The screenshots that typically go viral are ones of bizarre texts, dating app interactions, and emoji fails. But this week brought a new entry to the category of "strange habits that terrorize and intrigue the web:" Screenshots of a very cluttered desktop.
"She sends them to me because she knows it makes me very uncomfortable," Said wrote to Refinery29. "It makes my skin crawl, and that's what she's here for."
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Every day, Carley texts me a screenshot of her desktop and every day, it gets worse. pic.twitter.com/N26KKKo06t
— aida (@AidaSaidSo) July 23, 2017
The over 400 responses the tweet received were nothing short of cataclysmic.
I'm calling the police on carley
— tara (@bforbingo) July 23, 2017
i think my aneurysm just blew
— alex ✨ (@ponderolla) July 23, 2017
OMG! This may require the help of a counselor! We just discovered a new mental illness...#DesktopHoarding pic.twitter.com/qczVeYdyg6
— Rachel Close-Sawyer (@Mountain_Mage) July 24, 2017
this is like looking through a portal to hell
— Nik Aliye (@nikaliye) July 25, 2017
Besides the disgust and anxiety expressed, debates over how to deal with the problem emerged. One user suggested archiving all of the items in a folder. Another pointed out that while it may solve the desktop wreck, but would simply be moving the mess elsewhere.
Others shared photos of their own desktops, offering self-help tips for clearing the clutter.
This is mine - I also have to clear it out every day & make sure the recycle bin is empty! @mashable pic.twitter.com/Fezq7hCUpf
— Coffee Fuelled (@_coffeefuelled) July 25, 2017
The real issue, as some pointed out, is that any screenshot you take automatically saves to your desktop. Unless you remember to put these in the trash, they quickly pile up.
My screen used to be so bad, so I created a "help" folder, so if i take 50,000 screenshots, I just send them to that folder. Only issue now+ pic.twitter.com/Igofibv9Bo
— ?kyler ?rey?? (@LGBTLover_1923) July 25, 2017
Despite the wrath that Carley has faced, she isn't intending to change her ways.
"She likes seeing the chaos and disgusted reactions unfold," Said wrote to Refinery29. "She wants to clean her desktop, but because she doesn't want to give people that satisfaction, she's going to keep adding more files onto it."
Consider this the first documented sadistic approach to desktop management.
The two friends have particularly enjoyed how meticulously people have inspected the contents of Carley's desktop, such as the observation that many of the screenshots show covers of Kanye West albums.
Although Said noted that she prefers to place screenshots in a folder, and pretend they don't exist, we'd like to suggest an application of the KonMari Method: Keep only the silly GIFs, screenshots, and documents that bring you joy. Otherwise, dump them and don't look back.
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