Not give up. Just move away from corporate owned social media which generally has biases baked in and allows for easy manipulation by the company. The one we’re on right now is not one of those and there are lots of other alternatives. Not that they’re perfect, just that money and especially wealthy individuals aren’t able to easily and singlehandedly manipulate millions of people by purging factual but dissenting information.
That’s just how microwave popcorn is. I just put the microwave on for 9 min or whatever large number is easy to start and wait until the popping slows to a second or two between pops. There’s no way to have a perfect amount of time for all brands and packages of popcorn. Not to mention shrink-flation has made the time need to be shorter and different altitude changes how long it takes among other things. I have heard that some microwaves actually have been made with a microphone to listen for the time between pops, but I’ve never used one. But since they can’t be adjusted for your preferences, I’ve heard they usually burn it anyway. It’s always better to have it a little under popped than a little burnt IMHO. Once you do it a few times for a particular brand you’ll find the right amount of time if you need to walk away.