AIBU to be annoyed by these people on my local Facebook page?

[FacebookLocals]

Euguughhhh - they drive me nuts. I know I could leave but the group is 50% useful stuff (we have an A-road on our morning commute that is frequently closed due to accidents and the page always knows first, that kind of thing) and 50% utter shite. Does anyone else have these kinds of people or do I just live in a bonkers place?!

1. One woman has set up her own cleaning company with her daughter (good for them - this is something I think is great). What irritates me is that, even though it's the two of them and no one else, they keep posting adverts that say people should use them because "unlike other cleaning companies", they pay their staff a "fair wage"... but they are their staff. I've never had a cleaner but my understanding is that you either go through an agency (where you pay a higher amount and the cleaner themselves get about minimum wage) and you get security that they'll find someone else if your usual cleaner is sick/holiday/maternity/whatever and they have solid insurance and that kind of thing, or you go direct to a self-employed person (you pay slightly less but the cleaner gets it all - after their costs) but there's less security (i.e. if they're sick then they're sick and won't be coming). This cleaner is trying to portray the best of both for herself... Just annoys me to try and claim some kind of moral highground when they don't have one.
2. The people who post completely irrelevant, chain-mail jokes - usually pretty sexist ones about women being unable to drive... They aren't relevant to the group (and they aren't funny) - if you can't control yourself, just share them on your personal Facebook page.
3. The people who see blatant vandalism or theft and go "oh, get a life" or "we were all young once", "I bet you ain't perfect". Like, you know, I'm a fully grown up adult and I've never once set an abandoned building on fire, egged anyone or left upturned trolleys all over a road. On top of that, as a grown fucking adult, I have the brain capacity to realise that setting things on fire and blocking emergency vehicles could do serious harm (even if that's not in the minds of those teens when they did it). On top of that, I know full well that when people my age (back when I was a teen) did anything like this, every decent adult would've obliterated them for being little shits... so, if teens are always going to do stupid things, when did adults stop doing their part of the routine?! Lo and behold, when the vandalising abandoned buildings turned into abandoning their business or when doing stupid thing turns into threatening them, they completely fail to recognise that they allowed that to progress by excusing the poor behaviour when it started.
4. Parents bitching about the local school's "ridiculous" behaviour policy where their child was sent to the isolation room for politely asking if they're allowed to breathe or for raising their hand to point out a stray puppy was on fire. Like, no, your kid can't behave and it's embarrassing that you can't see you're being lied to.
5. The people who refuse to answer questions that are asked. Things like one bloke asking if there are any recommendations for local garages and the first comment is "I don't have a car so I can't help, sorry"... like, why comment?! I once asked for recommendations for childcare - either a nursery or a childminder - and all but one comment was people saying to make sure the childminder has a DBS check. Like, ok, I'm not an idiot, that's not what I asked.
6. Non-stop incorrect legal advice at every turn - "you can't do that, it's a violation of GDPR", "tell them to press charges", "I'll go over there and make a citizens arrest". I just can't take any more of it!
7. People asking questions that are literally on Google - "does anyone know what time Tesco closes?" (not on Christmas or things where Google might not be accurate), "what's the phone number for the GP surgery?", "is it an inset day at the school today?" (cue 19847 different comments about the five potential schools that could be being asked about, none of which have an inset day and all of which have their calendars on their websites).

I just wonder if people were always like this and had different outlets (I don't really remember a time before Facebook) or are people getting weirder? Or is this just my local page and everyone is normal where you are?

I know it's gone midnight, this is slightly lighthearted...

Yes to the posts about gangs “marking” houses for burglary. It’s normally some grainy ring doorbell footage of someone clearly littering, but the OP is now sure their house is marked.

Everyone - watch out for an organised gang of criminals scanning the pavements in our city of 500k inhabitants- if they spot a disposable vape outside your house then you’re definitely going to be targeted.

People acting suspiciously 😂😂 do some of those people happen to be driving white vans trying to steal dogs or follow young girls around trying to abduct them? Or is it just my area that these sorts of rumours get recycled every few years?

i find some of them so annoying with their anti house building, anti road using posts

oh and the sun comes out and they post about seeing someone shock horror walking a dog!

People are idiots. The average person used to fill their time reading books or watching the news or a documentary. Now people just trawl through Facebook reading utter drivel and it ruins what few brain cells they had in the first place.

I'm on a few different groups (our town and neighbouring one where dc1 goes to school) and the difference between them is stark.

Town a:

• I have a surplus of veg from the allotment, please stop by and help yourself
• can you recommend a divorce solicitor
• thank you to the lovely teenagers who returned my purse to me, etc

Town b:

• Strange man lurking around the train station
• Photo of sex toy at the local tip, tagging on friends to ask if they'd meant to throw it out
• massive arguments between parents from the two local schools blaming each other for the Town going down hill
• lots of 'they're kids, let them have fun' type posts

This made me laugh 😂😂

I have left the village I grew up in many years ago but am on their FB page. It’s a v twee village that likes to think it’s posh. The posts are mainly:

1. Trying to stop planning permission. The sheer horror that the council cannot see that the village is special, and would be ruined by a new estate dumped on their doorstep and what about their house prices? They will surely be affected. These people are so clueless about the housing crisis or really couldn’t care less about their fellow man or even their own kids, trying to buy when prices are skyrocketing. The ‘we’re special, we don’t deserve a crappy estate’ and the ‘it will plummet our house prices’ comments are made without any self awareness at all. It’s breathtaking!
2. then there’s the ‘there seems to be an issue with dog mess in the top left corner of the playing fields. I’ve noticed three in the last fortnight. Could someone please call the council? I live in the same council area. We have potholes as big as mine shafts. Believe me the council have got bigger things on their hands!
3. the obligatory lost dog. The same person laughingly saying ‘oh he’s escaped again’. Everyone thinking but no one saying ‘fix your f’ing fence then’. Who the hell wants a random dog roaming their area? Put it on a bloody lead.

Sorry, that’s usually my cat - he’s a tart

Also the super grainy footage of someone acting suspiciously, "does anyone know who this is" it's a grey blob of a person Mike no one can identify them.

I get great joy in replying to the stupid posts when I'm in a bit of a bad mood. We had a man going on and on about dog poo everyday a picture of a dog shit with its mapped location appeared appealing for multiple dog owners to go pick their dogs shit up. I replied telling Frank that the kind of of people that just leave their dog mess on the floor are not people who will care if it is posted on Facebook and return to pick it up. He started ranting about a certain ethnicity of people who are letting their dogs shit everywhere, age old trope about stopping the boats so now he's been dubbed shithouse Frank the racist.....such fun.

My dog escaped once at my parents house. I think he did make the local page but he's chipped so the vets called me.
My local Facebook is full of 'seen large grey dog running scared through town. Couldn't catch'. Everyone tagging anyone with that dog colour.

Often the same dog that seems to permanently get out.
The most excitement was when one was on the tun for about a week with constant spotted posts. It did get caught in the end. I ended up checking constantly to see where the dog was and if it has been found.

Soft play centres
Motorway services
Hospital waiting rooms
….and local Facebook groups all serve as stark reminders of how people are outside of our cosy echo chambers. I’m very aware I sound like a right snob…

It's something about Facebook. It brings out the absolute loonies. The people I meet day to day in real life in our village are all perfectly nice and normal but the Facebook page is nothing but weird minion memes, old people asking if anyone remembers their auntie Deborah who visited the village for two weeks in the summer of 1949 and had a lovely holiday, inane questions, petty complaints and sexist jokes.

Mine has people begging for money all the time. Always posted as 'anonymous' and almost invariably say they need cash for food as they haven't eaten for a week, or for baby formula or nappies. Honestly it's so obviously a scam, there are soooo many places that provide all these things (no need for a referral etc) in Bristol.

They're clearly using the money for drink or drugs which I don't judge (so long as they don't have their kids in their care at the time) but this is multiple posts a day, with increasingly tragic sob stories. I gave a few times initially but never again!

Y2ker yes! Two different towns here too. Such a difference.

Actually, I'm on three town groups, one of the others is as grotty, bit dim and boy racer as mine, the other is nice.

The number of times I’ve been scrolling first thing and seen a photo of actual dog shit with ‘whoever left this outside my house better come and pick it up asap’

I feel like commenting saying ‘the lazy bastard left it when they were stood right next to it.. what makes you think they’re coming back now’ 🙄

But alas I stay because they’re always the first ones to know about issues on the roads

Ours has a man constantly campaigning that the town should open an Ann Summers. We live in quite a small town that only has one clothes shop, a few charity shops and an Aldi, so funnily enough I doubt it’s top of the billing of where to open an Ann Summers. But he brings it up alll the time. This man also has a child at my child’s school so I have to see his face every morning and I always wonder what it is that he so desperately wants to buy in Ann Summers that he couldn’t order off the internet

We've been having a cyclepath built in our area so it's been non-stop rants and all out cyclist v motorists fights.

One very keen cyclist is an incredibly smug, annoying git always exhorting people to get on their bikes. Mate, my office is a 40 miles round trip, I'm not cycling there.

Fireworks are another biggie and drones apparently spying on people in their gardens.

Would be comedian men are rife too. Sadly, they seem to be universal with their "hilarious" quips.

And any middle aged woman who dares to have an opinion about anything is obviously a "Karen". Misogynistic little bellends.

That said. I do often find it amusing!

I have never been on my local Facebook page (assuming there is one). I imagine it's full of busy bodies with nothing to do, except fuss about the neighbours.
Use Google Maps for traffic jams - it's very accurate.

I live in a lovely market town that attracts many tourists. The council are poor but we have a lovely regeneration going on which will look so much better than the concrete block that was there but oh boy the moaning. The council literally can't do anything right. A shop was let to a lovely clothes shop but oh because it wasn't (another) charity shop this is terrible because what about the poor folk. It's full of miserable nut jobs!

Hahaha @FacebookLocals the GDPR point is so true - as a lawyer data protection is one of my specialisms. I don't even bother engaging with those kinds of posts now because I can't be arsed trying to explain why GDPR doesn't apply in so many situations the OP claims it does!

Ours often contains lots of missing cats posts, then rants about the number of missing cats posts, and the occasional sad 'found a deceased cats post, despite there being an actual separate group for lost pets. 🫣

We have a couple of conspiracy loons on ours, pics of ‘chemtrails’, covid bollocks and some nonsense about how chemo is designed to kill people - they usually get told to fuck off

My local one is literally shit….dog shit! I’m sure they take turns to take pics every single morning! Not what you want to see at 6.30am whilst having a cuppa and eating Nutella on toast!