Are There Viable Alternatives To Facebook? - Comments Page 1

I could no longer tolerate the blatant bias and censorship on FB and Twitter. I've moved to Parler and MeWe and don't miss FB or Twitter one bit. Such a breath of fresh air!

Parler!!!

I left Facebook many years ago because of 3 examples of the fact my private account was not private.

So, fast forward 10 years. I start getting emails from Facebook telling me that family members are asking for me. Family members are wanting to share photos with me. Family members need me back on Facebook. These emails went on about 3 or 4 weeks. Then they ended.

I do not believe that a site that comes after a member 10 years later has my best interests at heart. Heart - something I do not believe should be in the same sentence with the word Facebook.

I deactivated my account in April as I just did not want any part of watching what was going to happen on there regarding the pandemic or the election. It has been blissful. Have not decided yet to go in and shut it all down or try it again.

While I would like to dump face book, I haven't found another platform that is user friendly. I tried MeWe and didn't get far at all. I set up an account. MeWe asked for a password but suggested I use their suggested password which I would never have to remember. So, OK... I copied and pasted theirs, tried to log in, and they lied. I did have to remember their impossible password, so I have never been able to log in since. I tried Parler, but I couldn't download any pictures or even go where I wanted to on their site. It was totally user unfriendly. I am just not up for spending hours and hours trying to figure it out. So, I am still on face book, but I use it less and less these days.

About the Google Photos storage: "Starting June 1, 2021, photos and videos backed up in High quality will start to count towards your Google Account storage." Each Google account gets 15GB free.

Interesting to note right winger are leaving a right wing social site for an even MORE EXTREME right wing social site.

Facebook essentially acts as a spy for the police-surveillance state , with full time 'inspectors' looking for people wanted for warrants or suspected crimes , even as it gives businesses legitimate space to sell their services . With wholly unqualified people in positions of making decisions based on perceived guidelines , they remain unaccountable for mistakes . They give police broad powers to assume phony profiles, some legitimate but easily abusing the service. Clearly favored Democratic party candidates were favored over 'others' in critical content access. After selling profiles to Cambridge Analytica for voter suppression tactics that won Trump the presidency, they should be dismantled for the damage they already created. They will do it again since Congress has failed to regulate FB when it should have been denied acquisition of messenger and 'whatsapp', both effective spying tools that intrude on user privacy .

I check Facebook every morning. (Average time on it about five minutes.) That's just to see if any relatives or friends have something special happening. (I found out about three people's deaths there, unfortunately.) I wish a few people a happy birthday. (I did that for one person this morning.) I might check a few groups I'm in (one family, one ethnic, two sports). That's it. I use/hate Facebook. I'm also on Parler, but find it difficult to navigate or find things. Otherwise, I'd use it more. I'm on Twitter, too, but only check it once a month or so.

I use FB very minimally. My FB friends are actually real life family and close friends only. I do not “friend” people I barely know or don’t know at all.

I keep all the privacy settings turned on to the highest privacy option.

I don’t allow for games and other garbage. This minimizes a lot of the “psych” stuff.

I do not have email notifications turned on, so unless I choose to log on, I don’t really ever hear from FB.

My reasons for keeping FB are twofold. The first reason is because I’m not going to convince all my family to move to another platform. I don’t expect them to do that. And, FB is a primary communication tool for many of them. We have a closed family FB Group that allows us all to share family genealogy, stories, photos and the like. It works well.

I also use FB as a reference to help me find people. My husband recently wanted to locate an old friend. FB was one of the tools that was helpful. The two are now happily keeping in touch again.

For talking with like-minded strangers about interests, I use Reddit. There’s a sub for just about any topic that might interest you.

I am with Laurie (above)on most points. I have re-established ties with two schoolmates. FWIW, I don't have much need to talk with like-minded strangers about anything.

I have had a FaceBook account for many years. I use it now more than ever, but I still do not spend long periods of time there. I use it to keep track of (and to stay in touch with) my family and several friends. I do NOT have a FaceBook app, or keep a FaceBook Web Browser Window open. For me, FaceBook is a communications platform. I only say there what I would say when in public.

This year I have become more political so I have voiced my opinions on FaceBook for public consumption even though I suspect they were not heard by many people beyond my sphere of friends and family (but it made me feel better to be able to speak my mind). One thing I have always been careful to do has been to clearly state that the current post is my opinion, or when I posted something as fact, I provided my sources of information so anyone who reads my post could check what I said and decide its validity for themselves.

When I see a post stating opinion as fact, I call out the OP because I think it is very important that we all do so. In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the community to fact check what they see, then support or call out the OP. If we all police ourselves FaceBook will not have to do it 'for' us, and we will have a better community in the end.

I think that we are all responsible for what we say and how we say it. I hear the term 'Politically Correct' bandied about in a derisive manner, but a little courtesy has never hurt anyone. We should all use it when dealing with someone with whom we disagree. A bit of courtesy may well go a long way to de-escalate a flame war (unless that is what you are looking for).

These are my thoughts on FaceBook,
Ernie

Google photos won't be free much longer. Starting sometime this year there will be fees.

I opted out of Facebook years ago, and almost never use Twitter, Instagram and a few others for which I retain mostly inactive accounts. The worst of these, Facebook in particular, are not just dangerous, but "EVIL"! Can't comprehend why people post personal information about themselves, their families and particularly their children. Social media seems to have become mostly a device for the insecure to bolster their value of themselves, and for cowards to get a free ride for being as outrageous as possible.

Try printing one of your photos or worse yet try to get one of your photos on your computer and modify it to show a business what you want. Google will never get another one of my photos. I am tired of Google spies.

Get - Proof of God at Amazon, could be the answer?

I find Telegram a good alternative to WhatsApp.
www.telegram.org

Signal is good too!

MeWe

That's why I call it fakebook

20+ years ago I was on a piano bulletin board that grew over time from a few of us answering one or two questions a week to a very large community. And with the growth came the flame wars that in turn generated the need for moderators. We can see the same behavior in multiple on-line venues - the relative anonymity provided by posting on Twitter/Facebook/et al seems to remove the restrictions of polite society that would be unthinkable should the "conversations" take place in person. The lost ability to discuss issues without rancor and personal attacks, the increased use of pejorative labels, and the concomitant polarization of our society are the affects with which we must now live.

As for Facebook, I stopped using or even checking it a few years ago, though I've not deleted my account. My wife does keep up with some family and old college & high school friends. I rely on direct emails to my friends

Ok, Bob. Time for a complaint. I have been receiving your emails for many years and enjoy them very much. I realize you are ad supported, but recently as the ads pop in, all of the paragraphs are reformatted and what I am reading Zooms up or down somewhere and then I have to go looking for what I was reading. 30 seconds later another ad moves text everywhere again. I'm not sure what you can do to correct the situation, but I have literally given up reading some of your articles because I have trouble finding where I was. Help.