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Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

blog.mozilla.org

131–140 of 210 posts

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#131

I've found myself between deleting, deactivating, and moderating my use of these apps for many years of my life. I never found deleting or deactivating to be very helpful. At some time or another you're going to need said account for something. While deleting is a bit extreme, some of these services will respect the actual deletion and others will not. I suppose the question at the end of the day is...why bother? I'v…

> At some time or another you're going to need said account for something. Nope for almost all of these. Different strokes different folks. > Facebook Nope. Haven't had one for more than 10 years now. So easy to live life without a FB account. I stay in touch with family and friends by phonecalls and Mumble. > Instagram Used it for maybe 10 minutes in 2013, haven't touched since. > Snapchat Same as Instagram, but in…

Some events or even companies don't have a website, they just have a Facebook page that you have to be logged in to visit. Also, if your family uses Facebook, they will interact with each other on it whether you are there or not.

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#132

It really gets me that Mozilla has adopted this political / activist marketing style. It feels so fake.

Mozilla, as in the foundation, is broader than the browser and that blog has been running since 2007 with plenty of privacy focused content on it. The point of Mozilla has always been to advocate for an open internet rather than a corporate one, so I don't see the change in objective here. Firefox is one means to that end. Not sure why "marketing", "political" or "activist" are supposed to be negatives.

the part "Whether you want to follow in Neil Young’s footsteps or are already streaming music and podcasts through another service, deleting your stagnant Spotify account is a good idea." has nothing to do with privacy, but with an specific agenda.

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#133
Though I haven't deleted my social media accounts, I don't use them at all even on an occasional basis. I have them for reaching out to my acquaintances/old friends, access content behind login(when I've been shared with their links), etc. After watching The Social Dilemma(1), I've grown even more averse towards social media.

Many regular social media consumers feel that they get useful info out of it along with their entertainment content. Consider this, there are specific sources to get entertainment-netflix,local newspaper website's movie/gossip section,etc. And if one is looking for useful info, the chance of finding the info that is really useful/timely in the specific moment of their life is more via a web search than their infinite feed in their Facebook/twitter/instagram. If you really need an info then you wouldn't rely on random chance/luck that's needed in finding that in your feed.

Here in India, WhatsApp is ubiquitous, it is kind of used as a work chat as well when people are logged out of work MSTeams/Skype. So I have WhatsApp installed but I don't go to it to browse the status messages/pics people post, no matter how tempting it is :). I use other more privacy friendly apps for messaging with family and friends.

It is hard to tell people to stop using social media, sometimes people find it offending/intrusive. But the perspective of life changes if you don't use social media. You seem to have time for more things in life.

We also have to admit that many don't have the luxury(work/professional reasons) to avoid social media altogether.

1- http://thesocialdilemma.com

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#134

I've found myself between deleting, deactivating, and moderating my use of these apps for many years of my life. I never found deleting or deactivating to be very helpful. At some time or another you're going to need said account for something. While deleting is a bit extreme, some of these services will respect the actual deletion and others will not. I suppose the question at the end of the day is...why bother? I'v…

In Android you can now pause apps, which helps to reduce the social media consumption.

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that Mozilla looks at the telemetry and very few people use containers. I'd guess because users don't understand what they're good for. Perhaps you, an enthusiastic user, could do a little writeup somewhere (here?) on why they are the cat's meow.

> very few people use containers Not many people use any extensions[1], which is why it should not be an extension, even if it is actually an extension in terms of implementation. Certainly I wouldn't expect my parents to discover and install the extension, but I might expect them to be able to be taught to use a first-class feature. [1]: As the Firefox base dwindles further to only a hard core of techies, this might…

That's because Chrome extensions suck. Specifically none come close to replicating the functionality of:

Multi-Account Containers

Temporary Containers

Sidebery

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla, as in the foundation, is broader than the browser and that blog has been running since 2007 with plenty of privacy focused content on it. The point of Mozilla has always been to advocate for an open internet rather than a corporate one, so I don't see the change in objective here. Firefox is one means to that end. Not sure why "marketing", "political" or "activist" are supposed to be negatives.

the part "Whether you want to follow in Neil Young’s footsteps or are already streaming music and podcasts through another service, deleting your stagnant Spotify account is a good idea." has nothing to do with privacy, but with an specific agenda.

of course they have a specific agenda, it's on their website (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/)

I'm slightly out of the loop on the Neil Young stuff but I assume this is about Rogan spreading antivax content or something, which I don't think is very compatible with Mozilla pushing for an internet that is civil, free of misinformation and factual, so it seems to me they're sticking to their principles, which I think are very reasonable.

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#137
The missing follow-up is how to stay in the loop with your friends and family who continue to use these services.

Many used to be actively helpful by serving web feeds of public content. Now, not only have they removed the feeds, but they actively sabotage their public website to pressure you back into their control.

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#139
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I'm pretty sure that the whiskey in the basement isn't spying on you It would be a truly messed up world if that was the case

> whiskey in the basement isn't spying on you Everyone important in the world already knows my SiL bought it for me, tracked at the point of sale using a loyalty card, tracked via her credit card, her highway pass shows she visited to deliver it to me on my birthday, it probably has a RFID chip somewhere either for theft protection or inventory tracking (maybe in the presentation box not the bottle itself "obviously"…

What a weird comment flow to read. Your defensiveness off putting.

Re: Internet spring cleaning: How to delete Instagram, Facebook and other accounts

#140
post #117
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a bizarre take. You should continue to volunteer your personal information to an ad-tech behemoth… in order to prove you’re not an addict?

Binary thinking. You can ONLY actively consume or actively delete, unthinkable that you can passively not use it. Its like claiming its impossible for that bottle of whiskey to sit, undrinking, on my basement bar top, whiskey can only either be chugged immediately or angrily poured down the drain. Its impossible that bottle is sitting there without my drinking it. I assure you, despite your claim that its impossible,…

This isn’t binary thinking. It’s clear you don’t understand people who need these extra steps, and thank god for that. This is a problem I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

However, your lack of understanding does not make it any less relevant or useful.

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