Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for December 06, 2021

Rat, you can always count how many likes you got to make yourself feel better.

In your Facebook, Rat!

If Bob quitted, who did you eviscerate?

Can’t do that to me, Rat, because I never had a Twitter account.

It turns out that about 70% (I made up that number) of people who quit the social media feel better. Because, it seems, people compare themselves (seen with their jaundiced inward eye) to the image of their “friends” as the show themselves. Not unlike the “Family Christmas card syndrome”. That leaves the other (30%?) who use the media in a way that increases their happiness. Seems like a lot of us could stand to … stand back. And probably the rest are already not locked to the screen all day.

You couldn’t Zuck him in.

Is this a reference to a 2018-2019 strip?

Sometimes the internet apears like a world nobody really needs.

Bob might have a good idea!

So Rat’s been tweeting to his impostor?

I would never post anything on the internet.

Sounds like a local FB buy and sell group I signed onto and left after one of the key moderators was using it to carry his trigger the libs agenda. Not even any reasoned arguments but memes and mockery. Not worth the zeros and ones that made it.

I love it!

I only wish I had ever been on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram…so I could boycott them!

Facebook ? What’s this Facebook thing ?

Does Neighbor Bob have dreams of golf or music?

Social media = social disease

Rat uses social media to bully people and then talks about “fair”?! :D

Being on social media or not is not what determines my happiness, so I can’t say that I’ve been happy since quitting Facebook in 2018, but I have become much more productive. I now have time to post a lot more comments on GoComics.

I’m not quite ready to be that happy, tempting as it is.

What is this ‘social media’ of which you speak??

Bob has it nailed.

Now – if only this website would eliminate the comments section. Or make it visible only for paid subscriptions. OR – made it possible to hide comments for paid subscriptions. Then no one would have to see my comments! :-)

Things used to be so much simpler when there wasn’t any social media to bring us down.

Email is always trying to subscribe to political blogs (both sides by the way) I delete them as soon as I see them!

I use Facebook to keep track of all my far strung friend whom I haven’t seen in years but still like them and am interested how life is treating them!

Go Comics and Comics Kingdom are how I start my day on-line with laughs. Then it’s check the e-mail and that’s pretty much it for me. Too much else to do than social media.

Every now and then, I believe that I can see into the future. I looked at “social media” way back when and decided it was tar pit.

It works both ways; I can leave a comment on here but not look at the replies. Bliss…

Next step, stop watching the news. Youll be elated. Dont worry the important stuff manages to get to ya.

I agree with Neighbor Bob!

Gave up FB and never missed it!

GC are the only “social media” I’m on….

Happy happy happy

I beat Bob. I’ve never social media’d at all. Years ago, when it was new, I looked in on Facebook and decided, NOPE don’t need any of that!

I’m even more happy because I never started. Someone said “Facebook is the Tool of the Devil” and while too lazy to look it up, I agree.

Neighbor Bob playing 3D chess. Checkmate, Rat!

Bob’s been very happy ever since he got fired from that job at Microsoft

I’m not usually on Neighbor Bob’s side, but…

But, I get all these likes.

May not be the key to happiness but it is one way to reduce stress…..

News flash. People read Pearls online :)

Never have I joined facebook or twitter, and I have watched in bewilderment for the last 15 years as people seem to derive their self-worth from social media cred. It seems to be nothing more than a very insidious drug luring the masses with the siren song of likes.

…I’ll check back later to see how many likes this comment gets…

I think it’s some kind of zen thing; if you post an insult on social media but the target never sees it, does it make an impact?

I’m not glued to my screen all day, but our small town has a very large group of closely-knit people who honestly care about each other, and rally around anyone burned out, or who is very ill, etc. It’s quite nice.

I don’t think I use Facebook the way most do. I get alerts from family members, photos mostly, and I enjoy that. I’ll check marketplace from time to time as i like to buy and sell. Otherwise I don’t hang around. There’s plenty of other, better information sources.

Interesting that (it seems) people think of FB as an all or nothing sort of venue. Perhaps that is just FB hype.

I use it sparingly. Don’t take it seriously.

I have no “social media” presence. “Social Media” is not “social” and is not “media”. I have plenty of interesting things to do that actually involve other human beings and don’t involve a keyboard. When I want to communicate with someone, I do the radical thing – I call them – or (gasp) visit them. Anyone facing a monitor and using a keyboard and feels like they are being “social” is welcome to that and any other confused thinking they wish to have. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Whatsup, no crap tunnels of advertising blitzes coming my way. Happy :-)

I took a year break from Facebook. Sure didn’t miss it.

Me too. Facebook too.

I have no social media presence. “Social Media” is neither “social” nor “media”. I have a very full life without the ridiculous blizzard of advertising.

If I want to communicate with someone, I (gasp) call them. With close friends, texting is fun. Otherwise, no Facebook, Instagram, Whatsup or other ridiculous tunnel for marketing bombardment or trolling idiocy. For those that enjoy, be happy! For those that don’t, be unhappy! Matters none to me either way.

Todd Snider says it best about “Statistics”.. See: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155453871177623

I quit Facebook when it became obvious who the Republican nominee would be in 2016. I don’t miss it one bit.

I find your statistics to be spot on. :3

Happiness is a choice.

Got along fine without social media posts before, maybe it’s time we dropped Twitter etc. entirely again.

What’s this, then? A Neighbor Bob wins one over Rat?!

YAY for Neighbor Bob! —Smartest Neighbor Bob in a long, log time!

Unfortunately rat’s outlook is, or appears to be, that of at least a large minority of (anti) social media users.Although I does do SOME good I believe the world would be a much better place if all the various types disappeared completely, and retrospectively

Whoah… that’s genius!

I have better things to do than have my self-esteem ripped to shreds because some people lie better than I do. Trimming my nose hair, for instance.