this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2023
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Hi d3Xt3r!
I think that the way you're denying this doesn't really follow Beehaw's ethos of being nice. Let's try to understand others rather than pushing them to act a certain way. I understand your intention but it's important to note that people have social needs. Sometimes they can be helped by social media and it can be hard to risk social isolation out of principle.
Thank you
Kindly elaborate how exactly I wasn't being nice! OP claimed that they were "forced" to use Facebook, which, I'm curious as to their choice of words, because unless their life literally dependend on it, I don't see how it's possible.
There are other social media platforms out there, and plenty of ways to stay in touch to in this digital and connected era - including using plain old SMS and email. I don't belive that it's impossible to disconnect from an evil platform such as Facebook.
The purpose of my comment was to challenge the notion that Facebook is a "necessity", and I was hoping to wean OP away from it, which can only be a good thing. The point was to spark a debate and get them to question this themselves, and reach their own conclusion. It's a good thing, not a bad thing.
loool seems like our biggest agreement so far is that we're engaging in civil discussion... although other folks watching think otherwise
It's a fundamental problem with moderation that focuses on "being nice and always wholesome" because you wouldn't believe the things some people get upset by and they will try to argue that anything edgier than a padded cell is rule-breaking. I don't think your conversation was uncivil either. Besides, "Do not debate strangers" is an absolutely bizarre rule on a platform focused on anonymous debate and discussion.
On the topic of the discussion, I have the same problem as you where all of my friends use Facebook Messenger for chatting. Sure, you could go cold turkey and tell people to contact you through other platforms, but you'll probably lose a huge chunk of your friend circle that way. Things like group chats also make it worse because you will need the entire group to migrate, and even if they do, people don't want to juggle two groups with the same purpose. They'll abandon the one which is less convenient, which unfortunately is the one without Facebook Messenger.
I agree with most what you said here. I'd also add I personally believe I'm not in the place to tell my friends to switch platforms without them actually understanding for themselves why infosec is important. I'm trying to do some of the education but it's a slow process. Maybe when I move to a different city and lose contact most of them the transition would be automatic. In the meantime I'll need to continue using these services and try to keep my exposure to a minimum.
I try to remain optimistic about this but companies like Facebook and Microsoft actually being too big to fail is depressing. Feels like we're all being held hostage and we'll only be free if something causes these technologies to become obsolete.
Unfortunately the sad reality is most people are more than happy to trade privacy and freedom for convenience and safety. As long as people don't change there will always be bad actors trying to exploit that weakness, whether that's a company or a government. I'm pessimistic about the masses but I want to help keeping the communities of people who care alive.
I would say that if you want to spark a debate, well, you might want to reconsider that. Debates can be fun but with strangers, it tends to not be the best idea to start a conversation this way. If you want to talk about why they feel the need to use it, then go for it. If you want to convince them that you're right, well, that's not usually nice - it's confrontational rather than an open discussion.
Let's try to understand others rather than convince them that we're right. Does that make sense?