this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2025
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Looking for focused alternatives to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc Not just for myself but for my family members and friends who I wish to keep in touch with.. any other threads going on about this? Maybe have a general thread and subsequent migration movements, we really need to act on this social life fascist monopoly we've became hostages to..

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[–] [email protected] 127 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (17 children)

What's App : Signal.

Instagram: Pixelfed

TikTok: loops

YouTube: peertube

Xitter: Mastodon (pleroma, akkoma, etc ...)

Google maps: open street map

Reddit: Lemmy πŸ˜‰

Google search: duck duck go, startpage

I'll let you Google the names of the different apps.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I kind of liked hubzilla last I dabbled in one of those type apps.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago (1 children)

On phone instead of google maps I recommend Organic Maps! Best way to use open street map.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

OSMAnd is another option, it's better in some ways, but worse in others.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Matrix for discord as well.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Adding in yt-dlp. Not a platform but a useful tool to download youtube videos for archival or redistribution.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

Hotel: trivago....

Ok jokes aside, add to that:

Whatsapp: SimpleX, Matrix Google Photos: Immich Reddit: Lemmy, Mbin, and Piefed

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Google search: duck duck go, startpage

DuckDuckGo has a history of working with Microsoft to track users. Startpage is straight up owned by advertising company.

Use a search engine proxy like 4get, or a full meta search engine like SearXNG or MetaGer that pulls its data from multiple sources at once.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Signal: SimpleX

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

90% of these apps are doing nothing good for you. You don't need to replace them, you need to quit them and start touching grass. I'm also talking to myself here.

Talking all day to people you never see physically is damaging your brain.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Touch grass? It's -20C/-4F and there is snow outside :-(

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago

Ah, then it's obviously take all of your clothes off and go roll around in the snow

[–] pastermil 5 points 1 week ago

Touch that frozen grass then :)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sure but not what OP asked about

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

I think you're right but my only issue is permanently loosing contact with old friends from different countries.. If there's a change of phone numbers then I might not be able to contact them ever again..

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Mastodon, Pixelfed, Signal.

Pixelfed is currently experiencing massive growth so that is a good Instagram alternative to focus on at the moment.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Messaging: Signal

Social Media: Mastodon, second choice Bluesky

Instagram: Pixelfed

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Also, there’s loops.video for reels, since Pixelfed only does images. Loops is running on the Pixelfed platform, and there appear to be plans to integrate the two at some point further down the road.

The biggest issue with Loops right now is that account verification emails seem to be sent out manually by the admins, so it can take a day or two to arrive after you initially create your account. And you can’t use the platform at all until that email arrives. So it’s not exactly the most friendly onboarding experience.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Why flock anywhere? Lemmy is the extent of my social media sine the reddit API changes.

You don't need social media.

Remember... when you're killing time it's killing you back.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Being productive is an effective way to waste one's life.

Maximize wasting time. None of your or almost anyone's works will be remembered.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Everything in moderation. Including moderation.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Fucking awesome quote. I'm going to keep that one in my back pocket.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

There are lots of Fediverse alternatives to social media, including Lemmy (which I guess you know about?) and the ones people have mentioned here already (Mastodon, Pixelfed, Loops, PeerTube). The advantage of the Fediverse is that it can't be co-opted by a single bad actor, in the way that Musk took over Twitter and made it into a Nazi bar.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There are some interesting ones that have already been mentioned here. But just be aware that they're ghost towns, when compared to the networks they'd be leaving. Their fav creators probably aren't on them, and neither are most of their friends or family.

They have a chicken and egg problem where people aren't on them because people aren't yet on them.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I describe to friends as β€œinternet rural life”: things go slower, for now.

That’s how all these things started though. People at church over 50/60 are asking me about bluesky. That’s a good sign for me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'd argue that in some ways they are more active. Posting on Reddit was like farting in a hurricane.

In Lemmy there seems to be more interaction. You don't have to get a million up votes for anyone to see your post.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Facebook is a bad idea. All of those that link back to your real identity seem to get so bad so fast. I have never had one and just text people, email them, visit them in person. I don't need everyone to know everything all the time and can't understand why anyone does.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

US Postal Service

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Consult privacyguides.org for guidance regarding new messaging and email solutions. I imagine you'll probably want to ask your family to sign up for signal.

The only alternative to social media is the fediverse. The bad news is that the fediverse is not private. The good news is that frankly social media as a concept just isn't mandatory, so if you need privacy, you can just...not. Once you break the addiction, you realize how unnecessary it all was.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

WhatsApp -> Simplex

I recommend Simplex over signal because its not tied to your phone number and has no identifiers.

The first messenger without user IDs

https://simplex.chat/

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Though I agree with it being a good recommendation, Signal is BY FAR easier to set up and have people use. I think that's what will help adoption.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Discoverability is the issue. It is one of the main reasons Signal sticks with phone numbers.

Everyone in my contact list is a potential Signal contact. That's useful. Chat is still private.

If I want secret chats, I use Simplex.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

If all you want is a place to get memes, hello, you're in the least bad place on the internet, the indie web/fediverse.

But to keep in touch with family members and friends, who are likely not techy people?

.... I guess you could get them on Signal?

I mostly talk to my folks through Telegram, but that's as far as I could take them (still consider it a win over using WhatsApp, because Telegram might be full of fascists but at least has an open API and a competent Linux client)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Facebook: Friendica
instagram: Pixelfed
Whatsapp: Signal,Matrix

[–] neidu3 2 points 1 week ago

WhatsApp: Matrix.

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