Please, put the pitchforks and torches down. Hear me out.
You (yes, you!) are a front-runner. You are a first-mover. You came to the fediverse while most people don’t even know it’s a thing.
In the last couple of weeks/months, there’s been an increasing sentiment to boycott the established social media (Facebook, Xitter, Reddit, etc.), due to their rollback of fact-checking and hate speech protection. This has resulted in a lot of new users for a lot of instances lately.
Feddit.dk has gotten over 50 new users in the past few weeks, which is about a +50% increase of the monthly active users, a big deal for a small instance like ours.
This is a great opportunity to teach others about the fediverse and get more people to move to a more democratic, sustainable internet. But all these potential users are still on the corporate social media - we can’t reach them unless we are there!
You, the first-mover, is exactly the kind of person we need to stay on Facebook, just for a while, to guide people over to the fediverse. Feddit.dk was actually posted in a Facebook group a few weeks back and we got a few users that way! We’ve also gotten a lot of users via Reddit recently, as people on /r/Denmark have been mentioning Feddit.dk. Guiding people from corporate social media to the fediverse has been the most successful way to get more users so far.
We can’t get second-movers if the first-movers leave everyone behind. So maybe, consider not deleting your Facebook or Reddit account just yet, and if you don’t, try to look out for people that are looking for alternatives. You can be their guide.
(and if you want to delete Facebook regardless, I totally respect that choice btw)
i honestly regret deleting my xitter account. not because i actually want to use it, no way in hell, but i got curious recently and saw that my username was retaken by someone else, so now any old links there go to them instead of me. would have been much better to delete all of my tweets and change my display name and bio to point people to mastodon. maybe even set up automated tweets telling people switch. even if i got banned for that, that at least prevents anyone else from squatting on my old id. oh well, you live and you learn!
If people aren’t switching when Musk does a nazi salute, they won’t switch because of your display name though
My first thought was, how the hell are people still on Facebook?! 🤣
I see your point, but the most repeated reason/excuse for not leaving Meta (or other big tech platforms) is “I can’t, all my contacts are on there”. So the longer anybody stays on that dumpster fire, the more they add to the network effect.
My suggestion would be, announce that you’re leaving, posting links to where people can find you going forward, and log off for a couple of weeks’ grace period. Then login only to download your data and delete the account.
That way, you’ve given your contacts time to find your new profiles (and maybe their first glimpse of the fediverse), and you’re off the treadmill — the contacts who will miss you enough to follow you off FB are probably the ones worth keeping 😉
Edit: added a comma and closed a quotation for clarity.
Is there any real benefit to deleting the account? I don’t see what harm a dead account could do. I have a instagram account that has my real name on it, and I’d hate to have someone potentially impersonate me. I instead posted a link to my personal website and also linked my Bluesky account in the bio, stating that I will no longer be using instagram or regularly checking it.
Is there any real benefit to deleting the account?
I will no longer be using Instagram or regularly checking it.
I think you answered part of the question there: An inactive account is just bait for you to return and be sucked back in by the network effect. That’s basically what “not regular checking” implies — that you may check less often but still log in occasionally.
On the other hand, deleting the account sends a message to Meta (who don’t care about you individually, but mass exodus will be noticeable on their bottom line) and more importantly spur your contacts to move as well. Also, you make up your mind instead of keeping the abusive relationship with Meta an option.
Edited to add: Orphaned, unmonitored accounts are often the source of pwned passwords, which makes them an attack vector especially if you’re not using strong, individual passwords for different sites. /end edit.
Impersonation is a tiny but possible risk, I guess — depending on how valuable you would be as a mark for scammers. Most people probably wouldn’t even be on their radar. It’s not something I would take into account, especially as Facebook and Instagram become less trustworthy or secure platforms in and of themselves.
So yes, there are benefits, per OP’s point about first movers motivating others — and showing decisive action rather than leaving a door ajar (i.e. a dormant account) in case Zuckerberg shows slightly less oligarchic tendencies next week.
Hell no. Get off of that shit now.
Too late for me haha. I already went off the grid. I think over time I will talk friends into using things like Signal and with family I’ll just let them know how and why I left Meta. Almost no one I know uses reddit or even know it exists so it wouldn’t make sense trying to pull them onto Feddit.
Most of my family members use Meta platforms and are generally indifferent to the problems with that. It is easy and convenient for them and I don’t think they care all that much about it. As far as I know, I am the only one in my family who is “terminally online” for better or worse and most of my family members have a very superficial relationship with the internet - for better or worse. I will only say something about why I left, how I left and what alternatives are if it ever comes up at family gatherings. No one wants to listen to someone who’s trying to push something on them, so casually talking about the hows and why’s I did this and that will be my strategy.
The only one in my family who has always been based (if that word is still okay to use) is my dad. He has been ahead of his time with almost every single issue we all deal with today. Environment, politics, social media, you name it. He told us all super early when Facebook was still new that he wanted no pictures of him on that thing because you never know what they will use people’s information for. He regularly sends me pictures over MMS of articles about current events and today he sent me a list of american products to boykot. I still believe the most important American products to boykot is social medias and not coca cola, toothpaste and body wash. Sure those products are american originally, but they are produced locally by local companies with a license so we would probably hurt local businesses more than american businesses by boycotting them.
Online platforms however, is directly given and monitored by America and leaving them would take away Zuckerburger’s, Bezo’s, Musk’s and Pichai’s power. And by extension America’s power. They have an almost monopoly on the internet today, have discouraged us from seeking and destroyed the growth possibilities for other platforms. In that sende I am grateful for Trump that he is such an insufferable cunt that some of us has finally had enough.
I think, though, that the change will have to happen organically. I will rather talk with friends and family about it irl than return to Meta and play missionary for people who either don’t care or don’t understand what is actually happening right now. I believe the big shift will happen among the youths. They are the future of the internet after all, and they already have made the move to walk away from American platforms and are mostly on tiktok today. I’m sure that if they find that there are other alternatives that restrict them less and allows them to create and speak their minds without massive censorship, they will go there. I have faith in the youth.
Very nice thoughts! I think you’re right that organically convincing people IRL is most effective, but getting people over online from Reddit and Facebook is also a part of the solution I think. But definitely not the whole solution.
Totally agree! I’m not 100% opposed to your idea, I’m just not a good sales person so if I tried to convince people on Facebook to move away from that platform, I would most likely end up being seen as a conspiracy theorist or something like that.
Before I left facebook I did post a comment in my feed where I announced I’d be leaving Facebook within a certain time frame and that people could find me this and that place, at this or that email and on the phone if they had my number. Wrote a bit about why I had had enough of Facebook, didn’t make it political, but focused instead on how Facebook no longer felt like a place where I could interact with family and friends, but more like an advertisement platform where I may be lucky to see one or two posts from people I care about inbetween an endless scroll of ads and brainrot content.
My biggest surprise was how quick some of my friends were to reach out to keep in contact and some were eager to move to Signal so we could still talk conveniently in the future (lets face it, text isnt always the most convenient communication form lol). That was a surprise because I literally thought no one would care that I left.
I will do my best to share things like Signal and the European alternatives with people I care about irl and leave the online convincing to the pros xD I could probably spread the word about feddit on reddit since I haven’t deleted my profile yet, just the app. I feel like reddit would be more open to this since more people on there are invested in online communities unlike most people on Meta who just use those platforms to connect with people they know irl already.
But I deleted my Facebook account in 2009.
I still active on Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and sometimes LinkedIn for work (never used Facebook and Instagram) and I like Lemmy and Mastodon alot but I see no reason to restrict myself to only use Fediverse. On a side note Maybe I’m out of the loop here but why do you guys call Twitter, Xitter?
Can anyone explain to me what the primary difference is between Mastadon and Bluesky? I never used Mastadon but it is meant to be a twitter alternative correct? It seems like bluesky is gaining much more traction than mastadon ever did, based solely on how I literally hear nothing about it ever. If I am wrong on mastadon not being widely adopted, do tell, I am genuinely asking.
Bluesky is not truly decentralized, in the same way that Mastodon is. Bluesky is effectively centralized and is still controlled by an american corporation and could in principle be bought in the same way that Twitter was. Lastly, Bluesky made their own protocol instead of using the already-standard ActivityPub protocol. That’s why a lot of people are skeptical and recommend Mastodon instead.
what the primary difference is between Mastadon and Bluesky?
Mastodon is in the fediverse (like Lemmy, which you’re using), while Bluesky is not.
It’s also way older than Bluesky (2016 vs 2023). So recency bias might have played a role.
It seems like bluesky is gaining much more traction than mastadon ever did, based solely on how I literally hear nothing about it ever. If I am wrong on mastadon not being widely adopted, do tell, I am genuinely asking.
You’re not wrong at all there. Mastodon currently only has 886k monthly active users, while Bluesky is in the millions despite its much shorter lifetime.
The fediverse is just unpopular in general. Mastodon is the most popular fediverse platform though, Lemmy has only 48k monthly active users.
I still active on Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and sometimes LinkedIn for work (never used Facebook and Instagram) and I like Lemmy and Mastodon alot but I see no reason to restrict myself to only use Fediverse.
I understand that - hopefully the fediverse can provide a viable alternative for all of those platforms in the future. Right now I don’t think anything like LinkedIn exists on the fediverse, for instance.
why do you guys call Twitter, Xitter?
I think the idea of Xitter is to pronounce is as “shitter”, because Twitter became (more) shit with Elon Musk’s rebranding as X.
Right. In my opinion Twitter was a shitty place before Elon bought it and now is even a shittier place if that was even possible
I’m largely still on Reddit to direct people towards the fire exits.
I did have a chat with someone about getting off Facebook and they reckoned they could get the majority of friends and family off Facebook onto Friendica but would struggle to give up Messenger and Marketplace. I pointed them to Matrix and Flohmarkt but also appreciated that it might not be possible to make a clean break but the important thing was to get at least one foot out of the Big Web even if they aren’t fully out yet.
Messenger is the big one for me. There’s no way I can convince my family to switch to something else. We see eachother like once a year or every other year (we live in the north-, middle and south in DK respectively). It’s the only way to stay in touch with them.
I don’t use Facebook though. I wish I could boycott them completely!
I left Facebook to preserve my mental health. I am never going back.
Unfortunately I actually just joined facebook recently. My professional field is a rather small one, and there are strong and established profesional groups on there that greatly benefit me that only exist on facebook. The older people in my field are unlikely to switch to anything newer. Set in their ways and what not. I am desperately looking for a job at the moment so I’d something I sorta have to grin and bear. I have an ad block and I don’t even post or engage with any of the crap on there though.
It makes you one of our brave heroes in the front lines. Come battle with me, and be lavishly permabanned for mentioning freedom social media!
Maybe once I get a job first. I need to sell the idea of myself to my small field first before I start trying to convince them why a federated social media alternative would benefit them. Honestly, aside from sticking it to facebook, I don’t think there would be tangible benefits. In all honesty, it would potentially fracture the field and weaken us even more by decreasing our professional network strength. I think if they migrate over here, it will have to be organically rather than coerced by me. Lots of people in my field migrating from twitter to bluesky though, so we take wins when we get them.
Same. I think it’s been 14 years since I left, and I haven’t regretted it. Then I quit LinkedIn and Google in quick succession, and my quality of life went through the roof.
100% fair! Not everyone can muster the will to wander into that hellhole. Some brave few might try :)
Facebook is a bad example, I’m betting most of us left that cesspool a decade ago. Marketplace is prob the only thing it has going for it. I def don’t want the curtain twitchers and the cope I’m so hard posters of FB here.
Things like Lemmy work because the users have to actively seek it out.
My reddit account is used soley for shilling the fediverse, and the odd r/subredditdrama post.
For the love of Christ, stop supporting these assholes.
Lmao what? I deleted Facebook 5 years ago.
I changed my profile picture to one of the Fediverse graphics: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/36806080
People complaining about Facebook on Facebook is profitable for Facebook
Delete it, stop being part of the reason other people are there. If you can realise it’s a cesspool and get out, so could they.
I encounter a surprisingly large number of people who seem ashamed about their Facebook usage and say things like “but I need it for […]” or “but I only use Messenger” or some other way they rationalise it to themselves
Just get out.
OP I appreciate the reasoning.
But I’d advise against it,
and would recommend users to delete their Facebook account asap.Why? 4-5 years ago I already noticed the “illusion of free speech” on Facebook.
The platform is a data farm,
but I’m a data privacy advocate,
so I regularly posted data privacy articles/tools.Which went against the best interest of Facebook, so they simply held back that content from nearly everyone’s feed, resulting in it getting nearly zero attention.
But if I posted a dumb meme,
it would get a lot of attention.I’ve asked around to friends back in the day who where scrolling online if they saw my data privacy posts, none did.
So staying on the platform to advertise things that go against Facebooks best interest, will likely not yield good results.
However deleting your account,
is a great conversation starter that can easily be directed into WOM (Word of Mouth) marketing, to teach your friends and family about Fediverse tools.It is a matter of engagement. People like engaging with dumb meme more than data privacy stuff. Especially when people don’t understand the ramifications of poor data privacy or understand fundamentally what the even means. Heck, even I don’t understand what companies harvesting my data will mean for my personal life. I am guilty of ignoring data privacy posts in favour of dumb memes too.
It sucks, but thats why the term edu-tainment was coined. To educate people, you must also entertain them.
