Re-thinking my social media

For a while now I’ve not been on X/Twitter (as in, I deleted my account some years ago). Let’s face it, Musk is a nazi and X is an absolute cesspool right now. I initially moved to Mastodon but have now jumped fully onto Bluesky.

I haven’t actively used Facebook for some time – it stopped being useful many years ago and, these days, is full of meaningless ads and really inappropriate video shorts and page recommendations (and when I say inappropriate, I mean sexually so). In fact, it was similar on Instagram, which I also moved away from, along with Threads.

And, Google, well, I moved far away from them some time ago (in terms of using Gmail, maps, etc.) although came back to their search engine.

Now, we have the situation where both Google and Meta are cosying up to Trump, dropping company DEI policies and getting rid of fact checking. This doesn’t sit comfortably with me at all. Yet, indirectly, I’m paying both of these companies, who make their money from using my data. It has to stop. Or, at least, be reduced.

I’m on groups on Facebook that I need to be in and, equally, are in some WhatsApp groups too. I’m in some Messenger groups, but not that are important. As much as FOMO is a real thing, I can’t allow that to put me off doing the right thing. So, with immediate effect I’m doing the following…

• You can’t remove Messenger without closing your FB account, which I need for my groups, but I’m stopping its use. I’ve removed the app from all my devices and told friends what I’m doing.
• Restrict my WhatsApp group
• I’m now using Signal a lot more actively, and promoting friends and family to use that, SMS, or Discord
• I’ve switched my search engine of choice back to DuckDuckGo
• I’m trying out Pixelfed as an Instagram replacement

What am I left with for Meta and Facebook? WhatsApp, Facebook groups, and the Nest hardware that I have at home. I can’t see much changing with the first two, unless the groups I’m keeping them for are no longer an issue. For Nest, as soon as any of that needs replacing, I’ll look for alternatives.

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