My gripe: brick-n-mortars who post basic info — hours, menus, or special event details — on platforms where you can’t see it without installing some app, then creating an account, and probably having to verify your email and/or who you are, etc…
Posted by Rooster_Ties@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 82 comments
I’m talking about businesses who insist on putting basic business or event info on Facebook or Instagram, or maybe even on Twitter.
Why the hell do brick-n-mortar business insist on putting BASIC info about their business where people can’t see it?
I realize it’s not technically “behind a paywall” — but you still have to have a Facebook account or the Instagram app to see the info.
I’m sorry, but I’m not creating a Facebook page (that requires ID verification iirc) — or resetting my iCloud password yet again just so I can install Instagram and then probably have to register with them too — all just to see when you’re open, or the details of your event.
Facebook and Instagram links (thru URL’s) give you JUST enough to tell you that everything I want to know is there — without actually letting you see the actual info.
And in most cases, these are businesses with actual websites too!! — where they can’t be bothered to do anything more than give you links to Facebook or Instagram.
I feel like an old man yelling at a cloud here — but this has been pissing me off for years — and it can’t be just me who this pisses off.
Anyone else??
Mededitor@reddit
Part of this is about data harvesting. As you jump through the various hoops, they’re getting your email address, name, phone number and street address. So do the app owners.
They can use the data themselves and sell it to brokers. Over and over. Again and again. As a bonus, you get all kinds of spam and junk mail.
Bonus: You get emailed a link to a survey (How did we do?)
tultommy@reddit
This is true in some situations, esp with bigger companies but is rarely true with the small local places using them for advertising and communicating with their customers. Small businesses don't want the cost or hassle of coding or paying someone to code a page, and to pay the upkeep when a site like Facebook or Instagram gives them the same access to people with zero of the cost.
lowfreq33@reddit
So… just lazy?
tultommy@reddit
No they are smart enough to understand where modern marketing is most effective. They aren't catering to the tiny minority of holdouts yelling at the clouds about signing up for an account, and instead are using avenues that the vast majority of the world not only has access to, but spends far more time on. People browse Instagram or TikTok or Facebook a hell of a lot more often than they just randomly browse websites. It leads to far more exposure and brand recognition so that when someone needs their services or whatever they are selling it brings their name to mind. Just because we're all nearing or past 50 doesn't mean we have to turn into angry boomers like OP.
Mededitor@reddit
Of course this will apply less to smaller establishments. The apps, though, will do their thing regardless.
MrBrawn@reddit
Sounds like that is the business and food is secondary.
themiracy@reddit
I mean when I look up a restaurant online I basically want to know: where are they located, when are they open, do they take reservations, and what’s on the menu. This is like it. And I swear restaurants make this so hard to find out.
Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit
Google maps has most of that information
lowfreq33@reddit
A blurry picture of one menu page from 6 years ago isn’t the same thing.
Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit
Look closer. Right there under the pictures there’s a row of words. One of those words is menu push the menu button and there will be a listing of what’s on the menu.
I can’t help it if you’re fundamentally stupid and can’t figure out how to use the fucking technology in front of you good luck with that.
lowfreq33@reddit
Ok asshole, that’s usually not accurate either. I sincerely hope someday you talk to someone in person the way you do online so you can find out exactly why that’s a bad idea.
Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit
Come get you some, anytime.
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
r/GenX does not allow threats of violence
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
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lowfreq33@reddit
I just don’t patronize those businesses. Like if a restaurant doesn’t have a basic website with a current menu with prices I just won’t go there. Anyone can put together a Wix site in an afternoon. It’s not about being cheap or stubborn, I just want to know what I’m walking into before I go. What’s the food like, how’s the vibe, how much should I expect to spend? Is there a dress code? Do I need a reservation? If a place can’t be bothered with that in the year 2026 I imagine there are a lot of other things they can’t be bothered with regarding actually operating the restaurant.
Taminella_Grinderfal@reddit
I’ve often considered walking around my small town and charging a nominal fee to set up websites exactly for this reason. 🤣
SheriffBartholomew@reddit
Because they are 40 years behind the time and haven't built their own website yet. If I have to visit some tech billionaire's website to learn about a business, then I'm just going to shop somewhere else.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
No, this is a fantastic independent book store with a very nice website where you can do orders and everything.
And to find the details of their event tomorrow, you have to go to their Instagram to see some post with all the info.
And me — not having an Instagram account, and not having downloaded the instagram app (which I’d have to reset my iCloud password yet again to do), an not wanting to bother with going thru all that mess just to read one lousy Instagram post — I can’t see the details of their event tomorrow.
Annoying as hell. (And this afternoon when I needed the info, I was out hiking and only had 2-3 bars of signal, and looking at a 20-minute pain in the ass to do all that, for what could and should have been a 20-second glance at their otherwise genuinely spiffy website.)
flamehorns@reddit
What? You can click on instagram links without the app and without an account. They have a web interface. But a genx would have worked this out quicker than a younger person. Are you sure you are genx not boomer?
Taminella_Grinderfal@reddit
If it links directly to the post, that might work. But more often they link to their account page and the minute you try and click around to find the post with the information you’re looking for, you start getting pop ups telling you to log in or download the app. TikTok does the same shit, I might occasionally get to see one video before the “download” screen pops up. I was just making this argument to our marketing person who insists on putting events on FB and linking to our website.
neonturbo@reddit
Maybe I am doing it wrong then. Whenever I hit IG, I can see 1-2 pictures, then the one you really want to see it pops up and says (paraphrasing here) to see more log into IG. You are then blocked from seeing anything on IG unless you clear cache and delete cookies.
SheriffBartholomew@reddit
Yeah that's annoying bullshit. What really chaps my hide is when the federal government does that shit.
FYI, you don't need an account to see one Instagram post. There's a button hidden on the top right of the stupid ass "dOwNloAd oUr ApP" overlay that says something like "continue on the web". Tap that and it should show the post. You can also use desktop mode, but only in some browsers. I use Firefox Nightly (because fuck Google) and it works. Hopefully that reduces a little of the pain from these horrible practices for you.
Taminella_Grinderfal@reddit
Don’t get me started! I had a fight at work with a marketing person who insists on linking from our website to FB to list the special events instead of just listing the events on our page. 😡😡😡
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
Its ridiculous. In addition to seeing a restaurant where they wanted you to install an app just to order (bailed) I was out today and saw a parking garage which had converted from the card-based system to "install an app and get an account with us just to park here". Which leaks even more data to parasites that'll either sell it off or get it stolen eventually.
At least I didn't have to pay when I turned around as soon as I could and found someplace else to park.
kat2211@reddit
Yeah, that kind of shit's a hard pass for me. If they want my money, they can make the basic information available in a way that doesn't require engaging with social media, downloading an app or scanning a QR code.
elevatedmint@reddit
If it have to download an app I won't be using your service...
neonturbo@reddit
Pardon my rant, but not everything needs to be an app!
Download this airline app that does the same thing as the website I just logged into. But you have to download a proprietary thing you are using once a year and you have to remember that it isn't "US Airlines", it is "MyPlane" that has no relation to the name of the company. Why can't I just log into the website!
Or you get the app that is worse than the actual website, everyone says to change the encabulator setting in the Settings tab, and it just isn't there. If you go to the web page, everything is identical except that one button that you need.
Worse yet, you can't do anything without the app. Want the schedule for the upcoming tech conference? Download our crappy app that looks like it is from 1990 and doesn't scale to phone resolutions! The app makes it worse.
I am not against all apps, there are some very good ones. But they are totally misused and overused in many cases.
Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit
Most of that information is listed on google maps for each business
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
Not special event details — or menus.
And sometimes Google doesn’t get business hours right (although I agree, more often than not it’s correct — but I’ve gotten burned trusting Google or Yelp business hours before too).
skeeterbmark@reddit
What restaurant doesn’t have their menu on their website? Once again, this anti-tech stuff is boomer bullshit.
neonturbo@reddit
Most of the non-chain restaurants around me don't have a website at all, it is Facebook only. It is so annoying when you just want to see what is on the menu and it is locked to where you have to have an account on Facebook.
For example, a new Mexican restaurant opened around the corner, and they only do takeout. So you either have Facebook and you phone your order in, or you have to go to the restaurant, try not to block the long line while you are perusing the menu, then wait 30 minutes for your order to come up.
Some places don't even have paper menus now if you were to stop by and try to get around the online thing that way.
7eregrine@reddit
I'm with you. If a restaurant for some reason doesn't post a menu there AND it's important that I know before I go... I'm not going.
That pretty much never happens though.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
Mostly restaurants that don’t have dedicated websites — who use a Facebook page instead of a website for their online business presence.
My beef today was with a wonderful independent bookstore — with a ROBUST website, where you can order stuff, and everything.
And all the info about a daylong event there’re having tomorrow is only posted on their Instagram, with a link to that from their website.
But you can’t see but the first 120 characters of their post about it without downloading Instagram, and creating an account — and I’m not gonna reset my iCloud password get again just to download an app I don’t want, just to see their full post.
Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit
Every restaurant in my to has their menu available on google maps
GoslingIchi@reddit
The only menus I see on Google maps are pictures, taken by customers, of the menus. And invariably the pictures are over a year old so who knows if the menus are still valid.
redrumham707@reddit
Exactly, or they’re blurry as hell.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
I’ve looked on Yelp before — but it would have never occurred to me to look on Google Maps(!) for menu info.
GoslingIchi@reddit
I battled with Google on the business hours for a restaurant for months. I even sent pictures of the posted hours. It took them about six months to update.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
It’s impossible to get business hours fixed on Google quickly. The non-profit I worked for years ago had their hours wrong on Google for months until they somehow got corrected — and I’m not sure how they finally got fixed.
7eregrine@reddit
If events aren't posted on your site, I'm not going. Same with menus. I don't trust Maps to have current menus. But hours?
Map is the only place I look for Hours.
7eregrine@reddit
My god .. right. Literally the only place I go for hours.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
Ok, but Google isn’t always right — and I’ve gotten burned before. Same with Yelp.
Only the business’s actual website is really where you can be sure.
LizardJoeBiden@reddit
During and right after the lockdowns i got burned numerous times with incorrect Google Maps hours.
It seems more accurate lately, or maybe I'm just going fewer places now lol
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
Maybe that’s what trained me not to trust Google business hours (which were often wrong 4-5 years ago).
7eregrine@reddit
In my experience, it's been very accurate. Usually the business submits those, it's not something Google guesses at. Generally.
As the guy that runs my jobs Social media, I make sure our hours are current on Bing maps, Apple Maps, Gmaps and Yelp.
If I get burned by a business I really like, I'd tell them "your hours are wrong". If it's one I'm not that into, I dtint patronize them again.
IM_The_Liquor@reddit
I mean… if it bugs you that much, you could just pop by and see the sign on the door that shows the hours and look at the specials on the windows… or phone them up and ask…
GeoHog713@reddit
Hour for most places are on Google maps
HypotenuseOfTentacle@reddit
This is, by far, the easiest and most reliable way I have found to determine a store's operating hours. Usually there's also reliable links to the official website and in the case of restaurants often a menu.
flamehorns@reddit
The information they put on Facebook or instagram is for people already on those services. Like you said, most of these places have websites too. You can find the information there.
There are probably people who only use such services and expect to find the info there, so that’s why businesses put some info there, but no one’s forcing you to make an account.
Stressing about this seems more boomer than genx 😀
TravelerMSY@reddit
Does it most everything populate itself in Google Maps which should be a primary source for stuff like that?
Reboot-Glitchspark@reddit
Yeah, I absolutely loathe it when they hide it all in walled gardens. A lot of small independent businesses around me only put their info on Facebook.
And we all know that Facebook is a total dumpster fire. Even if you subscribe to the business's page and they do post something, the chances of you ever actually seeing it on your feed, mixed in amongst all the ragebait, political rants, and thirst traps, are slim to zero. Maybe by random chance you'll see it 2 weeks after the event happens.
Just one plain basic simple HTML page dude, c'mon. That's all a local small business needs.
But no, there are a lot of older people around here and the businesses know that they'll find those people on Facebook, gossiping and arguing and ranting. So that's where they hide everything.
And younger people are doing the exact same thing! Except they're hiding it all away in discord servers. Want to read/talk about this new tabletop RPG by a small/indie publisher? Just go to their forum, right? Nope! You have to get an invite to a super-secret discord server, install the app, create an account, login there, and when you do everything is just a mess of chat channels with zero organization, and all ephemeral.
Then here we are, stuck between the boomers and the doomers, remembering how great the internet used to be, and still could be, if only everyone else would stop using it wrong!
I guess I'm middle-aged man yelling in the general direction of The Cloud™.
balthisar@reddit
I detest Discord, but to be fairrrrrr, you don’t need an application; it runs fine in a browser.
flavian1@reddit
This is boooooomer shit, not genX. Jeeesus.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
Having to download Instagram and create an account — just to see all the info about a business’s daylong public event (that I’m already planning to go to) — so I can figure out whether I want to go in the morning, or afternoon, or right when they first open??
It’s their fickin’ PROMO info for the event — why the hell so they insist on putting it on a platform that requires all that hassle to even see it?
flavian1@reddit
Because only boooomers don’t have an IG at this point. Go back off the internet and get into your cabin in the woods
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
omysweede@reddit
No dude, you haven't fucked off already from FB? My bad. Now just get out of there. Pull the plug. It WILL hurt. It will be worth it.
Just think FOBI instead of FOMO
EquivalentStart2595@reddit
Same, I'm not against social media but I'm against giving them my info and making $$ of it. Old lady yelling at clouds with you sir.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
I’ve been on Reddit for 15+ years, and on several forum-based platforms for 20-25 years — and used to be on listservs going all the way back to Bitnet back in college in the late 80’s. I’m also not against being online.
But I have no interest in developing a Facebook page — or posting crap on Instagram — so why should I have to create an account just to see stuff there?
Next_Possibility_01@reddit
That's me exactly...I really have no need and I don't partake in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, etc....I miss some of the forums that used to be active and slowly just faded away.
Uranus_Hz@reddit
I use Google Maps for that sort of basic info
dbrmn73@reddit
1000000%
tultommy@reddit
You could just call and ask them...
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
“Tell me all about the daylong event you’re having on Saturday — every single detail you’ve made public thru Instagram — so I make a fully-informed decision about when I want to come either in the morning, or afternoon.”
I’m literally already planning to go. It’s a business I’m actually GLAD to support — an independent bookstore, for cripe’s sake.
But I shouldn’t have to call them to get them to read me whatever all they posted about it on Instagram — that I can see the first 120 characters of when I click the URL on their own website!! — but not more than those first 120 characters (or whatever it is).
tultommy@reddit
You're right you shouldn't have to, but not having a traditional website is a common thing with modern businesses. I'm not saying you're wrong for feeling that way but it is their choice, in the same way it's your choice to choose to be an anti signing up for things person. calling to say hey when is it, or what time is it going, or how much does it cost is the next best alternative. Your complaint is no different than the business going... i wish these old people would stop being so obstinate about having even the most basic level of social media account which has become the defacto standard for businesses to communicate with their customers. Times change my friend and I'm afraid the only options are to keep up for fall behind.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
If I haven’t set up a Facebook account, or instagram page in all these years — or even a Google account…
…why the hell would I want to do all that now, just to see the promotional materials for an event THEY’RE trying to promote.
And I shouldn’t have to call them to get them to read the information they posted on Instagram over the phone to me (which, don’t worry, I absolutely didn’t do).
I was out hiking when I looked at their website (a website that’s very robust, enough to promote new and upcoming books, and order them — it truly is a nice site).
And their spiffy website directed me to an Instagram post for all the specifics about the daylong event they’re participating in tomorrow.
I can see the first 120 characters of that Instagram post — but all the real info is beyond those 120 characters.
And in order to see it, I would have had to download the Instagram app, which would have meant resetting my iCloud password yet again, and then I only had 2 bars of signal, so who knows if I could have downloaded the app (or how long that would have taken).
And then I would have had to create an Instagram account, which I presume would have meant logging into my email to verify it too. All with just 2 bars.
All to see a post that’s supposed to be publicly visible PROMOTIONAL info for their event.
What should have taken me 15-20 seconds to do — would have taken 20 minutes, at best — assuming I even had enough signal to download Instagram.
Let alone resetting my iCloud password again, and registering with instagram, and logging into my email to activate the account.
20 seconds vs 20 minutes is what I’m bitching about.
tultommy@reddit
You seem to think I'm criticizing your opinion, which I'm not. I'm being realistic and saying that this is only going to continue to be more and more common, because even if us old fogies aren't on instagram most of the world is. So you're choice then becomes to sit around and be mad about it or just catch up with the modern world. Personally i'm just too old and tired to be forever mad at the world because back in my day it was better... rabble rabble rabble. I agree the 80s were better but they were 40 years ago so I've decided to just move on rather than get left behind lol.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
I just wanted the info when I was out hiking (and only had 2-3 bars of signal), and it pissed me off to have to just jump through all those hoops when my wife asked me what time we were going tomorrow. (And I still don’t have the info, now, hours later.)
OGSilverFox1967@reddit
I'm fully on board with your gripe. Wanted to order a pizza from a national but local chain. Needed to look at the menu. Looked online. No prices. Have to choose your local store. Try to pave an order, oh, your not a member, you need to sign up. What the actual fuck? I just wanted a freaking pizza, some wings and breadsticks. Why do I need to "sign up?" Got local Chinese instead. Just called them up, give me blah blah....
tultommy@reddit
You can't call your pizza place like the chinese place?
OGSilverFox1967@reddit
As I told another, local here, the place is wanted wouldn't take phone orders. It's becoming more common.
tultommy@reddit
Yea, it's gonna be a real issue for folks that refuse to use an app for them.
Additional_Shine_509@reddit
You know you could have just called up the pizza place, too, right?
OGSilverFox1967@reddit
I did. This particular one told me they only accept online orders.
le4t@reddit
I'm with you.
Like, I get it that it's easier to post on Instagram than to maintain your own website, but I've been locked out of my ig account for years at this point and I am not dealing with that hassle just to see when the pop-up is or whatever
SolomonGrumpy@reddit
I even hate it when they post only on Instagram
Significant_Ruin4870@reddit
I just move on to the next option. If I have to get an app or set up an account anywhere to look at your menu, reserve a table, or purchase a product, I'm out. It might not be cost dollars, but there is more than one kind of currency and we are paying every time we blithely hand over information.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
The thing is, today I was trying to get some general info about a day-long event that the business is participating in — just to get an idea of any special things going on at specific times, so I could figure out the best time to go.
And all that info seems to be in an Instagram post they made, which I can see about the first 120 characters of just fine — but to see all of it, I need to download Instagram (which I damn near almost did, until I realized I’d have to reset my iCloud password yet again), and then create and verify an Instagram account.
I was out hiking, and didn’t have enough signs to download the app, and the whole process would have probably taken 10+ minutes — all just to see a post I can clearly see the first 1/3rd of without an account.
Which pissed me off.
Key_Mastodon_3525@reddit
What annoys me is that now to go to a freaking concert or NFL game you have to have a phone app just to get the ticket. I don't like how society these days expects everyone and their dog to have a smart phone as if it's a basic human need/right, essentially "plugging you into the system" where your every bit of activity is tracked. Frankly i'd be happy going back to my cdma flip phone if i could...
As soon as you see a political push (which i'm sure is coming at some point if not already here) suggesting smart phones are a mandatory human staple like an ID, look at the party that's championing that effort and THAT's the political party that's trying to control you/elminate all your privacy that's already almost nonexistent.
prisongranny@reddit
I have a fake email and name I use for those. Idc if it matches my CC or name i give when i order.
Rooster_Ties@reddit (OP)
OP here — I’m talking about having to set up Facebook or Instagram accounts just to see business info (not business-specific apps).
I’ve never been on Facebook, or Instagram — and resent having to set up accounts with them just to see basic business info, or info about their events.