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How to change your settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta
- eleveriven 2y agoIt's wild how much effort it takes just to opt out of being tracked
- dijksterhuis 2y ago> johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com well ... now I obviously have to find out about the joke behind this. i've missed watching angry puffin/penguin man. edit -- might be a non-USA / UK localisation thing but for the first two items, "Manage info" is actually called "Ad settings" also, on the third one, you can also clear any previous activity from your account on top of disconnecting future activity.
- youainti 2y agoI know, that is quite the URL
- Arnavion 2y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxb-Szj8jVU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxb-Szj8jVU 22:00 onwards, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D0kkEi9JI4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D0kkEi9JI4 25:00 onwards. tl;dw he found a 1992 recording of an art auction involving a series of paintings of humanoid rats being intimate, and he really wanted the person who bought one of the paintings to sell it to him.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- unsnap_biceps 2y agoI actually sorta wonder if "No, don’t make my ads more relevant by using this information" makes you more valuable, as they'll just display the most valuable ads they can to you.
- colecut 2y agothe value of the ad itself is relative to the targeting of the audience.
- gs17 2y agoI don't think so, if they had an ad that's untargeted and more valuable than any targeted ad, they could show it to you either way.
- darth_avocado 2y agoHaving worked a little bit in ads, impressions like that won’t get you as much money. Ads usually will bid for a spot, the more targeted info you can present to an ad, the higher the bid for the slot. Random ads don’t have that much to offer. On top of that, a lot of advertisers have tighter budgets and therefore want the ad on a specific segment to max out ROÍ. So the pool of ads that get shown to you go down. Which means you’ll be shown the same ad repeatedly. And FB does not make as much money off repeat impressions. And on top of that engagement brings more revenue to the company as compared to just impressions. The whole reason meta exists as a much more profitable business over something like TV or radio for ads is that targeting brings better engagement metrics. And the difference is huge. Now I am not sure how meta’s ad internals work, but the only way I see them recouping some value out of your selection is by showing you more ads. Maybe you go from seeing ads after every 3 user generated content items to every other item being an ad. TLDR; turning off preferences doesn’t make you more valuable, but the company could squeeze out as much value from you as other users.
- DecentShoes 2y agoThat's what they were doing before, always showing the most valuable ad.
- aqueueaqueue 2y agoI changed a setting a decade ago to make myself less valuable to Facebook and that was close my account.
- bestouff 2y agoUnfortunately it's not sufficient. Facebook tracks you from bits of js embedded in many (you have no idea) pages you visit nowadays.
- aqueueaqueue 2y agoYeah you remind me to change my dns on all devices :) definitely cat and mouse
- KaiserPro 2y agometa is really hard to block effectivly. I once tried to block the app from running on my home network, as an experiment. Blocking the DNS didn't work, and even when I blackholed the various ASNs to make the route not work, I still managed to get the app to work.
- aqueueaqueue 2y agoI mean block trackers added on other sites bundles that need to download js to do anything.
- KaiserPro 2y agoYeah you can stop the JS from loading if you have an well maintained plugin that specialises in it (or no-script that nukes all JS from orbit) but trying to stop Instgram/facebook apps connecting is a whole another level of difficulty.
- dylan604 2y agoOnly if you're letting it run on your machine. You don't have to allow it. You being the royal you here
- Nursie 2y agoYou can also remove yourself from ad topics, and even if you don't want to remove yourself from them it can be interesting to take a look and see what meta has associated you with - https://accountscenter.facebook.com/ads/ad_topics https://accountscenter.facebook.com/ads/ad_topics It won't stop you getting ads, of course, and I have yet to find the holy grail of fictional facebook settings "Never show me reels or suggest groups you think I might be interested in, stick to my actual friends".
- kirsebaer 2y agoOn Facebook, if you go to 'Menu' > 'Feeds' > 'Friends' you will see a feed of only your contacts' activity and none of the suggested posts & random pages on the normal Feed
- Nursie 2y agoHoly crap, I knew it was there but didn't think it let you go straight in via a link. Turns out https://www.facebook.com/?filter=friends&sk=h_chr https://www.facebook.com/?filter=friends&sk=h_chr is more or less what I've been looking for for a few years... In fact https://www.facebook.com/?filter=all&sk=h_chr https://www.facebook.com/?filter=all&sk=h_chr might just be perfect - it's got my friends, groups and the handful of things I am interested in, in chronological order, and nothing else. Amazing.
- tbrownaw 2y ago1. Install ublock origin 2. Spend less time on their website. Go touch grass or something 3. Mobile apps are right out
- lern_too_spel 2y agoIf you must use mobile apps, patch them with ReVanced Manager.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 2y agoBeing in the Apple ecosystem for over a decade now as a former android person, is custom patches to proprietary app binaries to strip out ad calls actually a thing? Kind of blew my mind that people will jump through hoops like this but maybe it’s actually not that hard to do because the tooling is quite good?
- lucumo 2y agoIt's definitely a few hoops, but not more than a few. The hardest part is that you have to download the right APK file from apkmirror[1] or the likes. It'll open the the right search for you though, but you still need to know a little bit about apk formats. You also can't just auto-update the app anymore. You have to manually update and patch again. Other than those two points, it's just pressing a few buttons. I only do it for YouTube, because the ad load on that app is insane. For others it's not really worth the trouble, I find. Does iOS have a better way for YT? [1] Ironically, apkmirror has an adblock-blocker, so if you use a DNS based adblock, you have to disable it.
- jillesvangurp 2y agoI use Firefox containers for meta controlled domains. I don't trust third party websites to not pass information to Meta or meta to not be greedy. So, a complete absence of meta related cookies and other cruft is the best defense against that. I mostly stopped checking Facebook. I have a few things with social logins tied to Facebook that I open in the same container that I can't be bothered to untangle. I've de-activated my instagram account ages ago. I just have no interest in what happens there. People sharing images and short videos just annoys me mostly. So, I'm happy to let people entertain each other over there without distracting me. In the same way, I have zero interest in tik tok, youtube shorts, and related nonsense from competitors. My life is rich enough without that. Whatsapp unfortunately remains a necessary evil because that's what most people I know seem to insist on using. I mostly use it in a browser tab because I hate typing on mobile phones. My thumbs keep hitting the wrong tiny keys. If I type 3 letters, 2 will be wrong. I probably should move whatsapp to its own container. Thankfully it remains ad-free so far (or my adblocker is just that good, hard to tell these days). I think meta mostly walked back controversial plans to do something about that.
- drcongo 2y agoI have every Facebook owned domain blocked in NextDNS so it's essentially impossible for them to track me. I don't even have a Facebook account but they obviously don't need me to have one to build a shadow profile.
- eleveriven 2y agoYou've got a solid system in place. Completely agree on the social media front, feels like a lot of noise with little actual value
- __coder__ 2y agoOne step solution, delete your account.
- dylan604 2y agoif only that was a solution that was effective. while theZuck may not be able to monetize your eyeballs directly, he can still make his yacht payments off of the data you generate for him free of charge from every other website using his SDKs
- procaryote 2y agoSure, but if we believe the conceit of the article that making some settings within facebook reduces your value to them, stopping altogether must reduce your value even more.
- anthony_d 2y agoMaybe, but if the settings get you down to the completely targeted level there’s not really any lower value you can go.
- procaryote 2y agopeople spending time on facebook is probably more profitable for them than people not doing that
- dylan604 2y agoIt only reduces the value that they are not serving you ads based on direct targeting based on your metaprofile. They are still going to serve you ads. They are still going to be collecting data about you from all of their products be it their apps where your actively and knowingly providing them that data by how you use their apps, or whether it is through the embedded SDKs in other apps or websites you use and you are not knowingly providing them data by how you use these other apps/sites. You will never be worth $0 to Meta. The analytics they can glean can be used in other ways than just providing you a targeted ad experience. You're still telling them trends. You're still telling them what someone of your sex, income level, age, geographic location, blah blah blah prefers to spend their time online doing.
- Daz1 2y agoWhy would I want to do this?
- parasti 2y agoI am in the EU. I opted out of targeted ads a while back when the Facebook app asked me about it and it is now showing me inline ads with a timer. I literally have to wait before I can continue doomscrolling which is just enough time to just put the phone down and go back to work. Thank you, Meta.
- poloniculmov 2y agoSame, I love it because it will stop me from mindlessly scrolling. My only complaint is that if I actually wait, the next ad doesn't come soon enough.
- eleveriven 2y agoThat's one way to break the doomscrolling habit! Meta unintentionally doing you a favor. Maybe they should market it as a -productivity feature- instead of an ad strategy
- probably_wrong 2y agoI'm also in the EU and I am mildly confused. Some months ago (years?) I was shown a popup asking me to either agree to be tracked or to pay a monthly fee [1]. I chose neither and haven't logged in since. I logged in just now and everything seems to be working fine. But then I went to the "Ad preferences" and I'm shown a message saying I have to choose between using Facebook for free with ads or subscribe, and that my information won't be used for ads until I make a choice. Looks like my account is stuck in some weird middle ground where my data can't used for ads but I also don't have to pay. Did I get away with neither? Or will they ask me to pay next time I log in, two years from now? [1] https://www.voanews.com/a/meta-risks-fines-over-pay-for-privacy-model-breaking-eu-rules/7679003.html https://www.voanews.com/a/meta-risks-fines-over-pay-for-priv...
- gschizas 2y agoThere's indeed a middle ground now, as far as I can tell. It's called "show less personalized ads" or something like that, but in effect I think it's showing ads related just to the page you're currently looking at. I'm perfectly fine with this model, and I'd rather we collectively go back to it, instead of ad trackers following you around on the Internet and serving you ads based on your browser history instead. Of course that doesn't mean I trust Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp, but at least on the surface it seems they understood the assignment.
- flanked-evergl 2y agoIf you don't want Meta to be viable as a company, the best approach is to stop using their services altogether.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y agoDon't use any apps with Facebook integration. They phone home even if you aren't logged in.
- MisterKent 2y agoJust tap every ad you come accross until every advertiser leaves the platform
- gattilorenz 2y agoThat’s why I use AdNauseam (https://adnauseam.io/ https://adnauseam.io/) instead of uBlock
- mjan22640 2y agoSend them an invoice for the rental of your screen space to display ads.
- pwdisswordfishz 2y agoEven better: just stop using their services. Given that these settings are presented to you by a party you already don't trust, why should you believe they don't do the opposite of what they say?
- frontfor 2y agoThere are regions in this world where the majority of business and online interaction with friends and family are conducted through Facebook. It's easy for you to say "just stop using their services" if you live in the western bubble.
- JohnFen 2y agoMaybe so, but at least those people in the western bubble can just stop using the platform. Every little bit helps.
- Liquidor 2y agoI've got a couple of thoughts. 1) Why do you guys care what ads are being displayed to you? 2) Do you even allow ads to be displayed in the first place (ad blockers etc.) ? 3) Yes, we get it. Uninstall Facebook/IG/WhatsApp..., but no. Most people in the world use these, and you're still targeted without using them. 4) Why just Meta? What about Google, YouTube, Bing and many other ad providers? 5) Is this a political campaign by Warner Bros., EFF or someone else? 6) Shouldn't this stuff just be regulated instead? I'm sure the EU has some regulations at least. What about the US?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- procaryote 2y ago> 3) Yes, we get it. Uninstall Facebook/IG/WhatsApp..., but no. Most people in the world use these, and you're still targeted without using them. Eat healthy and exercise? No, most people in the world don't, and it doesn't guarantee you'll never fall ill
- stevage 2y ago>Do you even allow ads to be displayed in the first place (ad blockers etc.) It's extremely difficult to use Facebook in any form on mobile in a way that lets you block ads.
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- procaryote 2y agoThings like this are just rationalisations to keep doing something unhealthy with a better conscience. Sure, it probably helps a tiny bit, but if you're aware enough of how bad facebook is for the world, just stop using their services. People were able to live without facebook before it existed, and you can again. Just arrange to interact with the people you care about face to face or via a call. The people you "keep in touch with" by sometimes pressing like are not real relationships
- stevage 2y agoThis is a simplistic and not helpful form of advice. Often we need to use a thing that is not altogether good, but we can take steps to reduce the harm.
- mattigames 2y agoPeople were able to live before houses and apartments existed. And a lot of grandmas and grandpas only get their birthday remembered thanks to Facebook, sad as that may be it's the truth, those and many other relationships are keep alive because their counterparts check FB and only FB, by talking there not only clicking "like" or any other reductionisms alike.
- procaryote 2y agoPut your grandma's birthday in your calendar
- mattigames 2y agoI'm not talking about me, but about the millions that use the platform. BTW I do still use Facebook but for different reasons, mostly because it's the only platform many local musicians use to publish events among other info, yeah I know people lived without such privilege before, I couldn't care less.
- stevage 2y agoOh thanks. I had already done the first two. Didn't know about the third.
- noirscape 2y agoWhile this will probably help for people still tied to Facebook and related services, this unfortunately does little to stop their shadow profiling capabilities (which Facebook is known to do). If you don't have a Facebook account, make sure to get an ad blocker[0] and activate the anti-annoyance, privacy and social widget lists in the settings. That should stop most of the passive site tracking that Facebook does. It's a much ruder way of stopping it, but to be frank, I'd argue that this form of tracking is inherently rude in and of itself (and therefore an adequate response.) You should also absolutely install Consent-o-Matic[1] which automatically handles any cookie banners for you. The extension is unfortunately a necessity because most corporations (Facebook included) refuse to comply with the GDPR as it's written and make opting out unnecessarily difficult, with many hidden buttons you'd need to manually reject. Unlike other cookie form handlers, this one defaults to "most private" and will give you control again if it fails to reject the entire form. (This is unlike IDCAC, which just takes the shortest path to closing the form, even if it compromises your privacy to do so.) Both of these extensions will of course also help against way more than just Facebook, and they're pretty much a default whenever I'm configuring a PC these days. [0]: I can only recommend ublock origin, most other ones are running extortion schemes to show you "acceptable ads" anyway. https://ublockorigin.com/ https://ublockorigin.com/ [1]: https://consentomatic.au.dk/ https://consentomatic.au.dk/
- beAbU 2y agoI live in Ireland, but I speak an African language natively. I changed my facebook language to my native language, and I get basically zero ads, because the Algorithm can't figure out how to show me Irish ads in a language that the ad does not support.
- jasode 2y agoEvery thread about Meta/Facebook always has the save advice to "Just stop using Facebook. Problem solved!" The HN demographic can follow that but many normies can't because Facebook provides functionality for sharing that can't be replicated by email mailing lists / RSS readers / Mastodon / vBulletin, phpBB boards, etc. E.g. my friend sees a Youtuber doing some interesting sewing projects to make clothes. To facilitate discussion and collaboration with viewers (sharing photos, videos of projects), the Youtuber created a Facebook group. That's what non-techies do to empower themselves. Similar situation with normal people using Facebook to share calendars for kids baseball games etc where multiple families can see the same canonical list of upcoming scheduled events. So the article's recommendations for minimizing data collection can help those people who use Facebook in ways that enhances their lives. For the folks that only use Facebook to doomscroll an algorithmic newsfeed (a glorified "RSS reader"), that's the type of user that can "just stop using Facebook". I keep a dummy Facebook account with no followers and nofriends just to access stuff that's exclusively on Facebook. E.g. when I was looking for a tree service to remove some storm damaged trees, it so happened that every tree company I was interested in only used Facebook for up-to-date info. The ones that had their own websites were not maintained and had out of date information. On the other hand, their Facebook pages had the most recent photos of their equipment and their correct phone number. My guess is updating their "real website" requires calling and paying for a web design service to edit things whereas their Facebook page can be updated from the business owner's smartphone for $0. Because of non-activity on my dummy Facebook account, I worry that Meta will someday flag it as a bot and revoke access.
- whiplash451 2y ago> I worry that Meta will someday flag as a bot and revoke access. You shouldn’t. Meta will always find a way to count users like you in the MAU. If they didn’t, they would destroy their statistics. There are just too many accounts like yours on FB now.
- spiffytech 2y agoSeveral of my friend groups coordinate big events through Facebook events and Messenger. It would be harder to participate if I didn't have an account. Also, in my area, Facebook Marketplace has totally displaced Craigslist for used goods. These are the only things I use Facebook for, but they're hard to get away from.
- glimshe 2y agoAfter one weird trick, Facebook became a lot of more valuable to me... Including its ads. Tldr: be radical about your interests and Facebook will become interesting. I literally unfollowed all of my friends with the exception of a handful of family members; this means I stopped receiving updates for stuff like "look how cute my baby is in the dinosaur costume". Then I joined dozens of groups narrowly focused on my interests. The result is an online service were I only read stuff I like, very few reels (unfortunately they don't yet allow you to fully disable reels, but you can still indirectly downvote them) and even the ads are interesting and relevant. I've clicked on a few of them, which fed back to the algorithm and showed me even more products I actually want to buy and news I want to read.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- platform11 2y ago[dead]