Think not twice, but five times before you post anything of yourself on the internet, especially if it's of a certain "delicate or salacious" nature.
This isn't the twentieth century anymore, when you could just burn a poorly thought out photo.
The internet means it all lives forever.
Be ready.
Redditor BrixtonsFinest2 wanted to hear from everyone out there who has been witness to seeing their online and private lives collide by asking:
"People who post NSFW content: Has anyone from your real life ever found out? What happened?"
Whateves...
"I once accidentally sent to a friend with the same name as an ex. After explaining the mistake he asked if he could have more. I ended up sending a few more. It weirdly never became sexual between us. He was just like thank you and we moved on lol."
justapples95
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Mark of the Beast
"A customer got pissed off at me and posted my video to a bunch of porn sites once. A friend who knew what I did found the video and let me know so that I could get it taken down. Interestingly, I've never had sex with this friend before, but I've taken my clothes off around him enough that he was able to recognize a birthmark that I have."
"Even though I wasn't showing my face. Another funny part of this is that before telling me that he'd found my video, he spent a minute explaining why he had searched stuff that led him to finding the video (the video was kinda kinky and taboo)."
Minaowl
OMG!
"One of the lawyers at my previous job sent me something by mistake. It was only a 'lewd', what she was wearing was lace and you can kind of see through it but nothing too revealing."
"I sent her a text back saying 'Uh, don't be embarrassed, but I don't think you meant to send this to me.' She replied back 'OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY!!!' Told her not to worry about it."
"Then she texted 'do you at least think my boyfriend will like it?' with a bunch of cry-laughing emoji's. I replied 'He'd be pretty dumb if he didn't!' Then I deleted the convo. We never mentioned it again afterwards."
bangersnmash13
FB Issues
"I used to have an alternate Facebook account and was in private groups with 'T&A' posts. (Tits and A**). I used to post a lot of pictures on there (super insecure and lonely part of my life where validation from internet strangers was everything) and some guy found my real account and found my dads account."
"He sent them all to him. But unbeknownst to him, I was the one who set up my dad's Facebook account so I just logged into it and deleted the messages before he saw them."
SadGirlPancake
The Ponies
"Well, since I don't plan to run for office I guess I can finally tell this story. More than 20 years ago I appeared on a North American cable TV show that was discussing "interesting" sexual behaviours: this episode was about BDSM Pony Play. [ note: if you don't know what Pony Play is then have fun finding out from someone other than me, and no I don't do any BDSM stuff any more I am a much different person now. :)"
"I was wearing my Gear, my voice was muffled a bit, totally covered except for my eyes. There was nothing explicit shown on the show, but still it's odd/entertaining to explain Pony Play to regular people. Show finally airs, months and months later, on a Saturday late-night slot. ONE GUY at work saw that show when it aired."
"Guy comes up to me on Monday morning."
"So have you ever seen [name of show]"
"No I don't stay up that late."
"It sure looked like you were on that show the other night"
"Couldn't tell you, I don't watch it."
"Pretty sure I saw you on your knees dressed up like a horse."
"The only time you'll see me on my knees is in the Server room trying to fix the Oracle server, bud."
"Other than that there was no fall-out, personally or professionally. All in all I'd give it a rating of 6/10 would probably not do again."
m_Pony
I don't know who has more moxie, the people posting or the people who confront the posters. Like, if I found my Christian neighbors engaging in less than Godlike activities while searching for bananas on the web I would be too flabbergasted and embarrassed—for them—to bring it up. Even if I was carrying a grudge against them I'd rather stay quiet. I have enough drama, I don't need to understand theirs.
Let's Swap
"Several years ago, I described a fairly NSFW situation that took place—appropriately enough—at my job. Someone who used to work at the same place (and who had been present for the event in question) read my account, recognized the details, and reached out to me, intent on confirming that we knew each other. We wound up swapping a few messages, then wishing one another well. It was pretty dull, actually... but we both had a good laugh about the situation."
RamsesThePigeon
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That Pic
"Accidentally sent a penis pic to a good female friend of mine that had the same name of the chick I was dating. She asked what the hell I was doing I told her it was a mistake and asked her to delete it. She said she did. Fast forward a couple months after her and I broke up and I get a pic of my friend in lingerie."
"I politely ask her what she is doing and she said sent it by mistake. The next day, same thing. After the third day she tells me she didn't send it to me by mistake. We started dating shortly after that. Found out that she saved that pic I sent instead of deleting it."
kobester1985
The Prude Meltdown
"I post on a social platform that is for adults and their various kinks. Funniest thing was when my husband and I were dating and started getting serious, he showed me his profile to explain and let me know a bit more about what he was into. I laughed and showed him my profile."
"Apparently we had both created profiles about a week or two before we met on a different site in a chatroom. Then there was the time at one of my old jobs where my co-workers found out that my husband and I were on there and one person had a prude meltdown freaking out about how terrible and unnatural it was to do various things."
"And how dare we have the audacity to even show those things, and try lecturing us about how our marriage was going to fail since we were obviously just using each other for sex and the only way to save our marriage was to have a monogamous traditional relationship where occasional bjs were as kinky as it got. Besides her though, a majority of our co-workers were also on that site but we just ran in different circles."
2baverage
We were on a break...
"I briefly posted on r/gonewild, when my now husband and I were broken up for 7 months. A friend of my husband's saw it, but didn't bring it up until a couple of years later. We all had a good laugh about it. I'm not really shy about people seeing me naked."
both-and-neither
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Let's Eat
"I had the opposite happen, found a tinder match on a fetish site. I thought she was super uptight and didn't really know how to broach the subject. Ended up just asking her point blank while grabbing lunch with her. She opened up and was super excited to talk about it, learned about a whole new side of her."
"I am pretty open up to any fetish so we explored a few things she was on the fence about. It was fun but we didn't really have much in common besides sex so we just drifted apart."
Sworl
"reply all"
"This kind of applies, though it's related to emails rather than posting on social media. My friend worked at a large company that was throwing an office holiday party and apparently their holiday parties were open bar and known to get a bit loose. After the reminder email for the holiday party went out, a woman accidentally hit 'reply all' instead of replying to the admin that sent it with a message along the lines of 'I hope there are some tight-bodied latin men for me.'"
"It went out to the entire office's email distribution of several hundred people and his email was basically spammed for the rest of the day with people hitting 'reply all' to tell her how inappropriate those comments were, because they also don't seem to know how to reply to a specific person instead of the list (even after she very quickly apologized for her comments)."
"It finally ended when the CEO sent out an email noting that she had apologized and requesting that people refrain from commenting on it further. I don't think anything substantial happened to her, she wasn't fired or anything, just very embarrassed."
FaithfulNihilist
I mentioned it...
"I found a good friend of mine and his FwB on an NSFW sub. They were incredibly tame posts all things considered. I had known both of them a long long time and thought it was cute. I mentioned it in passing to my friend, knowing they were both very liberal, and though he seemed a little surprised I thought nothing of it."
"I later found out she took everything down because I had said something and I was kinda shocked, and sad I ruined that for them. I'm absolutely not the type to be stalking their page and they knew that and as far I knew they were both very confident in their skin. I never brought it up again because I still felt kinda bad about the whole thing."
Supercaptaincat
"yeah that seems about right"
"If anyone in real life found out I do that they'd probably just say 'yeah that seems about right' and that'd be it. It's not like I'm hiding the fact that I enjoy sex. The funniest thing is when people on reddit start trawling my post history whenever they get into arguments and try to act like I'm scum for posting porn or having unusual fetishes."
"It's like damn *itch, you think I'm ashamed of any of that when I'm happily posting it on the same account? Why even try to shame me when it's obvious I don't give a f**k what you're saying? It's like trying to blackmail someone with a sex tape they put on pornhub."
MaievSekashi
Scandalous
"I have another account here with some less dressed pics and it was found by my friend, with the words 'it appears we're both posting on the same Reddit.'"
maartenvanheek
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That Fireplace
"Somewhat related. I was browsing a certain niche port subreddit. As I was clicking through pics I clicked on one and for some reason the first thing I noticed was the fireplace in the background. I thought 'wow that fireplace is super familiar' and after a second I realized it was my fireplace."
"Then I looked at the person and realized it was a friend of mine and I had taken the picture. I didn't upload it so I assume she did, but it was not being posed by her account so it just goes to show you how stuff gets around."
Nurum
hey did I see you?
"A few times. Got a message on FetLife from a dad I'd nannied for. That actually happened a few times in various ways - 'hey did I see you... online last weekend?' Oh my god Dan just say you check out cam girls, it's fine."
"A number of times a**holes on Reddit have tracked down my Facebook and threatened to 'expose' me for having the audacity to disagree with them on the internet."
"I'm not ashamed of my body or of showing it off in ways that I enjoy. The only people who've ever given me crap for it have just been reaching for reasons to lash out."
Erotica
"No one who I didn't tell myself, as far as I know. I always figured if they found out I posted that content, we would (depending on the person) either just confirm it's not revenge porn or have an argument and then they could get over it or otherwise move on. If they actually like, consumed it (videos specifically, I understand that there's nothing to be done about seeing a photo or a still)."
"I'd probably be creeped out and have to do some kind of damage control. I did tell my mom I wrote erotica and I was like, going through some shit at the time so it was kind of f**ked up (not illegal f**ked up, but worse than it just being like, kink or something), and I super regret letting her have access to any of it because she was grossed out and if I had been more self aware at the time tbh I would have been too."
averie-end
Roasted
"I found someone I went to high school with completely accidentally. I recognized him from r/roastme then clicked on his profile. Lots of NSWF and personal content. He was always kind of awkward in school, and I've never really spoken to him. He has no idea I know."
chandlerland
Sexy Look GIF
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Flaunt
"I just started and it's kind of a fear, but also I got it so might as well flaunt it! There are of course always people who you wouldn't want finding it and people who you wouldn't mind as much. Gotta make ends meet some how."
quinn_outnabout
Let this all be a life lesson.
There is nothing wrong with consenting adults engaging in online adventures.
And if that is how you roll, then roll on.
Just be really, really, reeeeeeeaaaally sure.
The internet sleuths today and of the future will always "out" you.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.