The Rantings of a Facebook Admin

And other such drivel

Calm down people, this is volunteer work!

Actually, it’s not so much a rant, just offering some clarity and context. Some babbling will be involved. Let’s find out more together.

If you aren’t already aware, I’m Eric. I am the founder and admin of The Laughing Librarian and The Laughing Librarian UnModerated groups on Facebook. I also run TLL accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. And the website thing.

I do want to elaborate on the difference between the two Facebook groups. They do have their differences, and there has been some confusion identifying the two. To put it simply:

The UnModerated group was created for those who like to get spicy. It allows raising a little hell without an admin monitoring everyone’s actions. It is an alternative to the larger group for those who feel the larger group is more restrictive to them. It’s a little like the trailer park next to the HOA for lack of better and more convenient terminology. And it’s not safe for an office environment, so you might want to avoid that one at work.

I really have no gripes as a group admin (okay, some), but that’s neither here nor there. It’s a labor of love. The main group, the larger group, takes more attention and is tightly monitored. Posts require manual approval. People will complain of duplicates or trash posts and the like. This is especially true when ten people try to post the same meme in as many hours. Half of the submissions either have no humor whatsoever or are political spam or are completely irrelevant to the group. Sorry folks, but they don’t all make it in. If I’m being honest, some of you have some real problems. Please seek help.

Moderation and answering complaints are always fun to take up some more spare time. The answer is usually a simple “42.” I move on—it’s simpler that way. Many in the main Laughing Librarian group are wonderful people, shining light wherever they go. Some can be in a bad mood sometimes. Sometimes, people are just assholes and I have no problem removing them. It happens. There are those who will tear down others to feel uplifted and I will give them the boot without hesitation (it’s like an unfollow, but in reverse).

There are also those who make the group a shear delight. Several members have a knack for coming up with one clever zinger comment after another. They often do this within moments of a post popping up on the feed. I look ahead to these one-liners with zeal when moderating. In their own neutral way, the words show a deep-rooted knowledge of almost everything. They mash up genres tied into topical tongue twisters.

I admit it, I’m impressed.

These members and many others are willing to rise above negativity. They do so when toxic negativity appears in the threads. Like a turtle floating through the heavens, they stay clear of the noise. They avoid politics when political venom temporarily pops up. They inject positivism into the group and lift others. It’s the little things that keep an admin going some days. Thank you folks for being you.

I can’t be sure this was a true rant. They were certainly words, put together in some semblance of order and rationality, and there were many of them. Some of the sentences seemed somewhat rant-like, certainly, but there is some obvious work to be done on my ranting. We’ll get there.

But not today.

In our next rant, perhaps we’ll have some fun with the threads.

Until next time!

-Eric

The Laughing Librarian

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