Ah, exactly the trap I see so many people fall for! You would not lose your connection with a lot of people because of Facebook, you would lose your connection

Ah, exactly the trap I see so many people fall for! You would not lose your connection with a lot of people because of Facebook, you would lose your connection with a lot of people because of the combined decisions of you and those people! Facebook isn't doing anything here other than being convenient -- it's your friends and family making the choice (along with you) to refuse to communicate with people outside of the FB platform. And no, WhatsApp is not the "only contact method for most people and businesses", at least not due to any kind of technical or governmental restriction. It may be the only functional way to run a business or talk to people in some places, but Facebook didn't do that, those people and businesses did. They can choose to fix that within the course of a few minutes. They won't make that choice, but they absolutely could. And so what if Facebook recommends specific events to people? Those people still retain agency over their choices, Facebook isn't making anyone do anything, people still decide how to behave, which events to attend, and generally how to navigate their time. There's a great point in what you said, that I think is worth highlighting; at the root of the complaints about social media is this fundamental rejection of the idea that people are capable or willing to act on their own accord. It's this assumption that people wouldn't make these choices were it not for Facebook's influence, and I think that's completely wrong. You can rid yourself of Facebook's influence over your life in a matter of minutes. You choose not to, and that's on you, not Facebook. It's a social media company, nothing more.