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Your mistake is believing those apps are for socializing. They’re for aggregate metrics and attention collecting on the part of the company. I do not have a F

Your mistake is believing those apps are for socializing. They’re for aggregate metrics and attention collecting on the part of the company. I do not have a Facebook empire, Twitter, TikTok or other social media presence. I email academics I can’t visit. I group text friends and family to make plans, and use the calendar built into my phone to remind myself of those events.

kace91 6y ago
In many countries, WhatsApp equals texting, period. No one will use sms, among other things because they're not free (~20 cents per message, character limited, no multimedia). The reality is that WhatsApp is a requirement for social life. Any solution that doesn't start from that point lacks any practicality.
- backWardz00 6y ago
  HTTPs works with email, email works over data networks. I get social inertia is a thing. Somehow I’ve blown it off and life still works. Summarizing it as “life begins and ends with WhatsApp” seems just as ridiculous to me. Acquiesce and nothing changes. Turn and face the strange.
  - julienb_sea 6y ago
    Or realize the overwhelming majority have no interest in limiting their communication and social network due to "privacy concerns", and already have both a Facebook and Whatsapp account that are connected and sharing data. You can do this if you want, but don't preach it as if most people should care.
  - lwhi 6y ago
    Most people in the UK use WhatsApp .. the fact that we have WhatsApp groups means Facebook can make this ultimatum with fairly good confidence we'll stomach it.
  - seesawtron 6y ago
    It strongly depends on what state of life you are currently at. If you are a 20 something individual and have to build a new life in a new city, being out of the "social apps" gives you next to no opportunities to build social connections. If you are already well connected with your peers and friends and your social life doesn't depend on finding and exploring via the "social apps" sure you have the freedom to disconnect virtually and still remain connected socially.
  - mlboss 6y ago
    Everybody has different scenarios. How many of your friend/family members can reach out to you using phone. All my family members live in a different country and there is no good medium for communication than whatsapp.
    - backWardz00 6y ago
      https://protonmail.com/ https://protonmail.com/ Spike on iOS is a client that wraps email in a chat like UI if the people are free to chat real time. Not sure if it’s on Android. There a numerous video chat sites not connected to Zoom, or FB properties whereby, etc I gave my family an ultimatum and being the tech savvy one they jumped to Signal Social inertia is a thing conceptually, but it’s not gravity. It can be bent any which way
      - paulryanrogers 6y ago
        > I gave my family an ultimatum and being the tech savvy one they jumped to Signal Not all families respond well to ultimatums.
        InvertedRhodium 6y ago
        On that note, if my family isn't willing to install another application and spend 5 minutes wrapping their head around how to use it - well, I guess I just accurately defined the value of our relationship.
        paulryanrogers 6y ago
        From their point of view it may appear you value your communication preferences more than the relationship
        BeetleB 6y ago
        > well, I guess I just accurately defined the value of our relationship. While that is true, what you have not accurately determined is why that value is low, and how much of that is your doing vs theirs.
  - BeetleB 6y ago
    > Somehow I’ve blown it off and life still works. If you're not in one of those countries, then I don't think you can speak for what a social life there is. If I tell people they can only contact me via snail mail or in person (i.e. not have a phone at all), would you find it surprising that I will have a lot less of a social life? Even 15 years ago I knew people in countries who had a difficult social life because they refused to use SMS - this was before the era of smart phones. > HTTPs works with email, email works over data networks. A lot of younger folks do not use email except for signing up for stuff and official work. When I left university a decade ago, many incoming freshmen were quite upset at the requirement to use email. You can always have some social life, but in certain locales and circles, whether you use these apps or not will affect what type of social life you'll have. > Acquiesce and nothing changes. Sorry, but these types of statements are usually of little value, and only sound good. I could easily write: Resist and nothing changes. And it will likely be as true (and similarly lacking in entropy) as yours.
- sandworm101 6y ago
  Thats fine. You can just accept that facebook is essential to the social life of your country, that the facebook eula is defacto legislation that you just obey. On the other hand, Signal works. My friends and I use it every day. We have not surendered, nor shall we.
lwhi 6y ago
A lot of people do use social media as their main method of socialising, especially during this pandemic.

kace91 6y ago

In many countries, WhatsApp equals texting, period. No one will use sms, among other things because they're not free (~20 cents per message, character limited, no multimedia). The reality is that WhatsApp is a requirement for social life. Any solution that doesn't start from that point lacks any practicality.

backWardz00 6y ago
HTTPs works with email, email works over data networks. I get social inertia is a thing. Somehow I’ve blown it off and life still works. Summarizing it as “life begins and ends with WhatsApp” seems just as ridiculous to me. Acquiesce and nothing changes. Turn and face the strange.
- julienb_sea 6y ago
  Or realize the overwhelming majority have no interest in limiting their communication and social network due to "privacy concerns", and already have both a Facebook and Whatsapp account that are connected and sharing data. You can do this if you want, but don't preach it as if most people should care.
- lwhi 6y ago
  Most people in the UK use WhatsApp .. the fact that we have WhatsApp groups means Facebook can make this ultimatum with fairly good confidence we'll stomach it.
- seesawtron 6y ago
  It strongly depends on what state of life you are currently at. If you are a 20 something individual and have to build a new life in a new city, being out of the "social apps" gives you next to no opportunities to build social connections. If you are already well connected with your peers and friends and your social life doesn't depend on finding and exploring via the "social apps" sure you have the freedom to disconnect virtually and still remain connected socially.
- mlboss 6y ago
  Everybody has different scenarios. How many of your friend/family members can reach out to you using phone. All my family members live in a different country and there is no good medium for communication than whatsapp.
  - backWardz00 6y ago
    https://protonmail.com/ https://protonmail.com/ Spike on iOS is a client that wraps email in a chat like UI if the people are free to chat real time. Not sure if it’s on Android. There a numerous video chat sites not connected to Zoom, or FB properties whereby, etc I gave my family an ultimatum and being the tech savvy one they jumped to Signal Social inertia is a thing conceptually, but it’s not gravity. It can be bent any which way
    - paulryanrogers 6y ago
      > I gave my family an ultimatum and being the tech savvy one they jumped to Signal Not all families respond well to ultimatums.
      - InvertedRhodium 6y ago
        On that note, if my family isn't willing to install another application and spend 5 minutes wrapping their head around how to use it - well, I guess I just accurately defined the value of our relationship.
        paulryanrogers 6y ago
        From their point of view it may appear you value your communication preferences more than the relationship
        BeetleB 6y ago
        > well, I guess I just accurately defined the value of our relationship. While that is true, what you have not accurately determined is why that value is low, and how much of that is your doing vs theirs.
- BeetleB 6y ago
  > Somehow I’ve blown it off and life still works. If you're not in one of those countries, then I don't think you can speak for what a social life there is. If I tell people they can only contact me via snail mail or in person (i.e. not have a phone at all), would you find it surprising that I will have a lot less of a social life? Even 15 years ago I knew people in countries who had a difficult social life because they refused to use SMS - this was before the era of smart phones. > HTTPs works with email, email works over data networks. A lot of younger folks do not use email except for signing up for stuff and official work. When I left university a decade ago, many incoming freshmen were quite upset at the requirement to use email. You can always have some social life, but in certain locales and circles, whether you use these apps or not will affect what type of social life you'll have. > Acquiesce and nothing changes. Sorry, but these types of statements are usually of little value, and only sound good. I could easily write: Resist and nothing changes. And it will likely be as true (and similarly lacking in entropy) as yours.
sandworm101 6y ago
Thats fine. You can just accept that facebook is essential to the social life of your country, that the facebook eula is defacto legislation that you just obey. On the other hand, Signal works. My friends and I use it every day. We have not surendered, nor shall we.

lwhi 6y ago

A lot of people do use social media as their main method of socialising, especially during this pandemic.