Gin-nita

Let's try this thing again, Twitter

[Brent Lindeque @BrentLindeque]

I feel like we are living in some alternate reality.

Okay, so I don’t actually believe that… but the news about Meta charging for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is utterly bizarre.

We need to take a step back.

In Varsity, I learnt a term called TANSTAAFL (there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch). We pay for everything, in one way or another.

The other thing we were taught in Marketing 101 is if something feels like it’s “free” for you, then you are the product.

Facebook’s business model is primarily driven by advertising revenue. By using the platform, we share data about our behaviours, interests and interactions. That data enables the platform to offer advertisers precise targeting, making the advertising space more valuable. Our attention and engagement are what’s monetised.

We are the product.

Now that we’re all on the same page… then riddle me this: If we are the product and have been for 22 years, on what planet do you then make the product pay… to be the product?

Do you see where I am going with this?

Well, Meta believes this is a great business model. And so, last night they launched “Meta One”.

For a few Ronds per month, we will have the “honour” of subscribing to Instagram Plus (R65/mo), Facebook Plus (R65/mo), or WhatsApp Plus (R49/mo), which will gain us access to extra features… like profile customisation, super reactions and story insights, “among other things”.

Will the standard versions still be available? Yes and no. I am guessing that since they are now charging, the standard versions will be filled with even more advertising and less of the stuff we choose to follow. That is just a guess. But I’m pretty sure that’s how it will go.

For “creators” and businesses, you will now need to pay over R800 a month to be featured in the Facebook feed, appear higher in Facebook and Instagram search results, gain attention with a bold “Follow” button on Reels and automatically send “follow” invitations to people who engage with your content.

Ja, it's happening.

Social media was built on the idea of connection. We gave these platforms our photos, our memories, our milestones, our opinions, our attention and, most importantly, our time. For more than two decades, billions of people helped turn Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp into some of the most powerful companies on Earth.

We did it, in my mind, because we believed the exchange made sense.

You get our data.
We get the platform.

But now the same companies that built empires off our engagement are looking at us and saying, “Actually… could you pay us as well?”

There was a story on TikTok a while ago where a woman shared how she bought a printer, and the ink, and the paper, and one day it stopped working and wouldn’t let her print until she paid her subscription fee. There was another person who shared a story about how their garage door stopped opening, as they needed to pay their subscription fee. I am not joking.

It seems everything is going this way. Even our social media.

I don’t know where I’m going with this. I guess just sharing this bizarre info.

And most probably off to pay my subscription.

That's it. Hope you see this.

Okay. Love you. Bye.

[Veve @LudidiVelani]

Cape Town’s criminals are brazen. This is the letter allegedly being circulated to business owners in Atlantis by extortionists. The complete disregard for human life is alarming. The state must assert its authority, this cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.

[Tau e Tshehadi @D_Molatoli]

I had relatives in Cape Town who pretended to be Coloured all their lives and the parents kept it as a dark secret from the kids that they were Africans. It was my dad's aunt, my grandmother's younger sister and her husband. They moved there in the 50's. They came from the Free State and obviously could speak Afrikaans. The advantage for them was also that they were light in complexion.

Oupa worked for Trasnet Railways and took a job in CT. When they got there, he realized that Coloured people had better living conditions and were paid better salaries. He so maar changed their surname, from Sebolai to Bolly. 😊 They got a house in Elsies River. He managed to pull the whole thing off somehow.

Now, my dad was a priest, 'n Predekant in the former Dutch Reformed Church or NG Kerk. Also trained in Afrikaans at College, he and my mom and the rest of the uncles and aunts who were teachers, spoke fluent Afrikaans. So they used to visit the Bolly's for holidays and just played along. 🤷🏽‍♀️

My mom used to tell me crazy stories of how whenever they went to visit, the first day they arrive, the ladies would be locked in the bedroom and have their hair relaxed with hot stone and wore their doeks tied under the chin like Muslim or Coloured women did. The kids were not supposed to get even a slight hint that they were Africans. My dad was their favorite because our church was Dr. Alan Boesak's church, so they could boast that their Oom Solly is ook 'n predekant van NG Kerk. 😅

Now when I went to study in Cape Town, a young 18 year old, my dad asked them to look after me especially since my mom had just died. They were the ones who took me to the airport when my my mom died. So shem they loved me so much, but had subtle racist tendencies, especially their kids, who were much older than me. They were racist but, sadly, were dark skinned, darker than their parents, even darker than me. I used to look at them giving me attitude and I would get so bored and just think "mxm you, only if you knew." 🙄 The eldest son looked exactly like my dad, but he was darker.

Whenever Oupa and Ouma came to fetch me from Res at Fuller Hall for Sunday lunch, once a quarter or so, they would be so nervous and walk on egg shells because firstly, I wore my hair short, always did till today, and I refused to speak Afrikaans, I didn't know it that well anyway, so I spoke to them in English or Sesotho. My poor grandmother would say "at least your hair is nice and short, please don't do braids like girls from Gugulethu and Nyanga". 😭😅 We spoke Sesotho in the car and switched as soon as we got home. When we get home, before we eat, the two of them will take me to the bedroom and pray in hush voices in Sesotho. I always found it funny and sad. 😅

Then I would be pampered with roast chicken, potatoes, seven colours, take some back to res, with rusks, sister cookies. My friends knew that whenever I went to Elsies, I came back with all kinds of goodies.

They have since passed on. Their kids, we lost contact with them. They are probably old or it's the younger generation that is left. Wherever they are, they don't know their real background and chances are that they continue to think they are better than Africans because that's how they were taught.😏

I just remembered this experience when I watched the Adhoc Committee appearance of Hon. Fadiel Adams and his interaction with Hon. Sauls.

[GT Mabuza @Lord_GT15]

Fraud got worse after RICA.

Spam calls got worse after POPIA.

Just saying.

[Music Encyclopedia @blackguymfwethu]

We used to be a country 😭

[Earth @earthcurated]

War is stupid.

[Tumi Sole @tumisole]

Please let’s continue taking those vids and pics wherever there’s injustice or a crime!

It is evidence & also puts pressure on the SAPS & NPA to do their work!

We’re the journalists now!

Criminals need to know that they can’t hide anymore.

We’re all on #CountryDuty 🇿🇦

[Today Years Old @todayyearsold]

Today I learned that pockets in dresses were phased out so women could prove they were not witches and carrying ill intentions and spells. This is why women love pockets in skirts and dresses now. We carry our spells and curses without purses and you won't see us coming.

[MyBroadband @mybroadband]

Several listings for Samsung Galaxy smartphones on Takealot lack notices that they are parallel or grey imports with no local warranty support.

https://t.co/TSMnpnMtWB

[Miyandy @Amahashi_]

A company fraudulently filed with SARS claiming they paid me a salary for a year, even though I’ve never worked for them. I reported it SARS, attached all documents on their website including an affidavit. Still Nothing and now I owe SARS. Please help. Nigeria Benin

[Lady_L_ @Lee_Raa_Tuu]

Taxi drivers (SANTACO members) are saying that South Africans are not allowed to have more than one passenger in their cars. It doesn’t matter if it’s your kids, family, friends, or colleagues, if they catch you with more than one person in your car, they could damage it, crash it in public, or even burn it.

They’re basically saying: your kids must use taxis to get to school, not your own car and your family should also use taxis for personal trips instead of your car.

[zak @zakareeee]

WHO returns??

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Building a tunnel under a highway in one weekend

[📹 Rijkswaterstaat]
[📍 The Netherlands]

[kira 👾 @kirawontmiss]

LMAOOO this headline is hilarious

[Ryan Cummings @Pol_Sec_Analyst]

So on the issue of the Libyan nationals who were found at a military camp in Mpumalanga province, I decided to see if I could source information from Libyan media on the development. And came across some very interesting information (Thread)

[Yusuf Abramjee @Abramjee]

IEC paid Joburg printing company R546m for faulty voter management devices that delayed voting https://t.co/kghySI3Oya

[Clara @colormeloverly]

sorry to be a boomer about this but i hate how we have to download an app for everything now. we used to have websites.

[Restoring Your Faith in Humanity @HumanityChad]

Let’s make her famous, she deserves that 🥹❤️