@cdevroe Agreed. I think this will be obvious to more people as alternatives continue to develop, whether it's the likes of the new, much more stand-alone Sunlit or the refreshingly carefully developed Bokeh. I'm sure there are others I've not mentioned -- I think there's at least one decently sized decentralised photoblogging server but I can't remember the name of it -- and there will be more as the modern open web movement continues to grow.
@maique @cdevroe @simonwoods oh wow, first thanks for the mention there. Also, I don’t know why I thought about this but I think this is the first time someone has used my full name on anything online 😅. Third, I just thought, I’ve got four names and my “online name” has four letters 😅 (sorry, random me). And yeah because of what Instagram has become, for me it’s more about online connections rather than use it as a photography portfolio if you will. That was at one point my main focus but now I do that here on my blog and Instagram it’s for quick snippets and again, connections.
@cdevroe During COVID-19 the local restaurants and breweries use Instagram as an alert and notification system to local residents about changes in menu, beer releases, specials, etc.
It's about being at the party that you know everyone you already know in-real-life knows about.
@khurtwilliams Facebook is also used that way.
@khurtwilliams Right, yes. The party is being run in a building; around back the mobsters -- who own and run everything -- are beating people up, torturing people, running drugs, corrupting the various levels of government, and likely many more terrible things we have not yet discovered. Also, the building is rotting, likely to catch fire at any time, and is probably infecting you with some sort of devastating health issue.
But hey; we all need to be at the party even if there are alternative ways of doing that so we... tolerate the awful side of things?
@simonwoods that's not my point of view. The average person loves these apps and services. The alternative party is just full of people who didn't like the music. So they left. That's fine too.
@cdevroe what I dislike about all this chatter it feels too much like "I didn't like the music at the party so I left and went to another party with music I enjoy but I spent the entire time complaining about the party I left".
@khurtwilliams That seems like an extremely naive understanding of Facebook in particular.
@khurtwilliams Sorry, that was rude. I need to clarify; saying we "don't like the music" feels like it is downplaying the real problems with Facebook and the other silos, as well as the very good reasons for not using them.
@simonwoods @khurtwilliams I'm with Simon. Saying "we don't like the music" is reductive. Instagram isn't changing playlists, they are switching out the people at the party, forcing you to talk to people you don't want to, and holding rights for everything you say at the party.
@simonwoods what I'm saying is "it's not your partty". It never was. It's Instagram/Facebooks/etc. party. You are a guest. Leave the party. Let the people who are enjoying the music stay. And be ok with them staying. Find another party.
@simonwoods remember, Instagram supports private accounts. You can invite whomever you want to your pirvate party. Same on Facebook. Same on Twitter. The controls exists.
@khurtwilliams We definitely disagree about reality at a fundamental level here. I'll just agree to disagree.