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"Strong user feedback" results in Google removing Cupcake Calorie counter from Maps

Acorn

Member
Cupcake thingy is dumb. Calorie information can be valuable but there are a million and one already available apps that do this anyway.
 

Lunar15

Member
It'd be a cool feature if you could opt-in for it, the condition being that you put in weight information that helps the counter to be more accurate. I can see how wagging it in front of people's faces might not have been the brightest of ideas.

It's entirely possible to have a shred of empathy and disagree with something while seeing how certain things could be re-worked. No one lost their jobs due to this, and most of the thread didn't even know it existed, so I'm not sure why it's such an issue that they took it down.
 

Tadaima

Member
Ugh, I liked this feature and was expecting to get some good use out of it. I realise there are alternatives but being directly integrated into Google Maps was nice.
 

Reversed

Member
Should have kept the calorie count. In that way, I wouldn't have need runtastic (sic?) to do the statistics for a morning jogging.

It should have been kept in a more neutral manner. For instance, it is important to know how many minutes does it take to go from A to B by car. It also helps to know how much does it take doing it by walking. And why not? You could also add an estimate of how many calories you could burn in the process. But don't measure it in a silly way such as pancakes. We are already suffering with the imperial system. :)
 

Jeff-DSA

Member
This is one of the dumbest things to rage over. Seriously, people.

I have a thyroid disorder and I have to count EVER. LAST. CALORIE. I eat and it's really not fun and at times crushingly depressing. But that's my problem. I deal with that. I don't need the world to shape itself around that issue. Insensitivity is one thing, but this is not that. This is a cute little addition that encourages more healthy behavior.
 

Apathy

Member
This is by far the dumbest "triggered" bullshit I've seen in a while. I've struggled with weight issues my whole life, and there is nothing healthy about being overweight. Knowing how many calories you can burn by walking isn't an issue.
 
Cupcake thingy is dumb. Calorie information can be valuable but there are a million and one already available apps that do this anyway.

So? The point is that consolidating information makes it more useful and convenient to people. It's the same reason if Google Maps now shows prices for Uber/Lyft directly in it when you search directions, even though you could just open the app and check yourself.
 

Fhtagn

Member
This is by far the dumbest "triggered" bullshit I've seen in a while. I've struggled with weight issues my whole life, and there is nothing healthy about being overweight. Knowing how many calories you can burn by walking isn't an issue.

Anorexia kills.

Stop thinking everyone has the same life experiences and challenges as you. Have some damn empathy.

Also someone needs to bump the thread explaining what triggered really means cuz almost everyone in this thread is using it without understanding it at all.


You have to be thin skinned like some certain president to be that much offended by facts.

This isn't about offended, and it's not about "facts" either. It's about eating disorders.
 

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
That is "triggering"?
Post Tramatic Cupcake Disorder
giphy.gif
 

Pejo

Gold Member
Man, I wish I knew that this was a feature. That sounds cool.

I still mainly use Pokemon Go as my walking tracker though. Gotta hatch those eggs.
 

Nipo

Member
Sounds like they're trying to do what Cittymapper has been doing for ages which is give you the calories and the equivalent different foods. I find it really useful information to have and if people knew that the 4 mile walk they did only burned a handful of M&Ms it might make people think twice.
 

Fliesen

Member
On a forum that is generally very open and respectful to all kinds of mental health issues, people are being disappointingly fat-shamy / anorexia-shamy in here. - but then again, this is Neo "go join a gym" GAF :p

Like, is it so hard to imagine that a person who has a clinically disturbed relationship to their body and the calories they consume would not enjoy the fact that her navigation app chooses to remind them of that very topic?

Sure, it's a neat feature, it should simply be opt-in.
Since the mini cupcakes are at least not based on the user's gender, i find it a cute / silly unit of measurement. I would have seen it differently if it gave women a cupcake and men a burger or something ...

This is by far the dumbest "triggered" bullshit I've seen in a while. I've struggled with weight issues my whole life, and there is nothing healthy about being overweight. Knowing how many calories you can burn by walking isn't an issue.

it's not about how many you "can" burn. People with eating disorders can be obsessive about HAVING to burn calories, HAVING to consume as little as possible. They have to force themselves to eat. Their 'cheating' is skipping meals and trying to create a calorie deficit.
This is not about "fat people"
 
1. You couldn't turn it off... that's the first issue
2. The cupcake is stupid... that's the second issue
3. It's not an integral part of Googlke Maps therefore there is zero reason it couldn't have been opt-in and less stupid.
4. Bright pink frosted cupcakes can easily be seen to have a gendered element to it...
 
1. You couldn't turn it off... that's the first issue
2. The cupcake is stupid... that's the second issue
3. It's not an integral part of Googlke Maps therefore there is zero reason it couldn't have been opt-in and less stupid.
4. Bright pink frosted cupcakes can easily been to have a gendered element to it...
I kinda give you the first one. Adding features and not letting people choose to use it or not is an issue (or not really).


But the last one, really? Really?
 

Fliesen

Member
Nutrition Labels cause eating disorders?

What's next, content labels on beer bottles causing alcoholism?

You do understand there's a difference between looking at the box of a food item, or the menu of the restaurant you're currently at, and your navigation app, right?

What's with all these fallacies in this thread?

What about posting calories on menus at restaurants?

If you're in a restaurant, reading the menu, you're already dealing with the context of food and nutrition.
If you just wanna know the fastest route to the next bookstore, you're not. To some the context of food and nutrition can be incredibly stressful, because they have a MENTAL DISORDER.
 
I kinda give you the first one. Adding features and not letting people choose to use it or not is an issue (or not really).


But the last one, really? Really?

Yes it can easily be seen that way... especially with how we strongly associate pink with women...

What about posting calories on menus at restaurants?

Why are we comparing food to driving directions?


Btw you know how y'all can get this pack in some form.... complain to google.
 

Fhtagn

Member
Nutrition Labels cause eating disorders?

What's next, content labels on beer bottles causing alcoholism?

Ah, but people can easily avoid looking at nutrition labels if they like. Or they can engage with them when they want to.

Adding this feature without making it optional is the 99% of the problem.

Triggering? What?




Wait, this is real?

Maybe try reading the thread, or even the last three posts in it, before replying with the same thing as half the thread, because perhaps you could have found an answer already.
 
Yes it can easily be seen that way... especially with how we strongly associate pink with women...
No, really. You're seeing a problem that doesn't exist. It's a cupcake, that's it.

Maybe try reading the thread, or even the last three posts in it, before replying with the same thing as half the thread, because perhaps you could have found an answer already.
Oh I read it. I just don't see a problem with it. Maybe it could have been a opt-in feature I'll give you that but removing it because people got triggered? Ridiculous.
 
“It implies that foods like cupcakes need to be burned off instead of being part of a balanced diet,” Jennifer J. Thomas, co-director of the Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Self.

The issue was further complicated by Google’s questionable measurements of both the caloric content of mini-cupcakes and the number of calories burned by walking.

Google didn’t elaborate on how it decided that mini-cupcakes were each 110 calories, especially given the calorie content of actual mini-cupcakes varies wildly. Wegmans grocery offers mini-cupcakes that are 97.5 calories each, while Canada’s Prairie Girl Bakery, for example, sells mini-cupcakes that each contain 200 calories.

Nor did the company explain how it calculated how many calories each walk burned. The app claimed the “average person” burns 90 calories per mile, but it didn’t explain what “average” meant or how it reached that amount. The number of calories one burns while walking can differ extensively depending on how fast he or she is walking and how much he or she weighs, as Harvard Medical School noted.

Some experts pointed out that, even had the numbers perfectly reflected reality, counting calories isn’t necessarily healthy — and features like this one could potentially ignite eating disorders.

“We’ve gotten into this habit of thinking about our bodies and the foods we take in and how much activity we do as this mathematical equation, and it’s really not,” Stephanie Zerwas, the clinical director of the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders at the University of North Carolina, told the New York Times. “The more we have technology that promotes that view, the more people who may develop eating disorders might be triggered into that pathway.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...cake-calorie-counting-feature-after-backlash/

Just since y'all think this is just twitter idiots....
 
Nutrition labels are fundamentally necessary.... this is not.
Nutrition labels are new, especially to USA which has had big corporations try to push back for their products to be labeled especially fast food companies. I'm glad they're enforced now, but it wasn't necessary for a long while.

Agreed on your other points though about the cupcakes and this being made opt-in.
 

Fliesen

Member
i'd like to opt in.

yeah, so would i, absolutely. But i'm sure as shit not going to talk down to anyone with a possible history of an eating disorder legitimately criticising this rather patronising addition to what is meant to be a navigation/transit app.
Like, what if Google starts adding route / neighbourhood recommendations based on likelihood of being mugged or raped? (due to crime statistics in certain areas)
Sure, that's a nice opt-in, but severely triggering for anyone whom this has happened to.
- Like, seriously - what's the deal with being so incredibly unempathetic towards people with eating disorders and those "lazy fatty!" hot takes.
 
Nutrition labels are new, especially to USA which has had big corporations try to push back for their products to be labeled especially fast food companies. I'm glad they're enforced now, but it wasn't necessary for a long while.

Agreed on your other points though about the cupcakes and this being made opt-in.

I know they're new but I'd say they're now necessary for exactly why you outline.
 
Citymapper does a calorie count for trips and it has a little man holding a burger and soft drink when you view it.

It's had this for as long as I can remember.

C3B8011XUAAXw8m.jpg
 

AlStrong

Member
There are probably too many assumptions on how they derive the counter for it to be of any real use to anyone unless Google has every metric about your body and future walking speed.
 

Fliesen

Member
There are probably too many assumptions on how they derive the counter for it to be of any real use to anyone unless Google has every metric about your body.

i mean, in all likelihood, they do ;)
They probably know how active you are, likely your shoe and clothes size - statistical models should give them a rather good idea of how many calories you might actually burn.
 

AlStrong

Member
i mean, in all likelihood, they do ;)
They probably know how active you are, likely your shoe and clothes size - statistical models should give them a rather good idea of how many calories you might actually burn.

sssssh..... :p

---

Anyways, it should probably just be an opt-in. Even exercise machines have the option of what to display.
 
You do understand there's a difference between looking at the box of a food item, or the menu of the restaurant you're currently at, and your navigation app, right?

What's with all these fallacies in this thread?

What is the fundamental difference, exactly? All of those things contribute to your caloric gain/loss for the day. Just because they're not listed doesn't mean they aren't having an effect.

You can question whether those calories are as "meaningful" as others, but then you'd also have to question why restaurants don't list macronutrients in their dishes.

You could also question the accuracy of this calorie count, but it does say "around x calories" and that same app also estimates the time it takes to travel, yet no one assumes that's 100% spot on
 

Fliesen

Member
What is the fundamental difference, exactly? All of those things contribute to your caloric gain/loss for the day. Just because they're not listed doesn't mean they aren't having an effect.

You can question whether those calories are as "meaningful" as others, but then you'd also have to question why restaurants don't list macronutrients in their dishes.

You could also question the accuracy of this calorie count, but it does say "around x calories" and that same app also estimates the time it takes to travel, yet no one assumes that's 100% spot on

The fundamental difference is that calorie counts are a literal trigger for anorexic people. Like a strobe light can be a literal trigger to people with epilepsy.

Just like an epileptic won't campaign against the strobing lights in the club, an anorexic person won't against calorie counts in next to food items.
Because - in those contexts - they know what to expect.
If Google were to add strobe light effects to one of their apps, that - while adding a certain useful functionality to some - people would be allowed to be equally annoyed by this and ask for it to be removed or opt-in.

People pretend "triggering" is just a buzzword. We're talking about a recognized mental disorder here. And these often have "triggers" - certain conditions that, depending on the severity of the disorder, cause people stress / discomfort.
 
What is the fundamental difference, exactly? All of those things contribute to your caloric gain/loss for the day. Just because they're not listed doesn't mean they aren't having an effect.

You can question whether those calories are as "meaningful" as others, but then you'd also have to question why restaurants don't list macronutrients in their dishes.

You could also question the accuracy of this calorie count, but it does say "around x calories" and that same app also estimates the time it takes to travel, yet no one assumes that's 100% spot on

On a food box it actually serves a purpose of knowing what the fuck companies are putting in their food... That helps you make an informed decision on what food to purchase...

On Google Maps it does not in fact help you get directions.
 
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