this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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Last line of the article: "Just like choosing not to ride on airplanes isn’t really an option, for many, using social media isn’t much of a choice either."
Holy crap. We have reached that point. As someone with no social media, it just amazes me how people have let these apps become ingrained in their lives. Sad in my opinion.
That’s because you’re just looking at the app. People use them to communicate with other people in different ways.
For example if I meet a woman I like, it’s infinitely more socially acceptable to ask for her instagram than it is for her number after meeting.
A lot of my family communicates on Facebook where they can share photos, watch and catch up with each other.
Maybe you can just give up social media. I can too and I did. But for many it’s the only gateway connecting them to other people in a more than convenient way. There’s absolutely nothing sad about that.
Some people are addicted, and it can be toxic for others but it’s utility is still incredible.
Best case scenario, the Fediverse kicks off and becomes main stream enough to replace Meta products and others. Which is what I would love to see, personally speaking.
Is this really a thing now? Any idea why it's considered more acceptable? It's definitely not a thing in my social circles and it got me curious.
I live in a major city in the US and it’s definitely common place here. A lot of women justifiably don’t like giving out their personal number due to the number of bad experiences with men. By using IG instead, it provides a buffer.
I have asked for and received numbers but most people typically offer some sort of social media first and then only share numbers after you’ve shown that you’re not a raging creep.
Sounds weird to me as both can be used for the general creepiness and both allow blocking people if needed. I just don't see the benefit of one over the other here.
EDIT: The other comment explained it to me, I understand it now.
Also depends on how you explain why you don’t have any, I originally gave up Facebook because I went through a bad breakup and figured a break would be for the best, the only time I ever logged in again was to delete it, Instagram came shortly after. I don’t think I’ve asked for anyone’s number that told me no after telling them why I’m difficult to Google, and in my experience most people treat social media the way a 20 year smoker treats cigarettes, they know they should quit and intend to at some nebulous point in the future
Because it's far less susceptible to abuse. The block button will deal with anyone being a creep or asshole.
If someone wanted to be abusive, they could come by the address you gave them to send letters or bombard your phone with abuse via the number you gave them for texting.
Even for phones that can block calls and texts coming from a given number, withheld numbers are a thing and they could still sign you up to all sorts of SMS services.
Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense! I didn't consider all these other possibilities.