General News about the Sussex Family, Part Two: April-August 2020

[Eskimo]

I had previously posted that I read the first paragraph and had to stop.......but had I even bothered to read the title, I don't think I would have read further. I don't think social media needs to be redesigned, there's nothing wrong with it.Harry wants to get rid of negativity because he can't handle criticism. His need to control is really becoming ugly......

You hit the nail on the head. While Social Media has massive problems, the loudest voices speaking out against it is because they cannot handle people having an opinion that’s different from their own

 

[Osipi]

And in the name of "Stop Hate" in social media, why don't we start from this forum? They're just starting, so give them chance, they'll still in the "trial and error" stage.

This is exactly what we're following here. The "trial and error" period. More than most people, we keep up to date anything that concerns Harry and Meghan in their "new life" and the fun part is that the story is far from reaching the end.

We see the ups and the downs. We see the possible failures and foibles that could be grand mistakes. We see some real light shining through that reek of possibilities. We look at these things from all angles basically because its what we enjoy doing. The positives and the negatives and the ifs and the maybes and "I really don't know but suppose..." musings.

Most of all, we remember that they're human and not some magical, mystical luminaries on the stage of a Disney cruise.

 

[Denville]

Well, you do have a strong point. It would have been nice to see them going local, packing a few food boxes for homeless shelters, or delivering Meals on Wheels. Two projects I have been involved in, no brainers but makes me feel good. Everything they do doesn't have to make a big splash. But maybe they are working with locals and we just don't know. The Wessexes seem to have charity work in the bag as role models but then they work for the BRF. Not to sound too gloomy but if the Sussexes are getting their ducks in a row waiting to get noticed here they may have a long wait considering how badly things are going in the US with containing covid.

I think its unlikely, that they've been doing small scale work... I think that if they were, given that their few days with that charity quickly appeared on the net, a longer stint would have gottne some notice too. If they had chosen to spend this time, with Archie, that would be fine.. but the truth is that when/if Covid becomes less of a problem they are going to have to work hard to make ther living in a very harsh economy.. so maybe they should concentrate on that..
However I thik that from their POV they DO have to make a big splash becuase without publc notice how will they sell their brand

 

[Betsypaige]

You hit the nail on the head. While Social Media has massive problems, the loudest voices speaking out against it is because they cannot handle people having an opinion that’s different from their own

Which make me wonder why they’re on there in the first place. Yes, there are awful people on social media, but they aren’t nearly the majority; most people just go about doing their thing, not trying to hurt anyone. If Harry is so interested in doing something to help, maybe he should contribute in some way to a Jewish organization to try and stem anti-semitism (which is virulent). I don’t care how long ago it was, his dressing up as a Nazi was a deeply offensive and damaging act.

 

[poppy7]

I think more than anything the relationship of trust between Harry and Meghan and the public is smashed to pieces. Which makes every move they make fraught. Which means everything they do will be treated critically unless you are an uncritical fan. And it will take years to build that up again. I mean Charles has never really recovered post Diana. But he has done well.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I don't agree that the Sussexes are cherry picking which causes are "trendy" right now. When she was at high school Meghan called out racism within the school in her graduation speech, and being of African American heritage, she will naturally be more aware of the problems America and the rest of the world has with racism. In regards to their new Stop Hate campaign, we should all know that the Sussexes have been on the receiving end of trolling, as have many of their royal relatives, so it's understandable they would want to take action in a charitable manner to combat it.

They've come out in favor of groups that hate other ethnic groups.

If you think Black Lives Matter (who I presume you're referring to) "hates other ethnic groups" it's more of a problem with your thought process rather than them - we all know that every ethnicity is as important as each other, but right now, it's black lives that are the most at risk in America. This kind of language is inflammatory and generalises all supporters of the BLM movement.

 

[Osipi]

Which make me wonder why they’re on there in the first place. Yes, there are awful people on social media, but they aren’t nearly the majority; most people just go about doing their thing, not trying to hurt anyone. If Harry is so interested in doing something to help, maybe he should contribute in some way to a Jewish organization to try and stem anti-semitism (which is virulent). I don’t care how long ago it was, his dressing up as a Nazi was a deeply offensive and damaging act.

Online social media has opened the door for many, many people to adopt an alter ego online. When hiding behind a alias and a monitor or device screen, they found out they can be anyone they want to be and say things that they'd never dream of stating up front and personal to a person face to face. Back in 1990 when I started online, it was mostly local hobby message boards and the problem was mostly teenage boys that got their jollies from discovering they could cause trouble by using whatever "dirty" word they could dream up. I called them PSEGs (prepubescent sex ed graduates). I know of men in their 40s now that still believe that social media is the have all and be all of being whomever they want to be at the moment and they remind me of of those PSEGs so long ago.

Here on TRF, we have rules we accepted to follow by agreeing to the forum's terms of service. I don't actually use other social media much myself so I'm not familiar with their monitoring and enforcing "rules" like we have here with our moderators doing a marvelous job keeping us in line but I can imagine if a social media site has very limited rules and moderation, that alone opens the door to a flood of whatever someone wants to post, no matter the content, its unchecked.

To me, its actually kind of lame to support boycotting corporate advertising. What is more likely to succeed is to actively put the responsibility for content on the owners of the social media website, themselves. Hold them responsible for their content.

But this is just how I think. I don't have a concrete answer or a concrete solution and as I rarely use social media, most likely could be branded as not knowing what I'm even talking about.

BTW: My alter ego has a name. Its "Mrs. McNasty" and she comes out when I'm in a b****y mood. Never online at TRF though. I know better.

 

[Betsypaige]

I agree with everything you said here.

I’m really only on Twitter to converse with friends I’ve made on-line or to follow some sports accounts or to keep up with my favorite actor and actress; I don’t ever post about my life. You’re right, being anonymous allows people certain freedoms they don’t have in “real” life.

Trying to get people to boycott pretty much anything is a fruitless endeavor...you can’t organize enough people to truly make a difference, and frankly it’s often too much work. Boycotting advertising makes no sense - and people are not going to give up products made by their favored companies because some people on social media are horrid. Like you said, hold the owners of the sites responsible. I think people are already starting to do that, at least with Twitter.

 

[Osipi]

ITrying to get people to boycott pretty much anything is a fruitless endeavor...you can’t organize enough people to truly make a difference, and frankly it’s often too much work. Boycotting advertising makes no sense - and people are not going to give up products made by their favored companies because some people on social media are horrid. Like you said, hold the owners of the sites responsible. I think people are already starting to do that, at least with Twitter.

Well... with keeping in touch with family and friends with my Facebook account and its messenger, one thing I've discovered is that a lot of the advertising for products that I've actually bought from ads on Facebook have quite a long wait to be delivered. Why? They're shipped from China. Before everyone jumps on me for not "buying American", when the same tunic is sold and shipped from the US for $24.99 and the very same item is sold and shipped from China at $5.00, my wallet decides which company gets my business and I don't mind the wait.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen many ads from big corporations for their stuff on Facebook so I'm inclined to ask "where's the beef?"

 

[Eskimo]

Which make me wonder why they’re on there in the first place.Yes, there are awful people on social media, but they aren’t nearly the majority; most people just go about doing their thing, not trying to hurt anyone. If Harry is so interested in doing something to help, maybe he should contribute in some way to a Jewish organization to try and stem anti-semitism (which is virulent). I don’t care how long ago it was, his dressing up as a Nazi was a deeply offensive and damaging act.

Oh, they love social media. They want to use it to get their point across, but don’t you dare have anything but a fawning opinion of them — otherwise you’re a hater and a bad person. They are beginning to act like a certain orange buffoon

 

[Betsypaige]

Well... with keeping in touch with family and friends with my Facebook account and its messenger, one thing I've discovered is that a lot of the advertising for products that I've actually bought from ads on Facebook have quite a long wait to be delivered. Why? They're shipped from China. Before everyone jumps on me for not "buying American", when the same tunic is sold and shipped from the US for $24.99 and the very same item is sold and shipped from China at $5.00, my wallet decides which company gets my business and I don't mind the wait.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen many ads from big corporations for their stuff on Facebook so I'm inclined to ask "where's the beef?"

No one should ever jump on you for not buying American; this is a free country, you can buy from wherever you want to. My mother bought some stuff from China and received the last of these packages a few months ago. I admit that I was kind of worried because of COVID - but once it was apparent nothing was wrong, it never even occurred to me to think "why didn't she buy from USA".

I'm on FB ,but only because I used to use it as a place to chat as Twitter was hard to have real conversations. I almost never use it, so I can't speak about ads...except to say that I don't think it's as popular as it used to be. I've never even thought about social media and ads, to be honest.

Oh, they love social media. They want to use it to get their point across, but don’t you dare have anything but a fawning opinion of them — otherwise you’re a hater and a bad person. They are beginning to act like a certain orange buffoon

They have huge egos, let's face it. No one wants to be ill-thought of, but when you're in the public eye, you sometimes just can't win; someone, somewhere, will find fault with you even if you are good person. It's a terrible idea to read comments in the comments sections of articles or on social media or just to read articles about you, period. Lou Holtz, former coach of Notre Dame Football, once said:

“You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose.”

It's a brilliant statement. I think it's wise for athletes or anyone in the public eye not to read the newspapers or pay attention to the media. You'll either get a big head or you'll think you're the worst person in history. As an example, the quarterback of the Chicago Bears has had some terrible struggles, and people said the most vile things about him (on Twitter, which is where he was most present), but also there were negative articles, etc.. In order to maintain his sanity, he completely went off social media; he didn't read any articles, listen to sports radio, etc...... Meghan and Harry should do this, but I'm afraid that their need to hear good things said about them outweighs any concerns about negative things being said about them.

 

[Osipi]

No one should ever jump on you for not buying American; this is a free country, you can buy from wherever you want to. My mother bought some stuff from China and received the last of these packages a few months ago. I admit that I was kind of worried because of COVID - but once it was apparent nothing was wrong, it never even occurred to me to think "why didn't she buy from USA".

I'm on FB ,but only because I used to use it as a place to chat as Twitter was hard to have real conversations. I almost never use it, so I can't speak about ads...except to say that I don't think it's as popular as it used to be. I've never even thought about social media and ads, to be honest.

Reminds me of the first package I got in the mail that came from China after Covid-19 was becoming a reality and lock downs were commonplace. The item was encased in bubble wrap and as my dear, childish hubby loves popping bubble wrap, I couldn't resist telling him "I read online to be cautious with bubble wrap from China as it has Chinese air with possibly the virus in it". It was a gotcha kind of thing made up by me but when he actually started inspecting the bubble wrap for print where it came from, it was then I realized it wasn't so good of a gotcha moment and came clean.

I think too I've taken the same attitude with the Sussexes and their endeavors for a "new life". Not every move is a "gotcha" or a "failure" or seems to be exactly what we perceive it to be based on reports from third parties all the way around. We watch and we see what develops. The fun is being interested in the first place in something outside of ourselves. The question remains for all of us. "Will they sink or swim". ?

 

[yukari]

They have huge egos, let's face it. No one wants to be ill-thought of, but when you're in the public eye, you sometimes just can't win; someone, somewhere, will find fault with you even if you are good person. It's a terrible idea to read comments in the comments sections of articles or on social media or just to read articles about you, period. Lou Holtz, former coach of Notre Dame Football, once said:

“You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose.”

It's a brilliant statement. I think it's wise for athletes or anyone in the public eye not to read the newspapers or pay attention to the media. You'll either get a big head or you'll think you're the worst person in history. As an example, the quarterback of the Chicago Bears has had some terrible struggles, and people said the most vile things about him (on Twitter, which is where he was most present), but also there were negative articles, etc.. In order to maintain his sanity, he completely went off social media; he didn't read any articles, listen to sports radio, etc...... Meghan and Harry should do this, but I'm afraid that their need to hear good things said about them outweighs any concerns about negative things being said about them.

Your comment makes me remember back then in 2016 when the trio launched Head Together, they each wrote down what makes them happy. William wrote: “my children”. Kate wrote: “a walk”. Harry wrote: “making people smile”.

Harry’s is endearing, but it also implies that his happiness depends on other people's feeling. It's impossible to make everyone smile/happy (for he wrote "people" in general), and perhaps that's why other people's comments about him (even strangers) affect him too much and he's also care too much about it.

 

[Betsypaige]

Reminds me of the first package I got in the mail that came from China after Covid-19 was becoming a reality and lock downs were commonplace. The item was encased in bubble wrap and as my dear, childish hubby loves popping bubble wrap, I couldn't resist telling him "I read online to be cautious with bubble wrap from China as it has Chinese air with possibly the virus in it". It was a gotcha kind of thing made up by me but when he actually started inspecting the bubble wrap for print where it came from, it was then I realized it wasn't so good of a gotcha moment and came clean.

I think too I've taken the same attitude with the Sussexes and their endeavors for a "new life". Not every move is a "gotcha" or a "failure" or seems to be exactly what we perceive it to be based on reports from third parties all the way around. We watch and we see what develops. The fun is being interested in the first place in something outside of ourselves. The question remains for all of us. "Will they sink or swim". ?

I LOVE popping the bubble wrap, too, lol.... and, I might have fallen for that as I tend to be gullible.

It's funny, but when I'm not on these boards, I don't think that much (if at all) about Meghan and Harry. As long as they keep saying and doing foolish things, I'll be critical - but I'm not rooting for them to keep putting their feet in their mouths. I would love it if there could be a reconciliation at some point; it's not a pleasing thing to see a family divided.

Your comment makes me remember back then in 2016 when the trio launched Head Together, they each wrote down what makes them happy. William wrote: “my children”. Kate wrote: “a walk”. Harry wrote: “making people smile”.

Harry’s is endearing, but it also implies that his happiness depends on other people's feeling. It's impossible to make everyone smile/happy (for he wrote "people" in general), and perhaps that's why other people's comments about him (even strangers) affect him too much and he's also care too much about it.

Oh, that's very interesting......I think you're right. It might be part of his personality, but I wonder if being the "spare" made him subconsciously seek out attention that he wouldn't have gotten otherwise as being in the shadow of his brother, the future king.

I don't recall reading about Harry being so concerned about public opinion, reading comments, scanning social media, etc.. before Meghan. Maybe he did and we just didn't know it, but I do wonder.....

 

[JessRulz]

Several posts that have little to do with the thread topic have been removed.

On that note, it is also time for a new thread:

https://www.theroyalforums.com/foru...rt-three-august-2020-a-47772.html#post2333366