Leaving Twitter, Facebook

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freitasm

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Geekzone

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#293824 15-Feb-2022 18:58

I have slowly moved away from some toxic platforms. I have removed and logged out of Meta apps - Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram - and today I have deleted all my Twitter content.

Enough of the crap these platforms attract.

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#2869129 15-Feb-2022 21:02

Good on you. I have a huge amount of respect for people who do this.

Over lunch a couple of weeks ago I asked a group of my friends if they would still keep in touch with me if they couldn't contact me on Facebook and the response was very indecisive. I clearly have a bit more work to do, but I am slowly divorcing myself from Facebook or Meta of whatever it's called now.

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#2869189 15-Feb-2022 21:43

To be honest I never understood Twitter (and have never had it). Why would I want to read 160 character messages from people I don't know, voicing their opinions I probably don't care about, on topics I likely have no interest in?

I do have Instagram, but I can count on one hand the amount of times I've looked at it. Again I have no interest in living vicariously through the lenses of people I don't know - and even some of the people I do know on there portray their lives a lot differently to how I know their reality to be...

I use Whatsapp for informal team comms at work and that seems useful but don't use it for anything else - it's tied to my work phone number so it falls silent when I switch that phone off at 6pm each night - I especially like that l̶i̶m̶i̶t̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ feature lol.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

k1w1k1d

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#2869216 15-Feb-2022 22:02

Facebook is the only one of those that I have ever used, and that was very rarely. Only got it because some companies have it as their main source of information about their products and services.

Haven't logged in for months.

freitasm

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#2869218 15-Feb-2022 22:05

I visited a store on Cuba St a few weeks back. A few days later I logged into Facebook at work to check the company page - and one of the messages was "You've recently visited <store>. Could you please give feedback/review/whatever?"

I had already removed Facebook from my phone at that point. But I still had WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. I suspect it was Instagram but decided to remove them all. I have not removed the account but will not have it logged in on my computers and certainly not installed on my phones anymore.

Yes, I know Google is tracking my phone all the time but I accept that as a condition to use the phone. I don't have to use Facebook. It doesn't directly benefits me.

Facebook is not a good tool. So I am not using it in my personal life.

gabba

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#2869263 15-Feb-2022 23:08

Don't get me started on this one

Oh you did!

A few years back I wandered into Warehouse Stationery on a thought that a paper shredder might be useful. Hadn't mentioned it to anyone else, and I wandered straight in and immediately found the right aisle and stopped only around the area where the paper shredders were on display. Decided not to buy so walked straight back out again. Checked my phone / Facebook when I got back in the car and immediately got an ad for Paper Shredders at Warehouse Stationery. Figured there was no way FB would have known that unless it had geolocated me to that store, and possibly even to that section in that particular aisle in the store.

I ditched Facebook probably 6 months ago - just sick of sifting through all the FB moderated rubbish and I figured that if anyone wanted to talk to me there were plenty of other ways they could stay in touch. I haven't missed it and probably have about an extra hour back in my day because I'm not mindlessly scrolling for that addictive wee gem of info. I still post on Facebook and Twitter for my weather stuff, but only to promote my weather blog.

There is alot to be said for forums like Geekzone where you get to make your own decisions on what content you have thrown at you and the stuff you actually want to read isn't buried by some algorithm. I saw an interview the other day (not on Facebook!) with someone who is trying to get FB to change their algorithm. Their reasoning was that if you showed an interest in lets say a news story on a terrorist act like the one in CHCH, FB would continue to send you links similar to and about other terrorist acts and terrorism. I can see how for some people, this might not be the best thing to do!

Best avoided I reckon but to each their own I guess - I might start a recovery group on Facebook for those that need support leaving, and see how the algorithm manages that!

Ge0rge

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#2869267 15-Feb-2022 23:29

Been over a year now since I ditched FB, never had any if the others. Was some initial fomo, but certainly don't miss it now.

When I want to scroll, I check here! If there's nothing new, I put my phone down - win!

eonsim

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#2869269 15-Feb-2022 23:34

Nice.

With regards to those who question the value of Twitter it depends greatly on the community you focus on. For scientists especially in the genomics field it is a very useful tool to quickly communicate scientific papers and stay in contact with people you meet at various conferences. Great for quick questions around research or if you want to know who you should be taking to in a specific sub field for a new research project. I pretty much only follow author's and other scientists and my feed is pretty decent. Undoubtedly there is a lot of crazies out there though...

Equinox IT

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Eva888

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#2869291 16-Feb-2022 00:01

I use Facebook it doesn’t use me. I use a fake name and log in only to see some community noticeboards or some shop information because many businesses insist on using the platform.

I don’t comment in it.
I don’t friend anyone even though it keeps throwing many contacts at me.(How does it know?)
I keep it on one device that stays in the house and not on my phone which is also not synced to my home device.
It keeps trying to entice me to friend or like someone...so it can show me more content, it says.

All my friends know I refuse to use it and if they need to contact me they can use iMessage or email and that works perfectly well.

I only use Skype as it’s less intrusive than messenger, whatsapp etc. I've helped older people load the calling apps and some have as many as 5 on their device to accommodate the various calling apps of friends. Argh!

Twitter, same system, fake name. I use it for MetService to keep an eye on storms or civil defence stuff in case of disaster and only use it if I need information. It’s not as invasive or pushy as Facebook.

Facebook makes people envious and unhappy about themselves, their lives, how they look etc. It’s addictive and dangerous on so many levels. Wish the young would see how their employment, and lending prospects can be negatively affected by people knowing to much about them.

Handle9

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#2869299 16-Feb-2022 00:45

I got rid of Facebook from my phone a while ago, it was one of the best things I ever did. I've still got an account but I'm not active on it.

Twitter is something I use for news and very rarely engage. I'm pretty liberal with the mute button due to the huge amount of bad faith posts on there.

WhatsApp is the one thing it is impossible for me to remove. The whole of the UAE runs on WhatsApp, you really can't survive without it.

Tinkerisk

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#2869315 16-Feb-2022 06:00

My social media platform is made of wood and has room for 10 chairs.

We are currently seriously investigating the possibility of reproducing the hands-free tone of the caller via the acceleration sensors of a smartphone. We were able to reconstruct the spoken word of the other party without using the built-in microphone.

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

freitasm

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#2869337 16-Feb-2022 08:09

Eva888: I use Facebook it doesn’t use me. I use a fake name and log in only to see some community noticeboards or some shop information because many businesses insist on using the platform.

I don’t friend anyone even though it keeps throwing many contacts at me.(How does it know?)

I guess if Facebook knows who to recommend to you then it knows who you are, even with a fake name.

xpd

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#2869352 16-Feb-2022 08:38

I killed my Twitter and Instagram accounts and started new ones recently, but hardly touch Twitter now, just full of advertising, bots and Covid related crap.

Still use Facebook for my other hobbies and friends/family contact and some website logins.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Eva888

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#2869368 16-Feb-2022 08:44

freitasm:
Eva888: I use Facebook it doesn’t use me. I use a fake name and log in only to see some community noticeboards or some shop information because many businesses insist on using the platform.

I don’t friend anyone even though it keeps throwing many contacts at me.(How does it know?)

I guess if Facebook knows who to recommend to you then it knows who you are, even with a fake name.

I imagine it chooses people who also visit the particular community pages. I get a mixture of known persons and random strangers all of whom are ignored and don’t even get clicked out of curiosity. It was joined many years ago while overseas.

dt

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#2869384 16-Feb-2022 09:10

kicked all forms of social media a few years back as well, zero interest or time to read through the garbage posts/spam/advertisements people make phishing for likes.

Still log into LinkedIn once and a while but boy has that turned into just as bad of a platform as the others these days...

Behodar

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#2869395 16-Feb-2022 09:28

I've never used Facebook, and I only use Twitter to contact companies that offer better service over Twitter than traditional communications (sigh...)

You're not missing anything by not having Facebook!

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