Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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The role of attrition against mainstream platforms (Discussion) (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Mainstream platforms such as Meta and X have accumulated a near-universal audience that is the root of all their evil. From sentiment analysis mass experiments to propagandistic political advertising. Things are worse in third countries where they are even less moderated. So I was thinking that as long as FOSS/Privacy is just geeky and elitist they just keep doing business as usual, from enshitification to fascism. Additionally, people have moved their political posting, scheduling, discussion online, so this gives them more power. Like seeing anarchist groups on Facebook is cringe, but some insist that "that is where the mass is, perhaps we move to Instagram to get to more Zedders". Whaaaat? Questions: What tactics could be used to move people en masse away from mainstream platforms, and more generally, do you think there is a point in it?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

What tactics could be used to move people en masse away from mainstream platforms

Propaganda, advertising and other kinds of informing about the issues of the mainstream platforms.

and more generally, do you think there is a point in it?

Yes. Not just because of privacy issues but also because the algorithm is made to filter what a user can see (making their source of information heavily biased and incomplete) and to addict them to the platform (this shouldn't be the main argument because people don't really care about it now but it can be a nice secondary one).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

this shouldn’t be the main argument because people don’t really care about it now but it can be a nice secondary one

I do think that recommendation algorithms are a big culprit for the widespread scrolling addiction epidemic. Smart phones and social media platforms have positioned the population in readiness to consume ads and propaganda. So, I think this is definitely among the main arguments.

Plus note people were arguably repulsed when it was leaked that Facebook performed a sentiment analysis psychological experiment on them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Imo when you advertise (or anti-advertise) something, every argument matters but it's important to structure the arguments well. It should be done by a skilled person that knows how to do it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Agreed. This area of skills completely evades me though. So, yes, if you have some tips on that, they will be well received.

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

Nah I'm just an average elitist Arch user.