So, as for today: Got rid of #WhatsApp. Shut down my #Facebook account for now and announced deletion the next months. Removed #Instagram app in order to use it only in a privacy-enforcing browser, not the mobile app anymore. And am thoroughly torn about that: I know why I do that, yet in most cases it's about leaving people behind, and I thoroughly hate having to make a decision that turns "for privacy" into "against people and contacts". This is all just utterly broken.
@z428 I completely deleted my IG and FB a fee days ago.
I’ve been announcing it literally for one month and not even people who know me in real life showed any interest in staying in touch through things like signal. Moving away from such platforms shows very well who actually cares about you and who is nothing more than a stalking bot or just doesn’t give a shit.
@repeet I partially agree... on one side you're right, but then again, a lot of people in there live in social networks they're used to, for whichever reasons, and many of them are way less tech-savvy than I am. I really dislike the idea to say, like, "if you _really_ care about me, you will follow me to another platform". Would we do this vice versa if important contacts of ours chose to completely give up on the #fediverse and fully move to some walled garden...? 😉
@z428 One part, about breaking social relations, sadly applies to mastodon as well..
I experienced this, when admins of another instance decided that my instance allows too many bots &far rights (imho, just a few non-radical idiots). And I was silently disconneced from a bunch of people..
If I hadnt missed them, I wouldnt even know that my social ties were violated..
That is very uncanny. As the world radicalizes, I'm afraid one day I will loose connections because somebody on my instance is too far left, or too gay, or any other way too political..
But we must be political if we want democracy to work.
@dudenas Yes, I agree. That's why I have ever since been trying to go down that route, but I think, too, it is important to be political on the "right" level. Maybe at some point it would be honest to accept that solving problems like those we see with #Facebook or #WhatsApp are problems that are very hard to solve on an individual level but require more strict means (regulation). The #fediverse is great but once again it seems like it's trying to solve a social issue with ...
