That's Not How This Works

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
11/20/2018 at 11:43 • Filed to: None

Facebook marketplace car for sale - with fist covering the license plate. Man, this is Facebook . First of all, YOUR NAME is on the same screen along with your business name (in this case) and the fact that you’re the owner. In a few clicks I can see you like Indian motorcycles, muscle cars, bears, ‘MURICA, and also apparently bigfoot. A single click leads me to your business page, which has your phone number.

You know, I’ll let it slide because I’m sure he used the same pics for Craigslist, which, as we all know, is where murderers and car thieves go to look for license plates (where else would you see them?) , to find home addresses of random strangers, to go and murder them and/or steal their cars.

DISCUSSION (18)

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 11:50

Kinja'd!!!

I have seen the infamous “Thumb cover” on C raigslist but this is the first time I am seeing a “fist cover”

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 11:52

I do not grasp why so many people fight so hard to cover up their license plates in photos. My instagram is public and so is Oppo and Reddit for that matter, and I make no attempt to avoid my plates in photos. If people can see it in the real world, there is no reason to avoid it on the internet.

functionoverfashion > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
11/20/2018 at 11:54

He uses a finger on the rear plate in another pic, but only really properly obscures the middle 2 -3 digits. I think I can read 5 of the 7. Good job all around.

functionoverfashion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
11/20/2018 at 11:56

If people can see it in the real world, there is no reason to avoid it on the internet.

I can’t agree more. Doug DeMuro did a thing about this when he wrote for Jalopnik, but it didn’t really explain the original source of this nonsense, other than a probable sense of internet-induced paranoia that has now spread to many CL posters who couldn’t really tell you why they do it. I’d love to read an actual story on the origin.

smobgirl > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 12:18

I’m more surprised that so few people have realized that most phones have some rudimentary ability to mark up photos. Just scribble it out if you feel the need to hide it.

ranwhenparked > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
11/20/2018 at 12:25

Same people that freak about about a Google car driving down their street, I suppose.

What my front yard looks like is not for anyone to see but me.

For Sweden > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 12:27

...you don’t fist-bump your car every morning?

For Sweden > smobgirl
11/20/2018 at 12:28

Edited photos are Fake News smob

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 12:32

Considering there’s a law about providing owner/registration information, I really don’t understand it. It’s doubly weird when people provide phone numbers and/or a name, which they might have to do if they want to sell a car. Worse yet, when they actually sell the car they have to provide you with all this paperwork that has a bunch of their personal information on it. Unless you’re some criminal trying to sell a stolen car or a fugitive trying to avoid being apprehended by the police , I cannot fathom why you’d need/want to hide your license plate number.

Chariotoflove > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 12:35

Once Facebook has your information, you’ll never be anonymous again anyway.

functionoverfashion > ranwhenparked
11/20/2018 at 13:08

On a related note, you can request to have your house blurred out, apparently. A friend noticed his neighbor had done it, when looking his place up on street view to show me.

functionoverfashion > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
11/20/2018 at 13:14

All of the above. I can’t call the DMV and get an address from a plate number. But I sure as hell can follow anyone I want on public roads, and pretty likely I could follow them home if I put in a little effort.

I don’t think thumb-coverers are tinfoil hat-wearing psychopaths, though. They just see someone else do it, and figure, “oh yeah good idea that way someone can’t see my plate number and plug it into the internet....” and the thought ends there.

I had a funny experience helping my sister sell her car. She wasn’t present, and I met a potential buyer at a gas station in my town (ok, the ONLY gas station, it’s a small town). After a while the buyer said something to me like, “well I guess you’re not trying to sell a stolen car or anything. Every other person who’s come into the gas station since we’ve been here has known your name and said hello. Either this is a very, very elaborate scheme or you’re being honest.”

functionoverfashion > Chariotoflove
11/20/2018 at 13:16

On a tangent from that, have you seen the Bad Lip Reading of Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress? It’s amazing.

ranwhenparked > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 13:41

Well, that would stop strangers in foreign countries from laughing at the horrible brick patch job the previous owner did on my facade.

functionoverfashion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
11/20/2018 at 14:10

I do wonder how many of the people who cover their plates with their thumb on Craigslist are then meeting those people in a private location to do the sale, i.e. not at a police station, or gas station, or some other very visible public place with cameras and/or witnesses.

Chariotoflove > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 14:14

I have not. That guy is such a dick, though, that I would probably enjoy anything that makes fun of him.

functionoverfashion > Chariotoflove
11/20/2018 at 14:22

It really just makes fun of everyone involved, with no discretion. Which is what makes it great to watch, in my opinion.

Chariotoflove > functionoverfashion
11/20/2018 at 14:25

Oh good , that’s my favorite kind of comedy.