Image used with permission by copyright holderTrolling generally carries with it a rather negative connotation, but one man is single-handedly doing a pretty decent job of turning this bad rap around. After Target became the brunt of a number of rather ignorant attacks for its decision to move towards gender-neutral labeling of its toy products (apparently, gender equality is an unforgivable sin when it comes to children’s retail), Facebook user Facebook user Mike Melgaard decided he had enough. In a decidedly hilarious (though potentially compromising) move, Melgaard created a counterfeit Target Facebook profile, in which he used the Target logo and pretended to be a member of its customer service team. He then took matters into his own hands, and said what a lot of us wanted to (but didn’t or couldn’t) say.
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Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
For nearly a full day, Melgaard managed to address the concerns of disgruntled customers with the same level of absurdity shown in their complaints. He managed to engage some 50 users before finally getting shut down after a 16-hour stint. Speaking with AdFreak, Melgaard admitted that he pulled the stunt mostly for his own amusement. “I definitely side with Target and support their decision wholeheartedly,” he said. “That being said, this was, for me, more about the laughs. I absolutely love satirical humor, and I think America could use a little more laughter.”
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In a statement of its own, Target spokeswoman Angie Thompson told USA Today, “At Target, we are committed to providing outstanding guest service to our guests wherever we engage with them — in our stores, online, or on social media. Clearly this individual was not speaking on behalf of Target.” But still, it doesn’t seem as though the retail giant is too upset with Melgaard anyway. After all, how can you get mad at someone who responds to a comment reading, “[My family] will no longer shop and support your PC transgender store,” with, “Kevin, there’s no real nice way to put this, so we at Target will just say it: You’re a real dick.”
You know we were all thinking it.
For more hilarity, see the full glory of Melgaard’s postings here.
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.
Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account on any device
Wanting to get out of the YouTube business? If you want to delete your YouTube account, all you need to do is go to your YouTube Studio page, go to the Advanced Settings, and follow the section that will guide you to permanently delete your account. If you need help with these steps, or want to do so on a platform that isn't your computer, you can follow the steps below.
Note that the following steps will delete your YouTube channel, not your associated Google account.
Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.
