. I'll tell 'em.", before taking a look at me and interrupting me in my speech. "Sir, with all due respect, I have just received a call from one of my guys, who I had put on it after I had gotten the AI's message. And uh.. I think this is interesting for all to see."
"Very well. -" I said, pressing the button in the table in front of me, lowering a screen from the ceiling of the room. The screen covered the southern wall of the room, opposite of me. "- Have the room, General."
"Thank you Sir." John walked up to the screen, scanning his badge on the nearby security system which was connected to the screen, it auto-logged John in. John proceeded into his classified filed stash, and pulled up a newly made folder labeled "Unknowns".
The first thing John showed on the screen was a picture taken by the drone, the picture that showed the drone spotting the weird "grey" blob above the planet, followed by a picture closer to the blob, clearly showing it to be a space-station of some kind. "This here, gentlemen and women-" John began with, "-is what this meeting is about. Here is the undeniable proof for all you naysayers in the crowd."
The ones who had more doubtful looks on their faces before, looked on now with curiosity.
"And the newest details I have gotten-" John went on, "-can be seen right here." John pulled up a video the drone recorded. The video showed the drone moving at insane speeds towards the orbit of this planet, which was shown to be quite earth-like, moving past the Station quickly. The drone was starting to slow itself down rapidly as it reached into the atmosphere of the planet. The drone hovered for a moment before resuming it's move.
Our lovely drone stayed as high as it possibly could, while not breaking sight of the ground in a clear camera view. It rapidly moved towards what looked to be a small rural town of sorts. The drone halted it's flight dead in the center of the sky, high in the air above the town, turning it's camera downwards and zooming in even further for more of a clear view of the town.
As it slowly zoomed in, smaller dots appeared on the screen. You wouldn't have to be a rocket scientist to tell that those would, most likely, be the natives of this planet, moving about in their daily life- however they may live it. It still wasn't clear how these Aliens looked like. The drone elevated itself lower, and kept zooming in more.
Once the drone's camera had fully zoomed in, we could finally make out what these Aliens looked liked...
...
...
Question began flowing through my mind. Fur- Knock-kneed hind-legs too? Are these not the natives, are these just their version of ...a Sheep?? If so, where are the actual natives... why would they let their cattle run around freely?
... There has to be natives on the planet.
The drone went on and on, going from town to town, and in all towns it was the same sight. These "sheep" walking around, and doing their own things. To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement. Guess these ARE the natives of the planet then.
John spoke up again after closing the video- "As you can see, Gents. We've come across an Alien civilization. That's why we're here. - Sir, the floor is yours again." John nodded at me and sat back down at his seat.
...
Straight to the point like always, aren't we John?- "Right- .. Now, as General Remau has stated, we have encountered an Alien space going civilization. It's up to us to come up with a strategy on how to deal with this, and how we'll proceed from here."
The flock of advisors all looked at each-other, either not knowing what to say, or refusing to say anything on it - like always.
I spoke up again. "I propose a few options on how to proceed, we'll discuss all of them, and decide on the eventual future proceeding on this issue. We have a few options to choose from.

1. We'll spy on the native of this planet, try to find enough intelligence as we are able too, while also ramping up our military production tenfold, as we do not know if these aliens are friend or foe.
2. Isolate ourselves, and stay clear of them. Letting them live their lives, and hope they let us live ours.
3. Opening up communications right away, and see if we can befriend them.

The floor is now open to voting, click the link on your pads which you receive-" the sound of multiple pads receiving a notification can be heard-, "- now, and vote which option YOU think we'll have to go with. Understood?"
Everyone nodded, and the voting commenced as it always would. Unlike most situations, now the voting seemed to take longer, as everyone was truly thinking of all possible scenarios. One's we are all familiar with.
...
After 5 minutes the voting concluded, and the result were shown on the screen. 78% voted for option 1. Spying and intelligence gathering it is.
"Thank you all for voting. I, Kamura and Remau shall continue speaking on the best course of action regarding option 1. You're all dismissed. Keep in mind, this will be kept secret until we say so, understood?" Everyone in the room nodded once again- and began gathering their stuff to leave.
John and Ayumi walked over to me, and the 3 of us waited for the room to clear out of all occupants- apart from us. Once everyone left the room, the door locked itself shut. Allowing the three of us to speak undisturbed.
...
"Well, that's over-" John grumbled.
"You can say that again- I hate meetings as much as you do." I retorted back at him, giving a slight chuckle.
Ayumi perked up, "Come on guys, it wasn't that bad-"
"For you, yeah. You love 'em." I told her as I looked right at her. "They're like a party for you"
"That's not entirely true! .... for the most part-" She clapped back.
I gave her a smile. "Sure... back to the topic at hand- the best way to gather as much info on these sheep-ish people as possible. I propose sending more drones to the planet."
John let his own mind run with an idea, "What if we send one of our own guys to the planet with Cloaking armor, so he or she can do some ground work. See how they live, how they act, all that stuff."
"Wouldn't that cause political backlash?-" Ayumi spoke out in protest "-I mean.. sure, they will be cloaked, but what if they are discovered? We know nothing about their technology. For all we know, they surpass us in all fronts. Why not sent a "diplomatic" mission or somethi-"
"That's not going to work, Ayumi" I said, interrupting her. "-We can't let them know of our presence... yet..."
...
Minutes went by as we continued speaking on this- the three of us eventually decided on just sending a couple drone to the planet, and letting them do the work. Some drones would also be carrying probe droids. Tiny ones which can be hidden among furniture even, and the smallest cracks.
We are also going to increase our military spending and development. An order of 8K more ships will be placed later today- ... I honestly can't wait to get home soon. Just an hour more of chatting with these 2 nut cases- and I'm free. ... love 'em though.
...
===---===
Sorry for it being short, as said, gotta think of me sleep bois!
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Navigating The Privacy Tightrope: User Concerns on Social Media Engagement

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Abstract
This study analyses consumer concerns about privacy in social media engagement, the factors influencing these concerns, and provides strategies for handling them. To achieve this objective, this paper provides feedback on two vital questions (What are the primary concerns of social media users regarding privacy? And What factors contribute to these concerns?) that guide this research. The paper uses qualitative analysis to obtain analyze data. Lastly, the paper provides suggestions for future research and solution
I. INTRODUCTION
In the current digitized world, many people are increasingly sharing their information with the public through social media. However, this act of sharing their details through electronic gadgets such as smartphones has and still increases the risk of privacy violations as people engage through social media. One of the events that significantly deepened consumer privacy concerns in the United States was the Cambridge Analytica data breach on Facebook half a decade ago, which affected many user accounts in the land. This data breach initiated the #deletefacebook movement across social networking sites culminating in many users reconsidering their connections with social media platforms about their trustworthiness, and potential for confidential issues. For one section of users, this meant signing out of these sites while the other section considered it as a chance to reset their confidential settings. According to Bright et al, user privacy concerns differ across sites in the user journey, and only a few sites are developed equally when it comes to user concerns as well as disclosures specifically in connection to social networking sites (1). Throughout this duration of redefining their connections with social networking sites, users find themselves coping with the "privacy paradox" and despite having privacy concerns, online users persist in disclosing their private details for distinct reasons, rather than safeguarding their details online. Therefore, this paper investigates [consumer concerns about privacy in social media engagement, and factors influencing these concerns, and provides strategies for handling them]().
A. Research problem
Social media plays a significant role in promoting interaction and sharing of information among users from all over the world. However, sharing of information over social media sites has and still increases the risk of privacy violations as people engage through social media. It's from this, that this paper settled on evaluating the consumer concerns about privacy in social media engagement, factors influencing these concerns, and providing strategies for tackling them.
B. Aim and Objectives
This study is determined to analyze the user concerns about privacy in social media engagement, highlight the primary factors influencing these concerns, and provide recommendations on desired approaches for handling them.
C. Research question
[1. What are the primary concerns of social media users regarding privacy?]()
2. What factors contribute to these concerns?
II. EXTENDED BACKGROUND
Social media has grown to become the modern-day routine. Currently, many social networking sites are continuing to integrate to offer distinct digital affordances as well as chances to enlarge individual networks, interactions, and information sharing. The availability of these sites has significantly culminated in to rise in user engagement. For instance, TikTok is among the most used sites with a massive following of more than 750 million accounts. Currently, people are becoming more open to sharing individual data and with the aid of the modern digital culture, this has been made possible by utilizing the availability of internet service. Although social media is considered to be of great significance in facilitating communication and entertainment among users, it also stores noticeable repositories of individual details that culminate to privacy concerns. This threat of privacy breaches has continuously increased as social media are frequently accessed through applications on cell phones, where a substantial number of identifiable data is stored, aggregated, and linked across various social networking sites.
Even as the issue of privacy threat has attained massive attention and recognition, especially among people who use these platforms, many studies have reported the concept of privacy paradox, which implies discrepancies involving persons' habits of disclosing individual details and their concern concerning privacy threat. Even though social media users have an increasing concern concerning privacy on media platforms, they are willing to proceed to disclose their data for various gratifications. According to Chen et al, some social media users always show or rather demonstrate reduced effort to offer safety on their confidentiality despite showing significant concern associated with social media (2). On the contrary, there is also a section of social media consumers who are not naive in their revel actions (2). This brings us to an analysis of the historical evolution of social media platforms, the emergence of privacy concerns, and important theoretical frameworks particularly privacy calculus.
Typically, the rise of privacy is significantly connected to the fast growth of technologies and the growing nature of the modern digital space. History shows that privacy was mainly linked with physical and individual interactions. During this time, people were interacting at their homes and with immediate families. However, this was significantly changed by the massive evolution in the digital world. The development of social media sites, and the level of connectivity they provide initiated a new era of unprecedented access to individual information. The new developments have made it simple for people to share their stories and even sensitive information with just one click significantly subjecting one to underlying privacy perils. The world is experiencing significant growth or cases in several data breaches leading to massive breaches of private data to the public. Hackers always target unsuspecting firms or companies to access important details such as the profile of clients or company records which could result in various forms of exploitations. When such a breach happens, it severely affects both the company and the individuals because while the person's data is compromised so is the deterioration of trust in the organization by the public.
Privacy calculus (shown in Figure 1 in the appendix section) refers to the comprehension of privacy as well as safety trade-offs of a certain innovation or firm. It assumes that individuals will divulge individual details whenever the perceived rewards or advantages outweigh the potential cost. Kehr et al. ascertain that the choice of sharing information is associated with privacy calculus as the equilibrium between the rewards and the hazards of revealing individual details or data. A person's privacy calculus can be impacted by several factors including but not limited to the perceived value of the details being revealed and the repercussions of the disclosure. Additionally, the cultures and factors within the society might considerably influence privacy caliculus These factors include but are not limited to societal norms associated with privacy in specific locations. Research has indicated that the threshold of diversity which is always accompanied by the growing society has some considerable effect on the withdrawal from the globe making people even more sensitive to what they share with the public.
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study used a qualitative approach in analyzing the user concerns on social networking site engagement. Primarily, this method was applied in this study because it offers a significant opportunity for the researcher to devolve deeply into but not limited to nuances of consumer experiences, viewpoints as well as emotions. Compared to a quantitative approach which only focuses on numerical as well as statistical evaluations, the selected approach here delves deeply into the underlying inspirations, feelings, and means that drive consumer connections online. Approaches such as but not limited to interviews and focus groups provided a substantial opportunity for the researcher to unveil the intricate web of norms and values that significantly impact how consumers interact and their perception of social media sites.
Additionally, the qualitative approach substantially enabled the researcher to attain different consumer concerns. According to Van der Vlist, and Helmond, social networking sites are characterized by a sophisticated structure that comprises different cultures and subcultures with distinct practices as well as concerns (3). By applying a qualitative approach, an investigator can therefore attain immediate information precisely on the experiences of consumers over different populations, and locations. This great understating is significant because it helps to design comprehensive as well as consumer-centric sites that cater to the different requirements as well as tests of the audiences across the world.
Moreover, the qualitative approach offered the researcher a flexible and adaptable experience especially when analyzing emerging issues within social media and user engagement. As indicated by, Reynolds, and Bennett, the qualitative approach allows the use of their analytical paradigms to suit the certain features of emerging issues encompassed in social media as well as consumer involvement (4).
When collecting data, the research applied the following types of qualitative methods:
A. Interviews
Interviews offered a significant platform for participants to articulate their concerns using their own words thus providing the researcher with the desired information on the experiences and viewpoints of people using the complex domain of social media. By applying the open-ended questions, the researcher was able to analyze the profound inspirations that significantly provided limelight to the intricacies of social media. Besides, interviews helped in contextualizing the user concerns in the wider brackets of social and cultural settings in which they take place. By involving the respondents in the study through discussion, the researcher was able to identify factors that significantly influence consumers'' viewpoints and habits including but not limited to peer pressure and cultural ideals. The contextual comprehension offered great support especially in deciphering the motive behind consumer concerns and coming up with solutions or rather strategies that perfectly resonate with the distinct array of consumers globally. Lastly, the interview helped to foster significant discourse that involved the researcher and respondents. This helped in cementing trust and the needed help that improved the credibility of the research.
B. Questionnaires
This study also used questionnaires to obtain relevant data that assisted in the completion of this research. Typically, questionnaires are valuable equipment issued when collecting data because they can gather a significant number of standardized information effectively. This study started by clarifying the objective of the questionnaires to participants. The researcher applied an open-ended type of questionnaire and crafted questions that aided in the collection of data from the respondents. The questionnaires were delivered to participants through email surveys that significantly aligned with the features of the sample group as well as the study aims. The clarity of the communication in the email and privacy substantially fostered participant involvement in the study. Besides, the researcher ensured that the information provided through this tool was secured and systematically organized to foster the analysis of information. In a nutshell, the study implemented effective usage of questionnaires in collecting vital data in the study. The researcher adhered to the best practices and embraced the spirit of iterative refinement thus harnessing the complete ability of the questionnaires and advanced knowledge concerning user concerns on social media engagement.
The sampling technique applied in this study was purposeful approach. This approach is broadly applied in qualitative studies to identify data-rich scenarios for the most efficient usage of scarce resources (5). The sampling techniques comprise of coming up and choosing people or groups that possess knowledge concerning or have experience with the topic under study (5). Through the use of emails, the researcher chose respondents who met certain qualifications and offered valuable information concerning consumer concerns on social media. Based on the participants’ selection criteria, a purposeful sample of (n=60) was selected to participate in the survey.
The research used thematic analysis (TA) in analyzing data. TA has enabled the research to unveil the profound concerns that prevail more across social media consumers. Through a systematic analysis specifically of the content that is common among consumers, the research was able to pinpoint reappearing subjects that show shared concerns, and frustrations. For example, factors including but not limited to privacy issues, and cyberbullying frequently arise in literature addressing the concept of consumer concerns within the context of social media. Nevertheless, TA offered a structured framework that greatly helped in organizing as well as interpreting qualitative information. Through conducting a thorough grouping of information or rather data into topics and sub-topics, the research was able to attain a fundamental insight into the diverse range of issues from the consumers. As argued by Thompson, TA promotes the rigor as well as reliability of the study outcomes, making sure that conclusions are based on empirical proof (6).
Additionally, TA offered significant support in facilitating comparisons as well as synthesis over distinct studies. Considering the idea that the use of social media keeps on growing, investigators always face various pieces of publications addressing the same subjects. TA gives these investigators to highlight the similarities and differences across datasets thus facilitating the enrichment of their comprehension concerning consumer concerns. Despite the above merits of TA in this study, this approach also significantly fails in various areas especially when applied to data analysis (7). For instance, the TA does not have strict directives for completing an analysis. This might easily culminate in variability, particularly in the manner in which this approach is used in different studies, thus rendering it difficult to draw a comparison in findings or replicate studies.
IV. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The consideration of ethics within studies is paramount since it ensures that the studies are completed by observing integrity, respect as well as fairness specifically on respondents involved. It's vital to uphold ethical consideration because morally right and also helps to maintain the credibility of the research. This research upheld the ethical standards before, during, and after the study in various ways. Firstly, the researcher ensured that the idea of informed consent was considered by significantly providing vivid information to respondents so that they could come up with independent choices about their involvement in the study. The researcher also ensured that there was room for withdrawal from the research by any respondent if they felt to do so. The research also ensured the concepts of confidentiality and privacy were considered during the interview process. Research has shown that it is vital to offer respect to the privacy of respondents to enhance or build confidence and trust (8). Enria et al. Emphasizes the need to maintain privacy during the study process from information gathering up to publication to lock out unauthorized personnel or disclosure of personal details (8). In this study, the researcher adopted the necessary measures to offer the needed protection or security for sensitive data or details gathered during the interview and the study at large.
Furthermore, the researcher also took the responsibility of reducing harm and at the same time raising the benefits for respondents. The researcher achieved this carefully by offering potential safety and eliminating threats associated with the research such as but not limited to physical harm. The researcher ensured that the relevant measures were executed to provide safety to vulnerable groups. In addition, the researcher ensured that there was respect for the respondent's independence as well as dignity. This was achieved by significantly treating respondents with respect and dignity. This entirely involved, honoring their choices concerning but not limited to their inclusion in the research.
Nonetheless, the researcher also ensured that fairness and equity were upheld during the study. The researcher observed the concept of diversity in recruiting participants and at the same time eliminating the prejudices grounded on aspects including but not limited to race or religion. Besides, the researcher took the necessary steps by considering the potential outcomes of the study for the most vulnerable respondents specifically people living with a disability. Lastly, the researcher guaranteed that ethical oversight, as well as responsibility, is observed throughout the research procedure. The researcher took the primary function of ensuring that the study adheres to the ethical standards designed by Institutional review boards.
V. RESULTS
The analysis focused on demographic examination by exploring aspects such as age, gender, education, job status, and social media platforms used. Based on gender, there 27 were female while 33 participants were men. The youngest participant was aged 21 years while the oldest was 57 years. The average age of the participants was 35.4 years, indicating that most were men. The minimum education level of the participant is a high school graduate and all participants were actively in employment or self-employed.
All the participants had registered an account with at least two social media platforms, although a majority (48), had multiple accounts. Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok were the most common social media platforms. However, most of the participants had registered an account with professional platforms like Linkedin, although most were not active participants on these platforms. Facebook emerged as the most popular for general networking while X was preferred for emerging news and trending online topics.
TA was adopted to explore the concerns of the users regarding privacy. Following the analytical approach proposed, there were five emerging themes on the most pressing privacy issues by users of social media networks; namely the scale and scope of data collection, potential misuse of user data, third-party app portability, behavioral tracking, and potential data breaches.
VI. ANALYSIS DISCUSSION
A. Discussion
To achieve the objective of the study, it was vital to provide substantial feedback on the two research questions that guided this study. The first question focused on understanding the primary concerns of social media about privacy. Social media networks have revolutionized and transformed communication, social networking, and bridging people's relationships. These mediums offer crucial benefits but also introduce noteworthy privacy concerns. The interviews revealed that the concerns delve around the process of data collection, use of information collected, security, control over private data, tracking behavioral patterns, and the association of third-party stakeholders. The interviews provided a comprehensive understanding by highlighting relevant concerns in detail, which will be explored further by applying the TA framework to ensure that each factor is understood well.
Scope and scale of Data Collection
The interviewees showed concerns about the scale and scope of data collection by social media networks. It emerged as one of the most pressing issues among social media users because of the intricacy of remaining private. Social media platforms obtain an enormous volume of information, including aspects like name, age, and residence and intimate details such as internet activities, hobbies, and text messages. The respondents indicated that the platforms can collect Personal Identifiable Information (PII) because account holders it is one of the requirements at the point of registration [10]. Crucial information like personal email addresses, contact numbers, and date of birth. The participants showed concerns because they suspected fraudulent actors could access the data and use it for malicious purposes.
The participants also showed concern for the ability of social media platforms to study behavioral patterns using the data collected. Participants argued that privacy is a crucial aspect of human dignity and should be guaranteed by social media platforms [11]. One participant noted that Facebook can track their interment activities, sites visited visit, content, preferences, and communication patterns. Therefore, it demonstrates that the use of collected data by social media is an issue that could pose privacy risks.
Misuse of Personal Data
The participants showed concerns about the use of information collected and stored in social media databases. Social media platforms can leverage the data collected to understand how to improve the experiences of users and other aspects that improve the quality. Based on the participants' responses, targeted advertising can be a vulnerability to users. Social media platforms can use the data to facilitate Ad Personalization [11]. The algorithms can be trained to analyze user data to enable personalized advertisements, which is an invasive antic. The platforms can be involved in the monetization of user data by selling the analyzed ta to third-party organizations.
The participants of the survey observed that social media platforms used the data beyond advertising purposes. The algorithms can be refined to understand social media consumption patterns to influence their purchase decisions. This is a form of manipulation by feeding users targeted information to influence their attitudes, behaviors, and choices [12]. Third-party organizations can leverage modern advances in AI and analytics to study the behavior of social media users and enable the system to make product recommendations and even product development.
Data Breaches
Data security emerged as a leading theme in during the interviews as recent news of frequent cyberattacks and monumental data breaches led to the exposure of personal information. Most participants noted that the high-profile incidents of data breaches by social media platforms like the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal led to the manipulation of voters' decisions in the US election and the Brexit vote. Millions of personal information data were mined without the users' consent. The exposure of the data led to adverse consequences including identity theft, financial fraud, and online vulnerabilities.
Similarly, users noted that user accounts frequently face security vulnerabilities. The accounts have weak password protocols. Some participants indicated that they have been victims of social media account hacks due to the weak security protocols. However, the participants were encouraged to indicate the password, implying that they used a common password including date of birth, name, and city [10]. Some users understood the two-factor authentication, which is crucial in minimizing hacking. The two-factor authentication protocols lead to problems by adding layers. Making it unpopular among most social media users.
Poor account security reduces the ability of users to control their personal information. However, most social media platforms recognize that there is a need to enhance the security of users' accounts. The security setting is complex and confusing to many ordinary social media users. A significant proportion of participants did not understand the process of setting the advanced security protocols [13]. Most users rely on the default security setting, which encourages sharing of personal information and social media activities. The users are expected to maneuver the complex process to ensure the security of their data. Shifting such an obligation to users with limited knowledge about the technicality of social media account security raises ethical and moral concerns.
Behavioral Tracking
Most users noted that social media platforms can perform behavioral tracking by analyzing social media activities, patterns, and content. Cookies Technologies provide the platforms with a tool to perform continuous tracking across different websites, retaining in-depth profiles of user's behavior [13]. The platforms can conduct behavioral tracking with informed consent: The Cambridge-Analytica incident reveals the vulnerability of social media platforms on individuals and society. The profiles created were used not only for marketing and advertising purposes but also to influence political campaigns.
Participants of the study indicated that the ability of social media platforms to collect data limitlessly can expose users to surveillance vulnerabilities. Collecting private and intimate data, such as personal health information and PII can enable third-party actors to perform surveillance since each aspect of social media interaction is documented. The Power held by social media companies leads to the loss of anonymity over personal information to some extent. The structure of social media communication makes it impossible to maintain anonymity because the data is augmented into a singular platform.
Third-Party Apps Data Portability
Portability and the right to delete information is also a concern among users. This stems from the concept of the "right to be forgotten." Users may opt for some content from their social media platforms. Users have limited control over the spread and distribution of the content they post. Deleting the content does not limit other account owners to post similar information [14]. This is a significant concern highlighted by the participants of the survey. deleting their data or controlling its spread once shared.
The growth of social media has coincided with an era of integration of online systems and solutions. Most social media platforms allow third-party apps and integrations. Third-party applications operate based on their practices, policies, and unique terms and conditions for service. There are more privacy issues when social media networks integrate third-party apps and services. Integration of third-party Apps into the social media application can facilitate the collection of data and potential for misuse [12]. There is a lack of clarity over the party responsible for the security of data. Besides, the more the data is available to employees of both organizations, it can be at risk of breaches.
The second question focused on examining the mediating factors contributing to the social media user’s privacy concerns. Based on the TA, the merging factors included inadequate regulatory protection, ineffective social media platform privacy policies, and ignorance of users on appropriate security settings.
Accessibility and Permission
Accessing the data held may require permission from the user or the social media platform. Some apps may be granted broad permissions that allow them unlimited access to the information. Third-party apps often request access to a wide range of user data, which may not be necessary for their functionality. There is a lack of appropriate oversight over data and usage by third-party organizations and apps. The platforms do not provide sufficient oversight and guidelines on how the third parties use and protect the data they access.
Therefore, there is potential for misuse and manipulation of user data by social media platforms and third parties who access the data. Social media platforms may have strict privacy but third-party organizations may have inconsistent privacy concerns. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is an illustration of such an incident, where Facebook data was accessed with crucial privacy breaches. Social media platforms pose a significant threat because they can lead to trust issues among users. Some of the participants noted that they had deleted their accounts because of fear of privacy breaches [14]. The constant privacy issues influence the attitudes and behaviors on social media and their level of trust in these platforms. Hence, the participants have adopted self-censorship due to the awareness of potential online tracking and data collection. This involves avoiding sharing some details or expressing views freely.
The risk of privacy breaches can minimize the levels of social engagement to conceal one's true personality and character. Privacy concerns can lead to reduced engagement, with users less likely to participate in activities that require personal information sharing. Users have also shown concerns for better data and information security practices by social media platforms. The participants of the survey indicated that transparency over the use of the data collected is necessary to protect their confidentiality [12][13]. The growth in awareness and understanding of the right to privacy has been a significant factor that has influenced the demand for better information security protocols.
Inadequate Regulatory and Policy Concerns
Privacy is a right recognized by the laws of different countries including the United States. There are specific legislations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU block or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), enacted to protect the privacy and confidentiality of users' data. However, it does not provide sufficient protection to users since there are several hurdles in its implementation. The lack of effectiveness and compliance with the law has contributed to the loopholes that are constantly utilized by the platforms to collect personal data [12]. The legislations impose legal and criminal liabilities on social media platforms, which can be a crucial method of deterring platforms from engaging in unauthorized sharing of users' data.
Ineffective Social Media Site Policies
Social media platforms have policies that guide the usage of data collected from account holders. Most of these terms are often complex and it is difficult for the users to comprehend. Users sometimes agree to conditions without fully understanding service and privacy rules since they are lengthy and complex [11]. The participants contented that they had never read through all the policies, terms, and conditions of using the site. These challenges lead to the acceptance of policies that allow the collection and usage of data.
Besides, social media platforms are constantly enhancing policy changes that could affect the security of users' data. Platforms regularly change their terms of service, sometimes making major adjustments to privacy provisions that users might not always see or comprehend [13]. The ignorance of users creates vulnerabilities in users and places social media platforms in a superior position. This enables the platforms to include policies that are pro-data collection.
B. Conclusion
Social media companies need to improve privacy controls, strengthen security, simplify privacy settings, and follow strict regulations to strike a balance between user interaction and privacy. Platforms can provide a safer and more reliable environment and encourage users to interact without jeopardizing their personal information by fully addressing these main concerns. This fine balance, where the advantages of connection and sharing are evaluated against the fundamental right to privacy, will determine the future of social media.
Dealing with a wide range of intricate issues is necessary when navigating the social media privacy tightrope. It makes sense that users are concerned about the scope of data gathering, the uses to which it is put, the security of their data, and their control over it. These issues become even more complicated when third-party apps are involved and behavioral tracking is used. These privacy concerns provide serious legal and policy hurdles in addition to affecting user behavior and confidence.
C. Future Research
Social media platforms need to reconsider the concept of user privacy to protect the confidentiality of user data. It is necessary to communicate clearly about the purpose for which the data collected is to be used. The current system is opaque and the users have limited knowledge about the terms and conditions of service. Organizations must protect the integrity of user data. Failure to comply with the regulatory requirement can lead to substantial financial and reputational damage to a social media platform. Facebook has been heavily fined for data breaches and scandals.
Policymakers and legislator should also understand the risk that social media platforms expose to their users and introduce stricter regulations and guidelines on how these platforms can use data collected. Currently, social media platforms are powerful and can influence users to accept terms that would allow the collection of personal information. The legislation should focus on introducing guidelines that compel the platforms to be transparent and use terms that are easily understandable to all users. The study focused on users that are educated but they were also not familiar with the terms on the use of personal data by the platforms. The government can provide better protection by introducing liabilities on platforms that mislead users to accept opaque terms and conditions with a loophole that will allow the collection of PII. Government involvement will be necessary as information and communication technologies continue to transform how organizations collect, analyze, and utilize online users and activities.






References

(1) Bright, Laura F., Hayoung Sally Lim, and Kelty Logan. "“Should I Post or Ghost?”: Examining how privacy concerns impact social media engagement in US consumers." Psychology & Marketing 38, no. 10 (2021): 1712-1722.
(2) Chen, Hsuan-Ting. "Revisiting the privacy paradox on social media with an extended privacy calculus model: The effect of privacy concerns, privacy self-efficacy, and social capital on privacy management." American behavioral scientist 62, no. 10 (2018): 1392-1412.
[(3) Kehr,]() Flavius, Tobias Kowatsch, Daniel Wentzel, and Elgar Fleisch. "Blissfully ignorant: the effects of general privacy concerns, general institutional trust, and affect in the privacy calculus." Information Systems Journal 25, no. 6 (2015): 607-635.
(4) Van der Vlist, Fernando N., and Anne Helmond. "How partners mediate platform power: Mapping business and data partnerships in the social media ecosystem." Big Data & Society 8, no. 1 (2021): 20539517211025061.
(5) Reynolds, Samantha, and Noah Bennett. "Dynamic Insights: Qualitative Explorations Across Diverse Sectors in the Evolving Socioeconomic Landscape." (2024).
(6) Palinkas, Lawrence A., Sarah M. Horwitz, Carla A. Green, Jennifer P. Wisdom, Naihua Duan, and Kimberly Hoagwood. "Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research." Administration and policy in mental health and mental health services research 42 (2015): 533-544.
(7) Thompson, Jamie. "A guide to abductive thematic analysis." (2022
(8) Peel, Karen L. "A beginner's guide to applied educational research using thematic analysis." Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation 25, no. 1 (2020): 2.
[(9) Enria, ]()Luisa, Naomi Waterlow, Nina Trivedy Rogers, Hannah Brindle, Sham Lal, Rosalind M. Eggo, Shelley Lees, and Chrissy H. Roberts. "Trust and transparency in times of crisis: Results from an online survey during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK." PloS one 16, no. 2 (2021): e0239247.
(10) L. Baker-Eveleth, R. Stone, and D. Eveleth, “Understanding social media users’ privacy-protection behaviors,” ICS, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 324–345, May 2022, doi: 10.1108/ICS-07-2021-0099.
(11) Z. Rózsa, L. Ferenčáková, D. Zámek, and J. Firstová, “Generation Z’s perception of privacy on social media: Examining the impact of personalized advertising, interpersonal relationships, reference group dynamics, social isolation, and anxiety on self-disclosure willingness,” oc, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 229–266, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.24136/oc.2956.
(12) N. Barrett-Maitland and J. Lynch, “Social Media, Ethics and the Privacy Paradox,” in Security and Privacy From a Legal, Ethical, and Technical Perspective, C. Kalloniatis and C. Travieso-Gonzalez, Eds., IntechOpen, 2020. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.90906.
(13) J. Suter, A. Irvine, and C. Howorth, “Juggling on a tightrope: Experiences of small and micro business managers responding to employees with mental health difficulties,” International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 3–34, Feb. 2023, doi: 10.1177/02662426221084252.
(14) K. D. Martin and R. W. Palmatier, “Data Privacy in Retail: Navigating Tensions and Directing Future Research,” Journal of Retailing, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 449–457, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.jretai.2020.10.002.





































Appendix

Figure1: The conceptual model of extended privacy calculus

I’m back again to ask for advice and not so much a story time. I’ve found myself in quite the pickle. If readers aren’t up to speed, please go back and read my post from last year. I inherited my late grandparents home after my Mammie passed away in late 2022. In early 2023, I changed the locks, got all utilities transferred over to my name. My dad was understandably miffed that he didn’t inherit the home, but he’s known since I was 9 years old when my grandparents deeded the home to me.
I’ve had a very rocky relationship with my dad over my 31 years. He has poor taste in women, and turned a blind eye to the abuse I endured during the years I lived with them. She has 4 children from a previous marriage. 3 of which are one wellfare and get constant handouts from them. When I left my home at 18 I was on my own financially and went to pursue a degree I have yet to complete 13 years later. I’m married and have started my own family now. We do quite well all things considered. My husband is in a professional field and I have an Etsy store where I make designed products for book lovers and plant parents.
Given these facts, her children decided to insert themselves and tell me I owe it to my dad and stepmother to live in my late grandparents house. I did not cave to the notion. It’s mine. I am now in the process of selling my house so I can live in my inherited home. It needs major renovations in terms of plumbing, electrical and cosmetic. I’m in contract with a realtor and we will be moving mid June.
My dad has offered to help us move. I was open to the idea. Without asking me first, he purchased a SW one way ticket to FL to help us move. That wasn’t what bothered me. It was how fast things have escalated. In the last week, he has dropped a bomb on me that he is “finally leaving my step mother.” We’ve all heard this song and dance before. I admit to all the trauma and abuse I suffered from her emotionally, mentally and physically, only for him to show up with her without warning months or years later. It’s jarring to say the least and frays on my mental health. But apart of me holds on to hope. I want to blame her but ultimately he is also complicit in allowing it.
Then within twenty four hours of announcing his secret to leave her, he is asking if he can stay in one of the spare rooms at my late grandparents house (his parents) while he finds another RV to park on his land that joins mine. He wanted to arrive in KY a week before the move, and do pest control and prep the house before we get there. While we wait for our FL to sell, we were going to stay in my inherited house. When it sells we will move out and start renovating with the cash from the FL home sale.
I’ve been keeping my aunt and uncle in the loop who has a home next door that’s been unlived in for 4 years. They bought another home 30 minutes away closer to my uncles work. They have two daughters in college. I offered to rent their home next door while we renovate as it would be beneficial for all parties. The county we are moving to doesn’t have a lot of rentals available. I want my daughter in school there because my Aunt works at the school she will be attending. I can also keep an eye on contractors. My family wants nothing to do with him. When I was growing up, I was gas lit into thinking their behaviors were okay. My grandparents and aunt and uncle never stopped fighting for me and showing me love. They’ve lived through these things as adults and have very hard opinions on my father. They are cordial with him, but do not rub shoulders, do holidays or even dinners with him. Not since I left the home at 18 anyways.
But now I’m at an impasse with my family. They do not feel comfortable with my dad moving up there, and circumstances have changed throwing a wrench in their plans. My dad is very charming. But he has also committed fraud and theft from him parents over the years and no one trust him. I’m not upset with my aunt and uncle for reneging on our arrangement. They fear him getting into their house and taking from them. But I am 3 weeks from our move and I’m panicking. This move was about finding my peace and financial freedom living debt free. I’ve kept my dad from arms length all these years putting states and states of distance between us, only for it to go down the drain in one of the biggest milestones in my life.
He says he wants to help. I want to believe him. There’s still that little girl inside that yearns for her father’s attention and love that he so freely gave to my step sisters. He didn’t attend my wedding because he was at a gun show. My daughter was two months old before he met her. He was miffed my mom came down to help after I gave birth and decided he would pitch a fit. As the old saying goes, he has that “my way or the highway,” mentality. There are so many red flags going off right now, and it’s cost me a very lucrative living arrangement. The cost to rent next door was far cheaper and closer than having to go to neighboring towns and cities to rent. I’ll have to commute 30 minutes to the house and school daily. If you are familiar with rural areas, you understand the conundrum. I can make do, but I feel defeated in a way. Conflicted.
I want an honest relationship with him but I’m afraid of him hurting me again or my daughter. She’s 8 years old and is very frank about her distain for him. Somehow she has more wisdom than myself. Am I opening up a can of worms that I’ll regret? I still feel emotionally drained from how the will played out and his reaction. He basically got nothing but a bunch of stipulations on 12 acres. No alcohol, no trailers long term, not bringing my stepmom’s family to live. I don’t know if it would hold up in court. He tried to manipulate me when I said there wasn’t a key to get into the house. He said he guessed he would pitch a tent outside because he can’t afford to eat a $124 southwest flight. If that’s the case, how the hell will he afford RV hookups on virgin land in addition to purchasing a used RV?
Do I pull the plug now and go no contact? Do I forgo moving all together? I hate Florida, the cost of living is insane and my property taxes and insurance have gone up. I only moved her for my mom. I do love my home right now but the way the economy is I feel the need to get out from under my mortgage before it’s too late. Interested to hear the worm army’s thoughts and the OK OP fam. When you read my story last year I felt so validated but this situation seems to have gotten much more complicated.

So me(25f) after leaving a sinking relationship several months ago I decided start a Facebook account and get in touch with a few friends and family members I lost touch with over the years. One of the connections I made was talking with the person I still look back on and think of as my first love(25m). We've sort of kept up over the years a few times very briefly and cordially. But after talking to him again this time I'm realizing more I still have some feelings for him. He's always been a very genuinely kindhearted and caring person and that kindness still shows through in his messages now. Out of all of my partners over the years he always reciprocated the most to me in the relationship and was never afraid to show me he cared about me. And that's counting my adult relationships too. Sadly I don't think anything can come of these feelings because his lifestyle is traveling and never staying one place too long, and he is a very free spirit who I imagine doesn't want anything to keep him from picking up and going wherever he pleases. I'm still happy being able to talk to him again though even if it's only temporary, but I just needed a place to vent out these feelings. It's crazy but I still get butterflies when I get a message from him. Has anyone had a similar situation and how did things turn out?
Also I forgot to mention, things ended between us when I was a teen because his family was military so they moved to another country and then came back to the US at some point. So things have always been good between us and I hope it can stay that way even just as friends.
Tl;dr I realized after talking to my first love again I still have feelings for him

Purtle's Internet Lineup for May 23rd, 2024 6:03pm
Pics:

• What if Pokemon and AnimalCrossing had a crossover game? wooper https://twitter.com/spicyBeefu/status/1779904061115871697
  
• jesus in the hades art style https://twitter.com/WolfyTheWitch/status/1793322908779270537
  
• cheese not sticking to pizza https://twitter.com/heavenrend/status/1793346515261432027
  
  • I think google should be fully financially liable for every single one of these. https://twitter.com/MURPHAGATOstatus/1793421057174671733
• people avoid facing their own souls https://twitter.com/DylanoA4/status/1792983307468079568
  
• Kpop cereal? https://twitter.com/cerealouslynet/status/1793395061352182187
  
• "i just don't think it's right for children to be exposed to something like that in a kids' game" "but there's nothing inherently sexual about being trans" "huh? no i was talking about fire emblem" https://twitter.com/Espeonkin/status/1793693444403335621
  
• they made a stanley bottle for divorced guys https://twitter.com/francisxwolf/status/1793709802251604247
  

Clips:

• John Daly just casually chipping it in with a club in one hand and a drink in the other https://twitter.com/ShooterMcGavin_/status/1793292079121981493
  
• Timberwolves fans chant "Draymond sucks" during TNT's pregame show https://old.reddit.com/nba/comments/1cyewbtimberwolves_fans_chant_draymond_sucks_during/
  
• ryan hart with an akuma clip https://twitter.com/RyanJosephHart/status/1793409940020965747
  
• Giefs grab range on a parry now. https://twitter.com/HaloLorden/status/1793270100260266375
  
• got TTYD early https://twitter.com/_qlip_/status/1793343034119401943
  
• Speed was dancing with a fan with told him throw up a sign while in NYC and Kai Cenat immediately called him and warned him to never do that again https://twitter.com/SpeedUpdates1/status/1793434751585362020
  
• A group of ducks witnessed the meteor that fell in Portugal https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1793530687997260103
  
• looney tunes ass fall i would’ve moved zoos https://twitter.com/scubaryan_/status/1792943422170374411
  
• The influence of Tom & Jerry on animation world wide cannot be understated. Tom & Jerry is the first seinen, first gekiga & the first shonen https://twitter.com/VlahThe/status/1793145827679994286
  
• ultimate has been out for 5+ years and someone discovered a rapid jab clank glitch that removes bounce animations from moves and buffs the hell out of certain characters. this game is unbelievable sometimes https://twitter.com/LiquidHbox/status/1793691891894206748
  

Videos

• Every Kind of Bridge Explained in 15 Minutes - Practical Engineering [17:35] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX_zkaK5PaI
  
• Sony shares a video titled "Sony’s Creative Entertainment Vision" including a look at a concept futuristic controller. "Ten years from now, we will be living in a more multi-layered world where physical and virtual realities overlap without boundaries"
  
  • Sony’s Creative Entertainment Vision Official Video [2:12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq7Jg_1hGTo&ab_channel=Sony-Global
• BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Official Trailer [2:19] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoZqL9N6Rx4
  

Articles/News/Other

• US DOJ to seek break up of Live Nation-Ticketmaster, Bloomberg News reports https://old.reddit.com/news/comments/1cydsu9/us_doj_to_seek_break_up_of_live/
  
  • Justice Department says illegal monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation drives up prices for fans https://old.reddit.com/news/comments/1cyutwk/justice_department_says_illegal_monopoly_by/
• Microsoft being investigated over new ‘Recall’ AI feature that tracks your every PC move https://old.reddit.com/worldnews/comments/1cy5efs/microsoft_being_investigated_over_new_recall_ai/
  
• Recently a friend asked if I could check through the files to Madou Monogatari Saturn to see if there's any unused sprites. We were shocked to find a TON of stuff that was never used. Here's a ton of Arle sprites from before the game was redesigned to be isometric! https://twitter.com/FezarecoolX/status/1792977350696583522
  
• I think google should be fully financially liable for every single one of these. https://twitter.com/MURPHAGATOstatus/1793421057174671733
  
• Team up with friends online and engage in real-time battles with players from all over the world! Suika Game's multiplayer mode is available now https://twitter.com/IndieWorldNA/status/1793431657116291161
  
• Massachusetts taxed the rich. Now they have an extra $1.8 billion to spend. In November 2022 voters approved a 4% tax on incomes over $1 million. The state can now use that money on free public school meals, free community college, and public transit. https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1792949234947518682
  
• Biden administration signals it will support bipartisan push to sanction ICC https://twitter.com/FT/status/1792971076701491550
  
  • Leaving aside the wretched amorality, this is completely insane and suicidal policy. Advertising to the globe that we won't follow international laws is an invitation, a demand even, for the world to rise up and destroy our country. Biden is making it dangerous to be American. https://twitter.com/deerhoof/status/1793456740480200797
  • Biden sanctioning the ICC also sends a clear message to all autocrats of the Earth: BREAK THE LAW. Yes, this includes Putin. Yes, this includes Trump. Biden is literally using his power to engulf the world in fascism and lawlessness. Completely insane.
• Samurai shodown rollback update https://twitter.com/SNKPofficial/status/1793461854624190902
  
• TwitteX revealed that likes will soon be private for all users https://twitter.com/Dexerto/status/1793279644923265145
  
  • he knew https://twitter.com/SaeedDiCaprio/status/1793379528934555743
• If it smells like an aerosol termination shock, if it looks like an aerosol termination shock, and if it feels like an aerosol termination shock, it's probably an aerosol termination shock! https://twitter.com/LeonSimons8/status/1792652286499442776
  
• The Atlantic Ocean has a lot to say right now. And none of it is particularly good. My take on the deep Atlantic heat – which blows May 2005 out of the water – how it could impact hurricane season, and how it's affecting us today https://twitter.com/MichaelRLowry/status/1793305566648955315
  
  • Remember Hurricane Katrina? That was 2005. 2024 will be a year to remember! https://twitter.com/LeonSimons8/status/1793319395080520036
  • check 2023/2024 https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/
• Just 10 "superspreader" users on Twitter were responsible for more than a third of the misinformation posted over an 8-month period, finds a new study. In total, 34% of "low credibility" content posted to the site between January and October 2020 was created by 10 users based in the US and UK. https://old.reddit.com/science/comments/1cyojk3/just_10_superspreader_users_on_twitter_were/
  
• Atari acquires the Intellivision brand including the rights to more than 200 titles from its portfolio and trademarks. https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1793625578978898316
  
  • official attari tweet: https://twitter.com/atari/status/1793616648890470410
  • Intellivision Entertainment LLC will rebrand and continue its business of developing and distributing the Amico brand game console with a license from Atari to continue to distribute new versions of the Intellivision games on the Amico console.
  • Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of legacy Intellivision games, potentially create new games, and explore brand and licensing opportunities as part of a long-term plan to create value from the Intellivision properties.
• Neil Druckmann on Naughty Dog's new game: "I'm eager to see how this new game resonates, especially following the success of The Last of Us, as it could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming." The new game is "perhaps the most thrilling yet" https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1793633931696250926
  
• Call of Duty Black Ops 6 title officially announced https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/1793635518648836544
  
• Instagram plans to use your information and data to feed its Meta AI (Meta is Facebook, IG, etc). This includes any image, text, or video, and it is opt-in by default. For artists and other content creators, I made a guide thread for us on how to set your account to opt out https://twitter.com/creachivity_art/status/1793613689725354004
  
• Love how bills are increasing just for searches to be less accurate, art to be worse, students to cheat more, and jobs to dry up with no positives whatsoever other than my uncle can show off a trick where he asks his phone a question and the wrong answer comes up 10 seconds later https://twitter.com/mommilph/status/1793725185352413488
  

Here's a list of different forms of modern poetry, along with the title, poet, and a quote from a work that made the genre popular:

1. Spoken Word Poetry:
   
   • Title: "Holler If You Hear Me"
   • Poet: Saul Williams
   • Quote: "I exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias."
2. Instagram Poetry:
   
   • Title: "Milk and Honey"
   • Poet: Rupi Kaur
   • Quote: "you tell me to quiet down cause my opinions make me less beautiful but I was not made with a fire in my belly so I could be put out."
3. Hip-Hop Lyrics:
   
   • Title: "The Message"
   • Artist: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
   • Quote: "Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge. I'm trying not to lose my head."
4. Spine Poetry:
   
   • Title: "A Hummingbird in My House"
   • Poet: S.C. Wilson
   • Quote: "In my house, the air is filled with a hummingbird's song, sweet and gentle."
5. Lyrical Essays:
   
   • Title: "Citizen: An American Lyric"
   • Poet: Claudia Rankine
   • Quote: "Because white men can’t / police their imagination / black men are dying."
6. Instapoetry:
   
   • Title: "The Sun and Her Flowers"
   • Poet: Rupi Kaur
   • Quote: "how you love yourself is how you teach others to love you."
7. Twitter Poetry:
   
   • Title: Twitter poetry often exists as micro-poetry or haikus within the platform.
   • Poet: Various Twitter poets
   • Quote: "City lights whisper, hearts embrace the night, love blooms in shadows."
8. Song Lyrics (Rock):
   
   • Title: "Bohemian Rhapsody"
   • Artist: Queen
   • Quote: "Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango!"
9. Song Lyrics (Rap):
   
   • Title: "Lose Yourself"
   • Artist: Eminem
   • Quote: "You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime."
10. Free Verse Poetry:
    
    • Title: "Leaves of Grass"
    • Poet: Walt Whitman
    • Quote: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself."
11. Ecopoetry
    
    • Title: "The Wild Iris"
    • Poet: Louise Glück
    • Quote: "You who do not remember / passage from the other world / I tell you I could speak again: whatever / returns from oblivion returns / to find a voice..."
12. Afrofuturist Poetry
    
    • Title: "Space is the Place"
    • Poet: Sun Ra (also a jazz musician)
    • Quote: "Space is the place of the mind; space is the place of the thoughts that are positive."
13. Pop Culture Poetry
    
    • Title: "The Princess Saves Herself in This One"
    • Poet: Amanda Lovelace
    • Quote: "but if you only shine light / on your flaws, all your perfects / will dim."
14. Transgressive Poetry
    
    • Title: "Hustle"
    • Poet: David Lerner
    • Quote: "Life's a fast car on a wet road, with no brakes and bald tires."
15. Multimedia Poetry
    
    • Title: "Inanimate Alice"
    • Poet: Kate Pullinger and Chris Joseph
    • Quote: "Inanimate Alice, Episode 4: 'Hometown' is a work that appeals not only to readers and writers but also to gamers and cinephiles."
16. Instapoetry
    
    • Title: "Salt."
    • Poet: Nayyirah Waheed
    • Quote: "if the ocean can calm itself, so can you. we are both salt water mixed with air."
17. Digital Minimalist Poetry
    
    • Title: "The New Census: An Anthology of Digital Poetry"
    • Poet: Stephane Mallarmé (the digital interpretation)
    • Quote: "Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book."
18. Concrete Poetry
    
    • Title: "Easter Wings"
    • Poet: George Herbert
    • Quote: "With thee / O let me rise / As larks, harmoniously, / And sing this day thy victories."
19. Postcolonial Poetry
    
    • Title: "The God of Small Things"
    • Poet: Arundhati Roy
    • Quote: "Things can change in a day. All it takes is for something to happen that's not supposed to happen, and it sets off a chain of events that alters the course of everything."
20. Twitterature (Twitter Poetry)
    
    • Title: Various Tweets
    • Poet: Contemporary poets like Rupi Kaur, Warsan Shire, and others
    • Quote: "In the quietest hours of the night, I find solace in the echoes of your laughter. #moonlightwhispers"
21. Multimedia Poetry:
    
    • Title: "Hypertext Hotel"
    • Poet: Jodi Ann Stevenson
    • Quote: "In the digital corridors, every hyperlink is a door to a new verse."
22. Meme Poetry:
    
    • Title: "Internet Memes"
    • Poet: Various Internet Users
    • Quote: "Impact font wisdom, a generation's humor encapsulated in a single image."
23. Neo-Surrealist Poetry:
    
    • Title: "The Persistence of Memory"
    • Poet: Salvador Dalí (Visual Art)
    • Quote: "The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad."
24. Afrofuturist Poetry:
    
    • Title: "Parable of the Sower"
    • Poet: Octavia E. Butler
    • Quote: "All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you."
25. Virtual Reality Poetry:
    
    • Title: "VR Dreamscape"
    • Poet: VR Experience Designers
    • Quote: "In pixelated realms, dreams dance in virtual echoes."
26. Magnetic Poetry (Magnetic Words):
    
    • Title: Various Magnetic Poetry Kits
    • Poet: Various Magnetic Poets
    • Quote: "On fridges and desks, words collide to birth serendipitous verses."
27. Post-Internet Poetry:
    
    • Title: "Being and Time in the Internet Age"
    • Poet: Kenneth Goldsmith
    • Quote: "In the age of information, poetry is reclaimed from the detritus of the digital landscape."
28. Transcendentalist Poetry:
    
    • Title: "Walden"
    • Poet: Henry David Thoreau
    • Quote: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately."
29. Quantum Poetry:
    
    • Title: "The Dancing Wu Li Masters"
    • Poet: Gary Zukav (Science and Philosophy)
    • Quote: "The fact is, if you see it correctly, everything is dancing."
30. Asemic Writing Poetry:
    
    • Title: "The Asemic Poems"
    • Poet: Various Asemic Writers
    • Quote: "In the absence of recognizable text, the pen dances freely, creating abstract visual poetry."

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Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) is the cheapest way to transfer money internationally!
If you use my link to set up a new account, you will get physical Wise Debit Card for completely free! (Otherwise it costs 💰 USD 9!)
Here is the latest referral / invitation link (Valid from May 2024):
https://wise.com/invite/ihpc/honnamk
ℹ️ Note: if you have created a Wise account without using a referral link, you can still add my referral link to https://wise.com/invite/use-invite-link to claim the rewards!

[Spoilers up ahead for future units]
Here are the list of 5* units I think are worth the investment when considering future units. Keep in mind that I'll mostly talk about units with potential synergies with the future 6* units because you can honestly build whichever 5* you want as a dps and have 6 and isodle/vila boost tf out of them.
N1. Necrologist. I know that you're sick of hearing it but her time has come to shine. Now with the release of 1.6, we're getting much more 4 unit content and it's definitely a good time to build Necrologist up especially since she's the same type as Jiu Niangzi. There's no specific synergy since she's literally the pillar of most raid teams. Invest in her soon, especially if you have her p5.
N2. Balloon Party. BP has been an amazing healer for end game content since she can heal based on missing hp. That comes in handy especially with the release of our newest ¡FREE! unit Semmelweis which drains a lot of hp. Plus they're the same type so you can slap those two to support any other mineral dps of your choise.
N3. Desert Flannel. I've already made a post about how good DF as a jack of all trades unit for beast teams and I still stand by it. And unlike the other 2 mentioned units that have synergy with future characters, she gains value from the lack of future characters that fit her niche. Now that Melania has been added to the standard 6* pull she gains much more value. Most insanely powerful supports that come out usually have a preference toward reality dmg while poor Melania is mental. The only crazy good mental support we get for now is Vila and while plant and beast have neutral relation with one another (I think), Vila comes between Isodle, Marcus and Windsong, which are all very high value 6* units. Imo DF is an amazing 5* support that can do a bit of everything and has certainly boosted my beast team.
N4. Blonney. I know you guys are sick and tired of me pushing Blonney down your throat but hear me out on this one. She's one of the best Measure generators for Windsong. Specifically, Blonney with a full combo (s3-r2 Chainsow Massacre- Killer Bunny) can generate 4-6 Measure stacks (depends if it's aoe or single target), only beaten by Regulus which can generate 4-7 (she's a 6* however). Not only that but Blonney is incredibly easy to build for crit, deals great dmg and is reality while Windsong is mental, meaning if you pair them you can have the best of both words depending on the enemy. You can even give her Her Second Life for some extra sustain and her dmg won't be hindered significantly. While Blonney can be ap greedy, most endgame players use Tooth Fairy which is extremely ap positive and perfect for a dual dps comp. If you don't own TF, I'm sure it can still work, especially in 4 man content where star units usually excel.
N5. Yenisei. I know Yenisei is not released yet but she's next in line so might as well. Yenisei is an incredible defensive support. She's actually the only 5* to be ranked an S tier on tier lists. She can heal, decrease the enemy's dmg, shield and grant immunity, all that while being able to upgrade her own incantations. She's honestly amazing and a must pick in my opinion especially if you don't own Tooth Fairy. While she doesn't have any offensive utility other than the immunity I suppose, you cannot deal dmg if you're dead and Yenisei is definitely more than enough to sustain your team once you invest on her properly.
N7. Tennant. Tennant was a shiny gem (pun intended) when the game first released and while we have gotten and will be getting some much more insanely strong supports, she'll never be useless. As a sub dps- shielder a bit of a debuffer, she'll always be a place of any budget beast team or beast centric raid. And friendly reminder that while we are getting some pretty insane reality supports, you still need to actually pull for them to use them and unfortunately for us, they're all very close to one another. Point is, while she might not be the shiniest diamond in the pouch, she's still a great budget option and she can definitely be enough for your beast team if you're focusing on pulling those 6* insane supports for someone else. You need 2 teams afterall.
N7+8. This is a double entry because those units are much more niche but definitely excel at said niche and that is X and Horropedia. They're both amazing dispellers and they'll always be of use as long as an enemy butfs themselves. X is more cc based while Horropedia works greatly as a sub dps, especially for mental teams. While they both need their rank 2 incantations to properly do their job and Necrologist and her own dispel along with her insane dmg boost and revive is usually preferred, I still think they're worth investing into. X can be used in any team without type disadvantage and Horropedia.. actually does dmg while also helping the mental carry with his fear debuff.
Sweetheart mains will probably living their best life since beast reality dps units will be eating good for the next few patches but she doesn't really have a certain niche or crazy good synergy to mention.
Charlie and Bkorn are still great but they don't really have a certain new synergy I suppose. (Vila is great for Mental but plant and star counteract (I think)).
That concludes all the 5* I can recommend building, especially for new synergies. Let me know if you'll be trying any of these. Except Necrologist because I know 99% of people will be building her.