Facebook sucks. It has sucked for years. That was bad enough, but lately, Facebook, advertisers, and the communities there are going from shitty to scary. They are spreading COVID disinformation, attempting to dismantle democracy, and, worst of all, everyone won’t stop posting pictures of their kids.
That’s a joke. It’s not the worst part of Facebook. However, we should have a conversation about whether kids can really consent to what it means to have their image exist forever on the internet. Also, using your kids for internet points may not be the best thing.
I am not a parent, though, so I’ll shut up.
Previously, when I’ve thought about leaving Zuckerland, I’ve always stayed because Messenger… and Marketplace… because I really want to hear about the political views of my Albertan oil-funded family (kidding, I don’t, and have self-banned talking about politics in-person with them).
But fuck it, this time I am done, zuck. No more. No more data for you. No more tracking every online conversation I have.
So far, this actually had way less impact on my life than expected. The people I actually spend time and talk with still message me on other platforms (Signal, iMessage, and Discord. Preferably in that order). I can still buy questionable electronics off of Craigslist instead of Marketplace. Now, the sellers are more interesting, and more posts are written in all caps.
Here’s the thing. The large group chats kind of sucked, I just didn’t know it. Often, I would just get vague invites to things on nights I already had plans on.
Now, I just pester my friends to join Signal and create groups there. Most are annoyed but generally cave.
Next up, maybe a change on how I use Instagram?
I would like to guillotine Netflix, but I don’t think my partner will have it. Maybe I’ll just be an elist jerk and refuse to watch it with her. kidding again.