How we spend our money, attention, and time.

Last edited Thu Jan 16, 2025, 10:44 AM - Edit history (2)

Yeah, I don't buy it. Like there was an "exodus" when Netflix limited account sharing? Like when streaming services raise their prices? Oh yeah, it doesn't happen. Just a blip in the churn. Also, reviewing "hundreds of posts and comments across various social media platforms that said users would delete their Meta accounts, stop posting or boycott the company in response to the changes" is not users deleting their Meta accounts and boycotting the company. Crap story.

They are professional journalists.

The thing about social media is that there is usually only one big survivor in each category.

Youtube is the big full-size/length video service and nobody is a close second.
Twitter was far and away the big site for short messages, and there was no close second for a long time.
Tiktok is the big site for short videos, and there is no close second.
and so on.

It is the "network effect" that makes these winners. That is to say, when a site achieves a critical mass, the others disappear.

Once there is a critical mass, it takes a major change to shake that loose. With Twitter, it became very common for other sites to allow easy embedding of Twitter content onto their sites. And that amplified the network effect. But Musk's takeover of Twitter has steadily been driving users away and that is projected to continue through 2025. Twitter is very close to dropping below critical mass. Threads had some impact, but now that Zuckerberg is not much better than Musk, I expect Threads will die off before it ever really gets started. For the moment, the white knight appears to be Bluesky.
https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-x-declining-user-base-2025

Twitter is down to about 300M active users. That's still a big number, but many of the biggest users are now shifting their emphasis to other platforms. It may take 24 months or more for the Bluesky effect to really show up in Twitter's numbers because there is great inertia in all these systems. But the direction is clear. Bluesky has about 30M active users, rising as fast as Twitter is falling.

Facebook proper is another matter. Facebook was already challenged because its active user base was aging, with younger people going to Instagram or Tiktok. However, the inertia of Facebook is powerful because of all the common interest groups. There are 4 products I depend on which provide their primary customer support through FB groups. They can't pull the plug easily. And if they can't pull the plug, then I can't leave FB entirely. Two other points of inertia are the marketplace and the event advertising. I hate to admit it, but as of now, FB advertising is very cost-effective for promoting entertainment events that I depend on. And the marketplace is the best way to sell something that is not a good fit for eBay.

My point is that the inertia of these systems guarantees that they will be around for years. BUT ... we can be encouraging al our friends and colleagues to start the transition away from those platforms. I think Zuckerberg is smart enough to see the writing on the wall if millions of users at least cut their FB usage by 75%

Even here

He thought ppl would rush back to meta with the TikTok ban….literally no one on TikTok is going back to meta.
Meta stock has taken a hit
Red Note the actual TikTok in China has seen well over 3 million news users all from the US. With more coming.
Red Note is now ranked the number one SM platform on the web.
zuck is blocking ppl from deleting their accounts…account holders are responding by putting their account on deactivated

I love this for him! Spent all that money lobby to get TikTok banned and it has blown up in his face.

Ugghh! they're all in.

I am re ally thinking about quitting. I do like messenger.I hate the AI thing next to send. accidentaly hit it a couple times. Too many people post crap videos that are RW crap. trump puppet stuff. I dont want to like it bt accident.

Just do it.

I have been on FacebookMeta now for at least a decade and a half and post pretty much daily. I do not have or maintain any other social media accounts. I use it as a scrapbook and means of daily connection to extended family members I otherwise would only hear from in an annual Christmas card and to friends across the world from many decades of my life. It is a handy tool. I do not collect "friends" or "followers".

I once was a happy member of an online community called Zaadz. When it was bought out by a corporate concern, many of us reunited on Facebook. I suppose we could "reunite" again on Bluesky, or somewhere else, but every time we do, we lose a few people who simply don't wish to, or can't make a change. While NO PLATFORM has ever been able to match the artistic capabilities we used to have on Zaadz, weaving together music, poetry, art, philosophy, and history in a kaleidoscope of entertaining interchanges, we've been able to use FB/Meta fairly successfully for our own design. Zaadz is the Dutch word for "seed." We'd like to think we are still seeding cyberspace with the intelligent, the good, the true, and the beautiful from wherever it is we are posting from. We may be throwing our pearls before swine, but they remain pearls, regardless of where they land.

I deplore Mark Zuckerberg and all he is representing these days, but as long as I have the means to block and ignore as I navigate my cyberspace on his platform, I am not making him any money by clicking on his ever-increasing volume of ads or subscribing to anything that rolls through my scroll. I'll use him and not allow him to use me for anything but a statistic, until my peeps are able to create something better. So there's my long-winded answer to your query. I guess it all depends on how/why you use social media in the first place.

And have long since removed myself from twitter, or x, as eloon remodeled it.

and won't move right. I know I want nothing to do with such an alien concept. I defy it with my whole being.

For women, LGBTQ people, people of color and pretty much anyone else, it's LITERALLY staying in an abusive relationship.

The only way to stop these oligarchic men is to starve their businesses.

I have friends, relatives, international students we hosted or mentored, their family, sometimes their friends, we stayed in touch with. I am in groups, mainly groups about my interests. If I quit using fb for those connections, not sure what else I could use. I signed up on Bluesky and Threads, and they aren't like fb. I'm not familiar with how to use them. I had a twitter account that I didn't use and canceled when skum bought it. On top of not knowing how to use the other platforms, I think meta owns threads, also instagram, and messenger. Seems like every time somebody new gets an idea for social media, one of the big fish gobbles it up. I also have What'sApp, but use it just a little. I even have a MySpace account, but haven't logged in for years. Anyway, even I knew how to use those platforms, how would I get all of my contacts from fb to any of those?

I use Fluff Buster Purity on fb. fb hates it. FB purity is a free ext. that blocks ads and unsolicited additions to my feed, so I basically see posts, a list of shortcuts on the left and my contacts who are online on the right. I don't know if I generate much income for the idiot who owns it.

I would be glad to get away from fb, but I fear I'd leave behind friends that I don't have other ways of contacting. If you, or anyone can offer a solutions, I'll be off fb quick as a bunny.

Rant over

it's no trouble at all to stay in touch.with anyone.

Used only 1-2 times a week, not a big loss.

they really support hate............to make money............

And Monday I’ll be off it until further notice.

I will miss Insta, but I lived decades without it. I’ll survive.

I wish I could ignore Amazon. When I’m in California, it’s possible although inconvenient. When I’m in New Mexico, it’s much harder to do.

We are in Europe and this latest move may mean a ban in Europe.
The migration will be slow to Bluesky.
A number of friends are loath to join another platform and we have to get more family and direct friends over before we shut it down.

Interesting that ending third-party fact-checking is welcomed by the right; conservatives fear facts and the truth.

Absent fact-checking, conservatives are at liberty to spread disinformation and lies.

And the conduct policy change allows conservatives to post rightwing hate speech with impunity.

... FB and others are attempting. Trump wanted them destroyed - he wanted his TS to be the biggest social media platform. Now, they are wondering if the $1 million dollar donation and socializing can change his mind. I don't think Trump is impressed with a measley $1 million. Next, one of the biggest complaints from the MAGAites is their being "censored" by fact-checkers. They complain, leave, or get banned. I don't think they will return... so, I don't think this is going to work. They will have to start making $100 million donations and start wearing the Red Hat, round the clock.

hope they enjoy the mess they signed up for.